剑桥雅思16Test2Passage2阅读原文翻译 I contain multitudes 微生物
剑桥雅思16阅读第二套题目第二篇文章的主题为微生物。文章一共九段，分别介绍了微生物的历史，其普遍性，多样性，发现过程，人们对待微生物的态度等内容。下面是具体每一段的翻译。
点击查看这篇雅思阅读具体题目的答案解析与其中出现的高频词汇：
雅思阅读真题词汇 剑桥雅思16 Test 2 Passage 2 微生物
剑桥雅思16Test2Passage2阅读答案解析 I contain multitudes 微生物
剑桥雅思16 Test2 Passage1阅读原文翻译
第1段
Microbes, most of them bacteria, have populated this planet since long before animal life developed and they will outlive us. Invisible to the naked eye, they are ubiquitous. They inhabit the soil, air, rocks and water and are present within every form of life, from seaweed and coral to dogs and humans. And, as Yong explains in his utterly absorbing and hugely important book, we mess with them at our peril.
微生物，大多数都是细菌，在动物出现很早以前就生活在地球上，而且它们会在我们消失之后继续存在。虽然裸眼看不到，但它们到处都是。它们出现在土壤、空气、岩石和水中，也存在于任何形式的生命内部，从海草和珊瑚，到狗和人类。并且，正如杨在其十分引人入胜又至关重要的书中所说的那样，我们冒着危险操纵它们。
第2段
Every species has its own colony of microbes, called a ‘microbiome’, and these microbes vary not only between species but also between individuals and within different parts of each individual. What is amazing is that while the number of human cells in the average person is about 30 trillion, the number of microbial ones is higher – about 39 trillion. At best, Yong informs us, we are only 50 per cent human. Indeed, some scientists even suggest we should think of each species and its microbes as a single unit, dubbed a ‘holobiont’.
每个物种都有它们自己的微生物群落，被叫做“微生物群”。不同物种之间，不同个体之间，乃至每个个体的不同部分之间，微生物都各有不同。令人惊讶的是，虽然平均每个人身上拥有大约30万亿的细胞，微生物的个数要更高一些，大约39万亿。杨告诉我们，哪怕在最好的情况下，我们也仅有50%属于人类。确实，一些科学家甚至认为，我们应该将每个物种及其微生物视为一体，称之为“holobiont”。
第3段
In each human there are microbes that live only in the stomach, the mouth or the armpit and by and large they do so peacefully. So ‘bad’ microbes are just microbes out of context. Microbes that sit contentedly in the human gut (where there are more microbes than there are stars in the galaxy) can become deadly if they find their way into the bloodstream. This article is from Laokaoya website. These communities are constantly changing too. The right hand shares just one sixth of its microbes with the left hand. And, of course, we are surrounded by microbes. Every time we eat, we swallow a million microbes in each gram of food; we are continually swapping microbes with other humans, pets and the world at large…
在每个人身上，都有只存在于胃部，口腔或腋窝的微生物。大体而言，它们生活的十分平和。所以，“坏”微生物实际只是脱离相应环境的微生物。惬意地生活在人类消化道中的微生物（那里的微生物数量甚至比银河系里的星星还多）如果进入血液的话就会变得非常致命。这些群落也经常发生变化。右手上的微生物和左手相比只有六分之一相同。当然，我们也被微生物所围绕着。每次吃饭的时候，伴随每克食物，我们会吞下100万个微生物。我们与其他人类，宠物和整个世界一直都在持续进行微生物的交换。
第4段
It’s a fascinating topic and Yong, a young British science journalist, is an extraordinarily adept guide. Writing with lightness and panache, he has a knack of explaining complex science in terms that are both easy to understand and totally enthralling. Yong is on a mission. Leading us gently by the hand, he takes us into the world of microbes – a bizarre, alien planet – in a bid to persuade us to love them as much as he does. By the end, we do.
这是个迷人的话题。杨，年轻的英国自然科学记者，是位十分娴熟的向导。他将复杂的科学术语用易于理解又让人着迷的方式解释出来。杨身负使命。轻轻地拉着我们的手，他将我们带入微生物的世界-一个光怪陆离而陌生的星球-尝试让我们像他一样爱上它们。在读完整本书之后，我们确实如此。
第5段
For most of human history we had no idea that microbes existed. The first man to see these extraordinarily potent creatures was a Dutch lens-maker called Antony van Leeuwenhoek in the 1670s. Using microscopes of his own design that could magnify up to 270 times, he examined a drop of water from a nearby lake and found it teeming with tiny creatures he called ‘animalcules’. It wasn’t until nearly two hundred years later that the research of French biologist Louis Pasteur indicated that some microbes caused disease. It was Pasteur’s ‘germ theory’ that gave bacteria the poor image that endures today.
