英国科学家们表示，人类出生后几个小时内接触到的细菌可能有助于人体免受严重的感染。

We come out of the womb sterile, but that doesn't last for long. All the nooks and crannies of the human body soon become home to microbial life. In this study, scientists took stool samples from 1,000 newborns. Those first colonised by Bifidobacterium longum were half as likely to end up in hospital with a lung infection than those with different starter bacteria.

我们从子宫里出来时是无菌的，但这种状态不会持续太久。人体的每个角落和缝隙很快就会成为微生物群落的家园。在这项研究中，科学家们采集了 1000 名新生儿的粪便样本。他们发现那些体内最早被长双歧杆菌占领建立菌群的婴儿，其日后因肺部感染住院的几率仅为携带其它初始菌群婴儿的一半。

It's the first time the way our microbial ecosystem forms has been shown to reduce infections. The researchers at UCL and the Sanger Institute said it was a phenomenal finding. Early life is a critical period for developing the immune system and these latest findings could lead to the development of new therapies similar to a probiotic yoghurt to give good bacteria to babies.

这是首次有研究显示我们体内微生物生态系统的形成方式可以减少感染。来自伦敦大学学院和桑格研究所的研究人员们称这一发现意义重大。生命早期是免疫系统发育的关键时期，这些最新研究成果可能会促进新疗法的开发，类似于益生菌酸奶那样，为婴儿提供有益细菌。

词汇表

sterile 无菌的
nooks and crannies 角落和缝隙
microbial 微生物的
stool samples 粪便样本
newborns 新生儿
colonised 被…占领
starter bacteria 初始菌群，最早进入人体并建立菌群的细菌群
ecosystem 生态系统
immune system 免疫系统
findings 研究结果
probiotic 益生菌的

听力练习

一、听第一遍音频，回答问题。

1. Is this article about how people catch infections, or how infection can be prevented?

二、用一分钟阅读下列问题，然后听第二遍音频并回答问题。

1. What starts to grow on our bodies as soon as we are born?
a. nooks and crannies
b. microbes
c. lung infections

2. Bifidobacterium longum could prevent babies being hospitalised.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

3. The start of our lifetimes is a very important time for developing _______ ?
a. infections
b. our ability to fight infections
c. probiotic therapy

4. This research shows that newborns should be given yoghurt.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

三、听第三遍音频，将句子补充完整。（提示：可以反复听，直到听清楚每一个词）

1. Those first colonised by Bifidobacterium longum were half as likely to ________________ hospital with a lung infection than those with different starter bacteria.

2. The researchers at UCL and the Sanger Institute ________________ phenomenal finding.

答案

一、听第一遍音频，回答问题。

1. Is this article about how people catch infections, or how infection can be prevented?

The article is about how infection can be prevented. It mentions how certain bacteria lead to lower rates of lung infections and that treatments could be developed that use 'good bacteria'.

二、用一分钟阅读下列问题，然后听第二遍音频并回答问题。

1. b. microbes. We come out of the womb sterile, but that doesn't last for long. All the nooks and crannies of the human body soon become home to microbial life.

2. a. True. Those first colonised by Bifidobacterium longum were half as likely to end up in hospital with a lung infection than those with different starter bacteria.

3. b. Early life is a critical period for developing the immune system and these latest findings could lead to the development of new therapies similar to a probiotic yoghurt to give good bacteria to babies.

4. b. False. Early life is a critical period for developing the immune system and these latest findings could lead to the development of new therapies similar to a probiotic yoghurt to give good bacteria to babies.

三、听第三遍音频，将句子补充完整。（提示：可以反复听，直到听清楚每一个词）

1. Those first colonised by Bifidobacterium longum were half as likely to end up in hospital with a lung infection than those with different starter bacteria.

2. The researchers at UCL and the Sanger Institute said it was a phenomenal finding.