Just as in 2001, if an animal is thought to be infected, its herd will be culled and a quarantine zone set up. But this time, unless the disease is stamped out quickly, animals nearby will also be vaccinated to create a “fire-break” across which it is unlikely to travel. Already 300,000 doses of vaccine have been ordered, so that if government vets decide that slaughter alone is unlikely to be effective, they can start vaccinating straight away.

Humans almost never catch foot-and-mouth and it rarely kills the cloven-hooved beasts it affects. But animals produce less milk and meat, so its economic effects are severe. It is also highly contagious: infected livestock produce the virus that causes it in large quantities, and transmit it through saliva, mucus, milk, faeces and even droplets in their breath.

Even so, only countries where foot-and-mouth is endemic, as in parts of Latin America, vaccinate all animals. One reason is cost: the disease is caused by a virus with seven main types and tens of sub-types, with a targeted vaccine needed for each strain and shots repeated, perhaps as often as twice a year. It is also because vaccinating damages exports. Places that are free from foot-and-mouth are unwilling to import vaccinated beasts, or fresh meat from them, because they may still carry the disease.

The fear of being shut out of foreign markets led to the British government's disastrous foot-dragging over vaccination in 2001. But that same year an outbreak in the Netherlands involving 26 farms was brought under control in just one month by vaccinating 200,000 animals. Though healthy, these beasts then had to be culled so that farmers could return to exporting without restrictions as soon as possible.

Not even eternal vigilance on imports can keep a country free of foot-and-mouth disease: the latest outbreak was apparently caused by a breach of bio-security at the Pirbright laboratory complex in Surrey, where government researchers keep the live virus for vaccine research and Merial, an American animal-health company, manufactures vaccine for export. Human action, accidental or deliberate, seems likely to have been involved.

Ironically, one reason for eschewing vaccination is that although it provides the best hope of dealing with outbreaks, maintaining the capacity to produce vaccine is itself a risky business. Many earlier episodes of foot-and-mouth in countries normally free from the disease have been caused by laboratory escapes; in 1970 a leak from Pirbright's isolation facilities was fortunately contained.

1. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of the foot-and-mouth disease in Briton in 2001?

[A] The disease had not been effectively controlled throughout the event.

[B] The policy of slaughtering animals to stop the disease spread proved to be a failure.

[C] The slaughtering policy was arousing discontent among the public in Britons.

[D] The government failed to take immediate actions of creating fire-break around the infected livestock.

2. The new policy is different from the policy in 2001 in the following aspects except that _____.

[A] the piles of animals will not be slaughtered as in 2001

[B] animals near the infected herb will be injected with vaccine

[C] a belt of quarantine with vaccinated animals will be erected

[D] more attention is paid to the prevention of the outbreak of the epidemic

3. Only a few countries have all of their animals injected with vaccines because of the following reasons except that _____.

[A] it is unnecessary to vaccinate all the animals in counties in which there are little chances of infecting foot-and-mouth

[B] the cost of vaccines against all types of the virus causing the disease is very high

[C] vaccinated animals are less welcomed by importing countries

[D] the vaccine cost will be rising as types of virus causing the disease are increasing

4. Though vaccinated animals were free from the foot-and-mouth in Britain and Netherlands in 2001, they were still slaughtered because _____.

[A] they may be more likely to infect the virus than the healthy ones

[B] the exporting restrictions were too strict to let these animals pass the customs

[C] the farmers were afraid of being deprived of the exporting right

[D] the government wanted to regain the former status of exporting animals

5. The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease may be a result of the following situations except _____.

[A] animals being wrongly or incompletely injected with vaccination

[B] importing animals from the countries with the foot-and-mouth disease

[C] leak of the virus during the research experimentation

[D] malicious leaking virus intended by some people with particular purpose





文章剖析


这篇文章介绍了英国应对口蹄疫的一些情况。第一段讲述了英国2001年发生口蹄疫后，采取的措施效果不佳；第二段讲述现在应对口蹄疫的新方法；第三段讲述口蹄疫带来的危害；第四段和第五段讲述注射疫苗的方法存在的问题；第六段和第七段讲述研制疫苗过程中的病毒泄漏可能导致疫情爆发。





词汇注释


searing adj. 灼热的，剧痛的

draconian adj. 严峻的

cull vt. 剔除，杀掉

revulsion n. 巨变；强烈的反感

quarantine n. 隔离

stamp out 根除

contagious adj. 传染性的

saliva n. 唾液

mucus n. 黏液

faeces n. 粪便

droplet n. 小滴

endemic adj. 地方性的





难句突破


① One reason is cost: the disease is caused by a virus with seven main types and tens of sub-types, with a targeted vaccine needed for each strain and shots repeated, perhaps as often as twice a year.