在人类历史的大部分时间，我们都不知道微生物的存在。17世纪70年代，一名叫做Antony van Leeuwenhoek的荷兰镜片工匠文章来自老烤鸭雅思第一次看到了这些极其强大的生物。利用自己设计的、可以放大到270倍的显微镜，他检验了附近湖泊的一滴水，发现其中充满他称之为“animalcules”的微小生物。直到近200年后，法国生物学家Louis Pasteur的研究才表明，一些微生物会引发疾病。正是Pasteur的病菌理论赋予细菌一直延续到今天的不良形象。
第6段
Yong’s book is in many ways a plea for microbial tolerance, pointing out that while fewer than one hundred species of bacteria bring disease, many thousands more play a vital role in maintaining our health. The book also acknowledges that our attitude towards bacteria is no a simple one. We tend to see the dangers posed by bacteria, yet at the same time we are sold yoghurts and drinks that supposedly nurture “friendly’ bacteria. In reality, says Yong, bacteria should not be viewed as either friends or foes, villains or heroes. Instead we should realise we have a symbiotic relationship, that can be mutually beneficial or mutually destructive.
杨的书用多种方式请求我们对微生物持容忍态度。他指出，虽然有不到100种细菌会带来疾病，但还有上千种在维护我们的健康方面发挥着举足轻重的作用。这本书也认识到，我们对待细菌的态度并不统一。我们会看到细菌所造成的危险，但与此同时我们也会购买培养益生菌的酸奶和饮料。事实上，杨认为细菌既不应该被当作是朋友，也不应该被认为是敌人。它们既不是恶棍，也不是英雄。与之相反，我们应该意识到我们之间存在共生关系，即可以互相增益，也可以互相毁灭。
第7段
What then do these millions of organisms do? The answer is pretty much everything. New research is now unravelling the ways in which bacteria aid digestion, regulate our immune systems, eliminate toxins, produce vitamins, affect our behaviour and even combat obesity. ‘They actually help us become who we are,’ says Yong. But we are facing a growing problem. Our obsession with hygiene, our overuse of antibiotics and our unhealthy, low-fibre diets are disrupting the bacterial balance and may be responsible for soaring rates of allergies and immune problems, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
那么，这些数以百万计的生命究竟做什么呢？答案是几乎任何事情。新的研究如今表明，细菌帮助消化，管理我们的免疫系统，消除毒素，生产维生素，影响我们的行为，甚至对抗肥胖。“它们实际上帮助我们塑造自身”，杨说。但我们也面临越来越严重的问题。我们对卫生的痴迷，对抗生素的过度使用，以及我们不健康的、低纤维的饮食正在破坏菌落平衡，并且可能要为越来越多的过敏和免疫系统疾病负责，如炎性肠病。
第8段
The most recent research actually turns accepted norms upside down. For example, there are studies indicating that the excessive use of household detergents and antibacterial products actually destroys the microbes that normally keep the more dangerous germs at bay. Other studies show that keeping a dog as a pet gives children early exposure to a diverse range of bacteria which may help protect them against allergies later.
最新的研究实际上颠覆了我们普遍接受的观点。例如，有研究表明，在家庭中过度使用洗涤剂和抗菌产品会破坏平时阻碍更为危险的细菌入侵的微生物。其他研究表明，养一条狗作为宠物会让孩子早早接触到各类细菌，这有助于保护他们日后免受过敏的困扰。
第9段
The readers of Yong’s book must be prepared for a decidedly unglamorous world. Among the less appealing case studies is one about a fungus that is wiping out entire populations of frogs and that can be halted by a rare microbial bacterium. Another is about squid that carry luminescent bacteria that protect them against predators. However, if you can overcome your distaste for some of the investigations, the reasons for Yong’s enthusiasm become clear. The microbial world is a place of wonder. Already, in an attempt to stop mosquitoes spreading dengue fever – a disease that infects 400 million people a year – mosquitoes are being loaded with a bacterium to block the disease. In the future, our ability to manipulate microbes means we could construct buildings with useful microbes built into their walls to fight off infections. Just imagine a neonatal hospital ward coated in a specially mixed cocktail of microbes so that babies get the best start in life.
杨的作品的读者必须做好了解一个十分乏味的世界的准备。在不那么让人喜欢的案例研究中有一项是关于某个正在灭绝整个青蛙群体的真菌的，而只有一种稀有的细菌才能终止这一过程。另外一项是关于乌贼的。它们所携带的可以发光的细菌保护他们远离捕食者。然而，如果你可以克服对一些研究的厌恶，杨热情背后的原因就会变得十分明显。微生物世界充满了惊喜。在阻止蚊子传播革登热（一种每年感染4亿人的疾病）的尝试中，蚊子被搭载上一种可以阻碍疾病的细菌。未来，我们操纵微生物的能力意味着我们可以建造墙壁中内嵌微生物以对抗感染的建筑。想象一下，崭新医院病房覆盖着经过特定混合后的微生物，以便婴儿可以完美开启他们的生命。
剑桥雅思16Test2Passage1阅读原文翻译 The White Horse of Uffington 阿芬顿的白马
剑桥雅思16Test2Passage3阅读原文翻译 How to make wise decisions 如何做出明智的决策
