跟读练习: Understanding Malaria: Causes Of Malaria - 通过YouTube学习英语口语

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the developed world today,
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the bite of a mosquito might at worst mean an irritating interruption to a warm summer's evening on the porch.
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If you happen to live in a more tropical climate,
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however, that itch could be the start of something far worse.
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In fact, as much as half of the world's population are at risk of a deadly infection called malaria,
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due to the bite of this blood-sucking menace.
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The disease isn't actually caused by the mosquitoes.
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They're what we call a vector.
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These buzzing little pilots are the vehicles for the actual killer,
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lurking inside the mosquito's salivary glands.
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A microscopic single-celled organism called Plasmodium is what's really responsible for the symptoms of weakness,
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aches, intense fever, and for an unlucky percentage who don't receive treatment, even death.
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There are five species of Plasmodium that infect humans,
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but the most dangerous is called Plasmodium falciparum,
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which is the cause of 90% of all malaria deaths.
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All these parasite species spread the same way.
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Mosquitoes pick up Plasmodium by biting a previously infected person who has the parasite in their blood.
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Later, the same mosquito delivers the parasite to another host the host through its saliva.
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The dangerous microbes quickly find their way inside red blood cells,
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where they breed in such numbers that the cells swell up and eventually explode.
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Luckily not all mosquitoes make for a suitable carrier.
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In fact just one genus will do for this picky parasite,
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a type of mosquito called Anophilus.
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Even then, it's only the female mosquito who feeds on human blood to nourish her young.
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Males prefer to dine on nectar.
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There are still more than 40 species of this particular mosquito across the world,
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which can be found on every continent except for Antarctica.
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They are all capable of carrying malarial parasites,
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yet not all countries have cases of malaria.
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Why not?
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Plasmodium microbes have no tolerance for the cold.
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The deadliest species, for example,
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can't reproduce if the temperature falls to far below 20 degrees Celsius.
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On the other hand, at 27 degrees,
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the microorganisms thrive and multiply with staggering speed.
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Colin Sutherland is a professor of parasitology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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According to him, that speed makes a tremendous difference.
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The mosquito, after it picks up the parasite by feeding on the blood of a person with the infection,
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then needs 15 to 20 days for the parasite to fully mature inside and it needs to expand inside the mosquito.
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Now if you think about the lifespan of the average mosquito,
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20 days is pushing it.
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So the mosquito has to survive that period of time.
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Now there's a problem for the parasite,
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which is in colder regions, it develops slower.
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So it's a race between the parasite getting ready to go to another person and the mosquito dying.
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And in colder places, and we used to have some malaria in southern England,
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but it's much easier to control because it's right on the edge of that temperature that's required.
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Mosquitoes also need moisture, and a lot of it.
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These insects lay their eggs in pools of stagnant or slow-moving water,
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where they hatch into larvae.
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The adults' delicate bodies are also susceptible to drying out,
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meaning they prefer humid atmospheres.
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These conditions tend to rule out cool, dry countries.
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But for some 90 countries spread around the equator,
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both Anopheles and Plasmodium have the perfect conditions to thrive,
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warm enough for the parasite to grow quickly and wet enough for the mosquito to spread it.
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You might not want to get too comfortable though.
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As the world continues to warm, climates will change.
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This tropical humid zone could expand,
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opening the way for Anopheles mosquitoes to breed in more environments.
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And just maybe, malaria will move with it.
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If you're lucky enough to live in a more developed part of the world,
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there are already ways to keep malaria at bay.
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We've known about some of them for centuries.
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Ancient texts on how to plan cities describe the importance of avoiding noxious wetland areas,
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such as swamps and marshes.
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The word malaria itself comes from the old Italian words meaning bad air.
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It's easy to see why.
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Before people knew much about the transmission of parasites,
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foul air near stagnant pools were considered responsible for causing illness.
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While the smell might be relatively harmless,
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stagnating warm water makes for the perfect mosquito breeding ground.
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In many parts of the world,
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humans have done a good job of eradicating mosquitoes by fumigating,
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clearing away rubbish and draining wetlands as cities expand.
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In other areas, human activity has encouraged mosquitoes to breed.
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From digging up the earth for mines,
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to leaving buildings to crumble,
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abandoning tyres and other rubbish,
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to having inadequate drainage where predator-free puddles form.
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Mosquito eggs can hatch in peace and quiet.
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Moving populations can also create the right conditions for malaria to spread,
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not just by carrying the parasite with them,
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but by changing the landscape to suit breeding mosquitoes.
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Caroline Maxwell works for the charity group Malaria No More.
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According to her, as people are forced to move into unplanned settlements,
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the environment can change with them.
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One of the biggest challenges around malaria control is things like urbanisation or people moving to spontaneous settlements such as shantytowns.
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And often when this is done in a very rapid way,
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it's not in a controlled fashion at all.
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So you get poor drainage systems,
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you get stagnant water, and that again can increase the breeding for mosquitoes.
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And so it's really important that governments or town planners come together
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and ensure that things are done in a very systemised way,
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that irrigation projects, drainage and
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so on are done in a very controlled fashion to reduce people being exposed to the mosquito that carries malaria.
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Destroying natural environments is also increasing the risk of bringing more people into contact with this deadly disease.
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Dr Sutherland describes another example where humans moving into new areas can increase the risk of disease.
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There's a kind of malaria that is at home in the monkeys of Southeast Asia,
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mainly live in the forests and rarely have interaction with humans.
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But as the environment is being changed and forests are being cleared for plantations and human habitation,
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the monkeys are forced to live close to the humans.
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Now the mosquitoes that bite those monkeys are biting humans who are getting this kind of malaria which the monkeys have.
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So that's been an increasing problem only in a few countries in Southeast Asia.
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So that's an example of where humans have changed the environment and malaria risk has gone up.
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With enough money, countries might be able to afford better sanitation,
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efficient waste disposal programmes, or ways to keep their environment free of pooling water,
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wiping out mosquitoes before they can even breed.
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Governments can designate land as national reserves,
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preventing it from being cleared.
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Wealthy nations can also afford treatments to clear the illness from human populations,
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driving Plasmodium to extinction with preventative medications.
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Not all nations have such resources, unfortunately.
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In less economically developed countries,
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individuals' poverty might mean they can't afford these treatments
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or don't complete their prescription to keep some drugs on hand for next time,
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which increases the parasite's resistance to the medication.
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If we're to ever have hope of controlling and wiping out malaria,
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we need to consider how to work together in this fight.
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There's an acceptance that it takes a global level of effort
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from partnership between many countries and many organisations to make a difference.
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And it's taken that level,
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a global level of effort,
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to push back this disease locality by locality.
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You know, it's step by step and reducing malaria at the most vulnerable places first and then moving on.

