外刊精读来了!
近日南非发现新冠新型变异毒株Omicron,目前比利时、英国、澳大利亚等地也发现确诊病例,正在迅速传播中,远超此前发现的德尔塔变种病毒,给各国的疫情防控带来更大的挑战。 英国《卫报》从四个方面介绍了奥密克戎最新变种病毒,我们一起来学习~ #1 What is it called? The variant was initially referred to as B.1.1.529, but on Friday was designated as a variant of concern (VOC) by the World Health Organization because of its “concerning” mutations and because “preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant”. The WHO system assigns such variants a Greek letter, to provide a non-stigmatising label that does not associate new variants with the location where they were first detected. The new variant has been called Omicron. 该变种病毒最初被称为B.1.1.529,但由于其“令人担忧”的突变以及“初步证据表明,再次感染该变种病毒的风险增加”,周五世界卫生组织将其指定为值得关注的变异(VOC)。世卫组织系统为这些变异体分配了一个希腊字母,以提供一个非污名化的标签,该标签不会将新的变异与其第一次被检测到的地点联系起来。这种新的变种被称为奥密克戎(Omicron)。 variant n. 变体;变种;变形 adj. 不同的;有差别的;变异的 refer to 指的是;提到 designate vt. 指定,选定;委派 mutation n. 突变;(生物物种的)变异突变;改革 letter n. 信;函;字母 stigmatise v. 侮辱;使蒙上污名 #2 When was the Omicron variant first detected? The B.1.1.529 variant was identified on Tuesday and highlighted as a concern due to its high number of mutations, which could lead it to evade immunity. It was also linked to a surge in case numbers in the Gauteng province of South Africa, an urban area containing Pretoria and Johannesburg, in the past two weeks. These two factors put it quickly on the radar of international monitors, with the chief medical adviser to the UK Health and Security Agency describing the variant as the “most worrying we’ve seen”. 周二,B.1.1.529变种被发现,由于其大量突变,可能导致其逃避免疫,因此成为一个备受关注让人担忧的问题。这也与过去两周南非豪登省(包含比勒陀利亚和约翰内斯堡的城区)病例数量激增有关。这两个因素很快就引起了国际监测人员的注意,英国卫生与安全局首席医疗顾问称这是“我们见过最令人担忧的”变种病毒。 evade vt. 逃避;躲避;逃脱 on the radar of 引起…的注意 #3 Why are scientists worried about it? The variant has more than 30 mutations on its spike protein – the key used by the virus to unlock our body’s cells – more than double the number carried by Delta. Such a dramatic change has raised concerns that the antibodies from previous infections or vaccination may no longer be well matched. Purely based on knowing the list of mutations, scientists anticipate that the virus will be more likely to infect – or reinfect – people who have immunity to earlier variants. 这种变种在其刺突蛋白(刺突蛋白是病毒用来解锁人体细胞的钥匙)上有30多个突变,是德尔塔病毒携带量的两倍多。如此巨大的变化引起了人们的担忧,以前感染或接种产生的抗体可能不再相匹配。纯粹基于已知的突变列表,科学家们预计,该病毒更有可能感染--或再次感染--对早期变异有免疫力的人。 spike protein n. 刺突蛋白 antibody n. 抗体 immunity n. 免疫力;免疫 #4 Will existing vaccines work against it? Scientists are concerned by the number of mutations and the fact some of them have already been linked to an ability to evade existing immune protection. These are theoretical predictions, though, and studies are rapidly being conducted to test how effectively antibodies neutralise the new variant. Real-world data on reinfection rates will also give a clearer indication on the extent of any change in immunity. Scientists do not expect that the variant will be entirely unrecognisable to existing antibodies, just that current vaccines may give less protection. So a crucial objective remains to increase vaccination rates, including third doses for at-risk groups. 科学家们感到担忧的是突变的数量以及其中一些突变已经被认为与逃避现有免疫保护的能力有关。不过,这些只是理论上的预测,目前研究正在迅速进行,以测试抗体如何有效地中和新变种。关于再感染率的真实数据也将更清楚地表明免疫力的变化程度。 科学家们并不认为这种变种会对现有抗体完全不识别,只是目前疫苗提供的保护作用可能较弱。因此,一个关键的目标仍然是提高疫苗接种率,包括为高危人群接种第三剂疫苗。 neutralise v. 中和;抵消 unrecognisable adj. 不可识别的
课程名称 | 学习目标 | 班级特色 | |
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雅思考前点题班(周末) | 雅思6.5分 | 教辅全程跟进服务升级 | 报名 |
雅思基础VIP1V1课程 | 个人定制 | 针对个人量身定制课程 | 报名 |
雅思5.5分钻石小班 | 雅思5.5分 | 夯实基础综合提高 | 报名 |
托福考前点题班 | 冲刺90分以上 | TPO刷题与点评 | 报名 |
托福基础VIP1V1课程 | 托福总分60分 | 量身定制学习计划 | 报名 |
托福预备班 | 提升词汇量 | 打好基础全面提高 | 报名 |