考博英语外刊选读丨​More evidence that animals reduce childh

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More evidence that animals reduce childhood allergies

题材：科普类

出处：The Economist 《经济学人》

字数：523 words

[1] The problem with a catchy name is that sometimes it catches on too well. Take the hygiene hypothesis, outlined in 1989 by David Strachan of St George’s, a hospital and medical school in London. It suggests that the rise of allergenic sensitivity observed in rich countries over the course of the 20th century may have been caused by a corresponding decline in childhood infections, and also by a shift from rural to urban living, so that children are no longer routinely exposed to farm animals.

【有时一个名字太过引人注目，反而会带来问题。以卫生学假说为例，该假说由伦敦圣乔治医院和医学院的大卫·斯特拉彻于1989年提出。该假说认为，通过观察，20世纪发达国家的过敏敏感性上升可能是由于童年期的感染相应下降以及从农村向城市生活的转变从而儿童不常接触农场动物所致。】

【重点词汇】

catchy /ˈkætʃi/ adj.  (乐曲、名字、广告) 引人注意的; 容易记住的

catch on 受欢迎；流行起来

hygiene /ˈhaɪdʒiːn/ n. 卫生

hypothesis /haɪˈpɒθəsɪs/ n. 假设；假说

allergenic /ˈæləˌdʒenɪk/ adj. 过敏的

infection /ɪnˈfekʃn/ n. 传染；感染

routinely /ruːˈtiːnli/ adv. 常规地

【长难句分析】

It suggests that the rise of allergenic sensitivity observed in rich countries over the course of the 20th century may have been caused by a corresponding decline in childhood infections, and also by a shift from rural to urban living, so that children are no longer routinely exposed to farm animals.

主句：It suggests… (it指代前面提到的“假说”)

宾语从句：the rise of allergenic sensitivity may have been caused by …, and also by…

observed in rich countries…是过去分词短语做后置定语，其中in rich countries是地点状语，over the course of the 20th century是时间状语。

结果状语从句：so that children are no longer routinely exposed to farm animals

[2] Dr Strachan’s work still has much to recommend it. What the catchy label has fostered, however, is an erroneous belief that cleanliness is not necessarily a health benefit. In reality, says Thomas Marrs, a paediatric allergist at Kings College, London, hygiene is usually about bugs causing infection—and the bugs that may be beneficial are different from those which do that. But it is plain to see why alternative descriptions, such as “the high turnover and diversity hypothesis” or “the microbial deprivation hypothesis”, have not caught on, more accurate though they may be.

【斯特拉彻博士的研究仍然有很多值得推荐的地方。然而，这个朗朗上口的标签滋生了一种错误的观念，即清洁不一定有益于健康。伦敦国王学院的儿科过敏症专科医生托马斯·马斯说，事实上，卫生问题通常是致病菌引起的感染问题——益菌可能与致病菌不同。但是为什么 “高周转和多样性假说”或“微生物剥夺假说”等更准确的描述并没有流行起来，这是很明显的。】

【重点词汇】

erroneous /ɪˈrəʊniəs/ adj. 错误的

paediatric /ˌpiːdiˈætrɪk/ adj. 儿科的

microbial /maɪˈkrəʊbɪəl/ adj. 微生物的；由细菌引起的

[3] In an attempt to collect further data on the matter, Okabe Hisao of Fukushima Medical University and his colleagues have trawled through the Japan Environment and Children’s Study, which tracked over 100,000 pregnancies between 2011 and 2014. Pursuing the animal connection, they looked for correlations between household pet ownership before and immediately after a child’s birth, and any food allergies diagnosed in that child’s first three years. They have just published their results in PLOS ONE.

【为了进一步收集相关数据，福岛医科大学的冈部久雄和他的同事们查阅了日本环境与儿童研究，该研究在2011年至2014年间追踪了10万多名孕妇。为了追溯过敏症与动物的联系，他们研究了孩子出生前和出生后家中是否养宠物，与孩子在3岁前是否诊断出任何食物过敏症的相关性。他们刚刚在PLOS ONE上发表了他们的研究结果。】

【重点词汇】

trawl /trɔːl/ v. 查阅（资料）；搜集 (trawl through sth.)

correlation /ˌkɒrəˈleɪʃn/ n. 相互关系，关联 

[4] Of the 66,000 or so children they chose to look at, 22% had been born into households with pets, and were thus exposed to microbes and other potential allergens from those animals both before and after birth. Children in households with dogs, the researchers found, had lower rates than average of allergies to eggs, milk and nuts. Those cohabiting with cats seemed more tolerant of eggs, wheat and soyabeans. However, children whose parents kept “turtles” (terrapins, in particular, are popular pets in Japan) appeared unaffected. And, curiously, those exposed to hamsters appeared more likely than average to be allergic to nuts.

【研究者们挑选了6.6万名儿童进行观察，其中22%出生在有宠物的家庭，因此这些儿童在出生前后都接触到这些动物的微生物和其他可能的过敏原。研究人员发现，养狗家庭中的儿童对鸡蛋、牛奶和坚果的过敏率低于平均水平。养猫家庭中的儿童似乎对鸡蛋、小麦和大豆更耐受。然而，养“龟”(尤其是在日本颇受欢迎的“水龟”)家庭中的孩子似乎不受影响。奇怪的是，有仓鼠家庭中的儿童似乎比平均水平更容易对坚果过敏。

【重点词汇】

microbe /ˈmaɪkrəʊb/ n. 微生物

allergen /ˈælədʒən/n. 过敏原

hamster /ˈhæmstə(r)/ n. 仓鼠

[5] What exactly all this means is unclear. One potentially important observation is that both pre- and postpartum exposure were needed for the observed effects to show up. Neither, by itself, was sufficient. Possibly, it is the time around birth itself which is the crucial factor, for this is when it is believed that the bulk of a child’s gut flora is established.

【这一切究竟意味着什么尚不清楚。一个可能重要的观察是，需要在出生前和出生后都接触才能出现观察的效果。单独某个阶段接触是不够的。可能关键因素是妊娠阶段，因为人们认为这是儿童肠道菌群建立的主要时间。】

【重点词汇】

postpartum /pəʊstˈpɑːtəm/ adj. 产后的

bulk /bʌlk/n. 主体；大部分

flora /ˈflɔːrə/ n. (尤指某个地区的) 植物群

[6] There are confounding variables. The researchers themselves point out that pet-owning households are more likely to live in the countryside, with its other sources of immune-system-stimulating factors. And, as Dr Marrs observes, allergy-prone families are less likely to own pets in the first place. These facts, rather than the presence of companion animals, might explain at least part of the effect.

【这里存在混杂变量。研究人员自己指出，养宠物的家庭更有可能生活在农村，那里有其他刺激免疫系统的因素。而且，正如马尔斯博士所观察到的，容易过敏的家庭一开始就不太可能养宠物。有这些事实的存在，而不是有宠物的存在，可能至少解释了部分效应。】

【重点词汇】

variable /ˈveəriəbl/ adj. 多变的；n. 可变情况；变量

[7] Confirming or denying this will need more study. Nevertheless, Dr Okabe’s contribution is an interesting addition to the debate about Dr Strachan’s brainchild.

【确认或否认这一点还需要更多的研究。尽管如此，冈部博士的贡献是对斯特拉彻博士假说争论的一个有趣的补充。】

【重点词汇】

nevertheless /ˌnevəðəˈles/ adv. 尽管如此；不过；然而

brainchild /ˈbreɪntʃaɪld/n. 主义；发明