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本课概述

在本课中,学习者将通过了解疟疾的成因,提升他们的英语口语能力。内容将涵盖疟疾的传播方式及其影响,帮助学习者增强对相关主题的理解,并在表达时使用更准确的词汇。通过学习这些信息,学生不仅可以提高英语发音,也能在日常交流中更自信地讨论医疗健康相关的话题。

关键词汇与短语

  • 疟疾 - malaria
  • 传播载体 - vector
  • 寄生虫 - parasite
  • 人类红细胞 - human red blood cells
  • 蚊子 - mosquito
  • 温度 - temperature
  • 水分 - moisture
  • 女性蚊子 - female mosquito

练习技巧

在这一节中,当你观看视频并进行跟读时,可以尝试用不同的语调和速度去模仿讲解者的声音。考虑到视频的内容涉及科学知识,讲解者的语速常常适中,因此特别适合进行shadowing练习。你可以在看YouTube学英语时,先暂停视频并回顾每个句子,确保理解内容后再进行跟读。这种方法不仅能帮助你提高英语发音,还有助于加深对知识点的理解。通过这样的方式,加快口语交流能力是完全可能的,同时也能更熟练地运用新的词汇和短语。

什么是跟读法?

跟读法 (Shadowing) 是一种有科学依据的语言学习技巧,最初开发用于专业口译员的培训,并由多语言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。这个方法简单而强大:您在听英语母语原声的同时立即大声重复——就像是一个延迟1-2秒紧跟说话者的影子。与被动听力或语法练习不同,跟读法强迫您的大脑和口腔肌肉同时处理并模仿真实的讲话模式。研究表明它能显着提高发音准确性,语调,节奏,连读,听力理解和口语流利度——使其成为雅思口语备考和真实英语交流最有效的方法之一。

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