万物简史第214期:把铅撵出去(3)-英语课

时间：2019-02-17 作者：英语课 分类：万物简史

英语课

　　As Sharon Bertsch McGrayne notes in her absorbing history of industrial chemistry, Prometheans in the Lab, when employees at one plant developed irreversible delusions 1, a spokesman blandly 2 informed reporters: "These men probably went insane because they worked too hard." Altogether at least fifteen workers died in the early days of production of leaded gasoline, and untold 3 numbers of others became ill, often violently so; the exact numbers are unknown because the company nearly always managed to hush 4 up news of embarrassing leakages 5, spills, and poisonings. At times, however, suppressing the news became impossible, most notably 6 in 1924 when in a matter of days five production workers died and thirty-five more were turned into permanent staggering wrecks 7 at a single ill-ventilated facility.

　　正如沙伦·伯奇·麦格雷恩在她的工业化学史《实验室里的普罗米修斯》一书中指出的，要是哪家工厂的雇员得了不可治愈的幻觉症，发言人便会厚颜无耻地告诉记者：“这些人之所以精神失常，很可能是因为工作太辛苦。”在生产含铅汽油的初期，至少有15名工人死亡，数不清的人得病，常常是大病。确切的数字无法知道，因为公司几乎总是能掩盖过去，从不透露令人难堪的泄漏、溢出和中毒等消息。然而，有的时候，压制消息已经不可能──尤其值得注意的是在1924年，在几天时间里，光在一个通风不良的场所就有5名生产工人死亡，35名工人终身残疾。
　　As rumors 8 circulated about the dangers of the new product, ethyl's ebullient 9 inventor, Thomas Midgley, decided 10 to hold a demonstration 11 for reporters to allay 12 their concerns. As he chatted away about the company's commitment to safety, he poured tetraethyl lead over his hands, then held a beaker of it to his nose for sixty seconds, claiming all the while that he could repeat the procedure daily without harm. In fact, Midgley knew only too well the perils 13 of lead poisoning: he had himself been made seriously ill from overexposure a few months earlier and now, except when reassuring 14 journalists, never went near the stuff if he could help it.
　　随着有关新产品很危险的谣言四起，为了打消人们的担心，四乙铅汽油的发明者托马斯·米奇利决定当着记者的面作一次现场表演。他一面大谈公司如何确保安全，一面往自己的手上泼含铅汽油，还把一烧杯这类汽油放在鼻子跟前达60秒之久，不停声称他每天可以这么干而不受任何伤害。其实，米奇利心里对铅中毒的危险很清楚：他几个月之前还因接触太多而害了一场大病，现在除了在记者面前以外决不接近那玩意儿，只要可能的话。

1 delusions

n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想

the delusions of the mentally ill 精神病患者的妄想
She wants to travel first-class: she must have delusions of grandeur. 她想坐头等舱旅行，她一定自以为很了不起。来自辞典例句

2 blandly

adv.温和地，殷勤地

There is a class of men in Bristol monstrously prejudiced against Blandly. 布里斯托尔有那么一帮人为此恨透了布兰德利。来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
\"Maybe you could get something in the stage line?\" he blandly suggested. “也许你能在戏剧这一行里找些事做，\"他和蔼地提议道。来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 untold

adj.数不清的，无数的

She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。

4 hush

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

5 leakages

泄露；漏( leakage的名词复数 )；漏出；漏出物；渗漏物

We can see that the flow has both leakages from it and injection into it. 我们就可以看到，这个流量既有漏出的又有注入的。
We can see that the flow has both leakages from it and injections into it. 我们就可以看到，这个流量是既有漏出的又有注入的。

6 notably

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

7 wrecks

n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉

万物简史 第214期:把铅撵出去(3)

万物简史第214期:把铅撵出去(3)