主体句式：One reason is cost: the disease is caused by a virus...

结构分析：a virus后面with引导的短语作定语；with a targeted vaccine...作前面types and sub-types的定语。

句子译文：其原因之一就是成本：口蹄疫由一种病毒引发，该病毒有七个主要的类型和十几个变种，每个重复出现的种类有对应的疫苗，通常一年重复出现两次。

② Not even eternal vigilance on imports can keep a country free of foot-and-mouth disease: the latest outbreak was apparently caused by a breach of bio-security at the Pirbright laboratory complex in Surrey, where government researchers keep the live virus for vaccine research and Merial, an American animal-health company, manufactures vaccine for export.

主体句式：Not even eternal vigilance... can keep a country free of...: the latest outbreak was... caused by...

结构分析：本句中where引导的定语从句用来修饰前面的Surrey；这个定语从句是由一对并列句构成的。

句子译文：对进口产品保持警觉也不能保证一个国家不受口蹄疫的困扰，最近的一次疫情爆发显然是由于Surrey的Pirbright实验室的复合体生物的安全出现了问题，政府研究人员在那里保存了活体病毒供疫苗研究，而美国动物健康公司Merial则制造疫苗供出口。





题目分析


1. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of the foot-and-mouth disease in Briton in 2001?

[A] The disease had not been effectively controlled throughout the event.

[B] The policy of slaughtering animals to stop the disease spread proved to be a failure.

[C] The slaughtering policy was arousing discontent among the public in Britons.

[D] The government failed to take immediate actions of creating fire-break around the infected livestock.

1. 关于英国2001年口蹄疫的情况，下列哪项陈述是错误的？

[A] 在整个事件的过程中该疾病没有得到有效的控制。

[B] 屠宰动物来阻止疾病传播的政策最终失败了。

[C] 处理该疾病的屠宰政策在英国公众中引起了不满。

[D] 政府没有采取迅速的措施隔离染病的动物。

答案：D　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：细节题。第一段指出，如果该疾病得到了迅速的控制，那么如此严厉的政策可以为人们所接受，由此可以看出，疾病没有得到有效控制。因此选项A的表述是正确的。选项B，第一段提到这种政策不是很有效，因此可以说是失败了。选项C，第一段提到了这种政策没有效果，因此引起了更大范围的反感。文章第二段指出，政府若发现染病的动物，会设立隔离区，由此可知D项表述不正确，应选D。

2. The new policy is different from the policy in 2001 in the following aspects except that _____.

[A] the piles of animals will not be slaughtered as in 2001

[B] animals near the infected herb will be injected with vaccine

[C] a belt of quarantine with vaccinated animals will be erected

[D] more attention is paid to the prevention of the outbreak of the epidemic

2. 新政策和2001年的政策的不同之处在于下列除 _____ 外的其他地方。

[A] 牧群不再被屠杀

[B] 染病牧群附近的动物都注射了疫苗

[C] 用注射了疫苗的动物构成一条隔离带

[D] 更加注重防御该流行病的爆发

答案：A　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：细节题。根据第二段，新政策主要是给染病牧群附近的动物注射疫苗，形成隔离带。A，第二段提到了染病牧群还是会被屠宰掉，因此不是不同之处。B、C和D都是关于利用疫苗来进行防御的，符合题意。因此，答案为A。

3. Only a few countries have all of their animals injected with vaccines because of the following reasons except that _____.

