一項由英國政府委托調研的報告結果顯示，如果人們再不行動起來對抗“超級病菌”的話，那麼到 2050 年，平均每三秒鐘，超級病菌就會奪走一個人的生命。英國醫生建議人們減少抗生素的使用。本期內容討論人類對越來越多的細菌產生抗藥性的擔憂。
課文內容
詞匯: medicine 藥物
If you live in England and have a mild infection, don’t ask your GP to recommend antibiotics. He’ll probably say ‘no’ and give you something else. This is part of an initiative to put a stop to harmful infections becoming resistant to these drugs.
Recent figures from the NHS have shown that the number of prescriptions for all types of antibiotics were down by 7.3% on the previous year to about 34 million in 2015 and 2016, which is considered a success by the authorities.
Peter Taylor, Professor of Microbiology, UCL School of Pharmacy, says that antibiotics are probably “the safest and most effective drugs ever produced, but they have an Achilles heel – every time we use an antibiotic it alters the levels of bacteria out there in the environment and engenders resistance in a way that is very similar to Darwinian natural selection“.
The power of these substances was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 almost by chance. The Scottish bacteriologist returned to his laboratory after a holiday to find a bacteria-free circle around a growth of mould on a Petri dish. It gave us our first antibiotic: penicillin.
The availability of these drugs revolutionised the treatment of infections. In the past STIs spread by bacteria were often incurable and deadly. Today all it takes to treat them is a trip to the clinic and a course of antibiotics. Childbirth was very dangerous and routinely ended in death for both mother and baby. Now the risk of a woman dying in England and Wales during labour is between 40 and 50 times lower than 60 years ago.
Bacteria will continue to evolve to seek survival and we have to up our game. There hasn’t been a new class of antibiotics since the 1980s and pharmaceutical companies are looking into a wide-range of alternatives – from compound from insects to nanotechnology – to develop new weapons in the continuous war against superbugs.
詞匯表
infection 感染
GP (general practitioner) 全科醫生，普通醫師
antibiotics 抗生素
NHS (National Health Service) 全民醫療服務制度
prescription 處方，藥方
microbiology 微生物學
pharmacy 藥店，（此處指）藥劑學
Achilles heel 致命弱點，致命傷
Darwinian natural selection 達爾文的自然選擇（學說）
bacteriologist 細菌學傢
mould 黴，黴菌
Petri dish 皮氏培養皿
penicillin 盤尼西林，青黴素
STI (sexually-transmitted infections) 性傳播疾病
incurable 無法治愈的
labour 分娩
pharmaceutical 制藥的
nanotechnology 納米技術
superbug 超級病菌
測驗與練習
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. Why won’t doctors give you antibiotics if your illness is not very serious?
2. How does Professor Peter Taylor describe the weakness in antibiotics?
3. True or false? Alexander Fleming expected the fungus to kill bacteria when he returned to his laboratory.
4. How much safer has childbirth become in the last few decades?
5. Which two words in the text include prefixes meaning “very small”?
2. 請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。
1. My brother is going to university. He wants to study __________.
bacteriologist pharmaceutical pharmacy a course of antibiotics
2. I’ve got a bad rash on my elbow. The doctor will give me a __________ for a very effective ointment.
antibiotic Petri dish mould prescription
3. In the past it was very difficult to cure __________.
childbirth penicillin STIs labour
4. The doctor told me he has to operate on me tomorrow. That’s the only way to treat my illness – there’s no __________.
availability Achilles heel resistance alternative
5. Mark spent his first year at university partying and having fun. If he wants to get a diploma he has to __________ and study more.
up his game be my game game up win the game
答案
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. Why won’t doctors give you antibiotics if your illness is not very serious?
Because the constant use of antibiotics make bacteria develop a resistance to them.
2. How does Professor Peter Taylor describe the weakness in antibiotics?
He says they have an “Achilles heel”.
3. True or false? Alexander Fleming expected the fungus to kill bacteria when he returned to his laboratory.
False. He discovered the bacteria-killing power of the fungus by chance.
4. How much safer has childbirth become in the last few decades?
The risk of a woman dying in England and Wales during childbirth is between 40 and 50 times lower than 60 years ago.
5.Which two words in the text include prefixes meaning “very small”?
MICRObiologist, NANOtechnology.
2. 請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。
1. My brother is going to university. He wants to study pharmacy.
2. I’ve got a bad rash on my elbow. The doctor will give me a prescription for a very effective ointment.
3. In the past it was very difficult to cure STIs.
4. The doctor told me he has to operate on me tomorrow. That’s the only way to treat my illness – there’s no alternative.
5. Mark spent his first year at university partying and having fun. If he wants to get a diploma he has to up his game and study more.
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