[A] it is unnecessary to vaccinate all the animals in counties in which there are little chances of infecting foot-and-mouth

[B] the cost of vaccines against all types of the virus causing the disease is very high

[C] vaccinated animals are less welcomed by importing countries

[D] the vaccine cost will be rising as types of virus causing the disease are increasing

3. 只有少数国家给所有的动物都注射了疫苗，这是因为下列除了 _____ 以外的原因。

[A] 在那些很少有机会出现口蹄疫的国家不需要给所有的动物都注射疫苗

[B] 预防所有种类口蹄疫病毒的疫苗成本是很高的

[C] 注射了疫苗的动物不再为进口国家所接受

[D] 随着口蹄疫病毒种类的增加，疫苗的成本也增加了

答案：D　难度系数：☆☆☆☆

分析：细节题。根据第四段，口蹄疫有一定的地方性，在某些频繁爆发的地区就要给所有的动物注射疫苗，而在其他的地方就不一定了。选项A, 虽然文章没有明显地提到这一点，但是可以推理得到该结论。选项B和C在第四段有所提及。选项D，第四段没有提到这一点，只是提到由于病毒种类多，疫苗成本也高。因此，答案为D。

4. Though vaccinated animals were free from the foot-and-mouth in Britain and Netherlands in 2001, they were still slaughtered because _____.

[A] they may be more likely to infect the virus than the healthy ones

[B] the exporting restrictions were too strict to let these animals pass the customs

[C] the farmers were afraid of being deprived of the exporting right

[D] the government wanted to regain the former status of exporting animals

4. 2001年在英国和荷兰，虽然被注射了疫苗的动物没有感染口蹄疫，但还是被屠宰了，这是因为 _____。

[A] 它们比健康的动物更容易感染该疾病

[B] 出口限制过于严格，这些动物都通不过海关

[C] 农场主害怕被剥夺了出口的权利

[D] 政府想要重新获得先前出口动物的地位

答案：D　难度系数：☆☆

分析：推理题。根据第五段，尽管牲畜很健康，还是被屠宰掉，以便于农场主可以尽快不受限制地出口动物。结合上文英国政府和荷兰政府的措施，可以推断出，这样做是因为政府害怕被挤出国外的市场，试图恢复以前的出口地位。选项D最为符合题意。

5. The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease may be a result of the following situations except _____.

[A] animals being wrongly or incompletely injected with vaccination

[B] importing animals from the countries with the foot-and-mouth disease

[C] leak of the virus during the research experimentation

[D] malicious leaking virus intended by some people with particular purpose

5. 以下除 _____ 外的情况可能导致口蹄疫的爆发。

[A] 动物被错误地或者没有完全地注射疫苗

[B] 从其他有口蹄疫情的国家进口动物

[C] 在研究试验中病毒泄漏

[D] 一些人怀着某种特殊目的恶意泄漏病毒

答案：A　难度系数：☆☆☆☆

分析：细节题。根据第六段和第七段，出现口蹄疫情可能是由于在研制疫苗时发生病毒泄露，可能是无意的，也可能是有意为之，因此，选项C和D的因素会导致口蹄疫。前面又提到进口受到严格限制，以避免传染口蹄疫，可见这也是一个途径，选项B的表述符合这个情况。而选项A，动物被注射了疫苗后应该是被免疫了，而不是导致口蹄疫，因此，该选项是正确选项。





参考译文


英国2001年遭遇的口蹄疫情给人留下的最惨烈记忆就是，为了阻止疫情蔓延，大批的动物都被屠宰了。如果该疾病因而得以迅速控制，那么如此严厉的政策或许可以为人们所接受。但该政策没有什么效果——口蹄疫被根除前，共屠宰了600多万头牛、羊和猪——这引起了广大民众的反感和政府的重新思考。

在2001年，如果某个动物被认为染上了口蹄疫，那么其所在牧群就会被杀掉，而且还会设立隔离区。但是这一次，除非疾病被迅速根除，否则附近的动物也要进行预防接种，从而建立起一个“防御区”来阻止疾病的传播。政府已经预订了30万支疫苗，如果兽医认为仅仅来用屠宰这一种手段不是很有效的话，人们就可以立刻对牲畜进行预防接种了。

人类几乎从来不会染上口蹄疫，而且这种病很少会导致偶蹄类动物死亡。但是动物的产肉产奶量都会因此下降，经济收益的形势就变得很严峻。而且口蹄疫是高传染性的，染病的牲畜会制造病毒，使其数量增加，并通过唾液、黏液、奶、粪便，甚至呼吸中的小雾滴把它传播出去。

即便如此，只有在那些口蹄疫只是地方性疾病的国家，比如拉丁美洲的部分地区，才会给所有的动物都注射疫苗。其原因之一就是成本：口蹄疫由一种病毒引发，该病毒有七个主要的类型和十几个变种，每个重复出现的种类有对应的疫苗，通常一年重复出现两次。还有就是因为注射疫苗会影响动物出口。没有发生口蹄疫情的地区不愿意进口打了疫苗的动物，甚至也不愿意进口打过疫苗的动物的肉，因为害怕肉中可能仍旧带有疾病。

由于害怕被挤出国际市场，英国政府2001年迟迟不为牲畜注射疫苗，由此造成了灾难性的后果。但同年荷兰爆发了涉及26家农场的口蹄疫情，通过为20万头动物注射疫苗，只用了一个月时间疫情就得到了控制。尽管牲畜都很健康，但还是必须被屠宰掉，以便于农场主可以尽快不受限制地出口产品。

对进口产品保持警觉也不能保证一个国家不受口蹄疫的困扰，最近的一次疫情爆发显然是由于Surrey的Pirbright实验室的复合体生物的安全出现了问题，政府研究人员在那里保存了活体病毒供疫苗研究，而美国动物健康公司Merial则制造疫苗供出口。无论是偶然还是有预谋的，恐怕都有人为的原因。

具有讽刺意味的是，逃避疫苗接种的一个原因是，虽然接种提供了应对疾病爆发的最好办法，但是制造疫苗的能力本身就是件危险的事情。一些没有这种疾病的国家，其早期口蹄疫情的出现就是由实验室泄漏造成的。1970年Pirbright隔离设备的泄漏就被幸运地遏制住了。





TEXT TWO


“OH DEAR! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” So muttered the White Rabbit just before he plunged into Wonderland, with Alice in pursuit. Similar utterances have been escaping the lips of European physicists, as it was confirmed last week that their own subterranean Wonderland, a new machine called the Large Hadron Collider, will not now begin work until May 2008. This delay may enable their American rivals to scoop them by finding the Higgs boson—predicted 43 years ago by Peter Higgs of Edinburgh University to be the reason why matter has mass, but not yet actually discovered.

The Large Hadron Collider is a 27km-long circular accelerator that is being built at CERN, the European particle-physics laboratory near Geneva, specifically to look for the Higgs boson. When it eventually starts work, it will be the world's most powerful particle collider. It will also be the most expensive, having cost SFr10 billion （$8 billion） to build. The laboratory had hoped it would be ready in 2005, but the schedule has slipped repeatedly.

The most recent delay came at the end of March, with the dramatic failure of a magnet assembly that had been supplied by CERN's American counterpart, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) near Chicago. This device was one of four designed to focus beams of particles before they collide in the experimental areas. Admittedly, it had been placed under extreme conditions when it failed, but such forces are to be expected from time to time when the machine is running normally. The magnets have yet to be fixed, although physicists think they know how to do it.

Other, smaller hitches have compounded the problem. The collider has been built in eight sections, each of which must be cooled to temperatures only just above absolute zero. This is because the magnets used to accelerate the particles to the high energies needed for particle physics rely on the phenomenon of superconductivity to work—and superconductivity, in turn, needs extremely low temperatures. Unfortunately, the first of the eight sections took far longer to chill than had been expected.

If, as the other seven sections are cooled, further problems emerge, the start date will have to be put back still further. It takes a month to cool each section, and a month to warm each one back up to normal temperatures again. If it took, say, a month to fix any problems identified as a section cooled, each cycle would postpone the start date by three months.

To accelerate progress (as well as particles), CERN's management decided last week to cancel an engineering run scheduled for November. Instead of beginning slowly with some safe-but-dull low-energy collisions, the machine's first run will accelerate its particles to high energies straight away.

Such haste may be wise, for rumours are circulating that physicists working at the Tevatron, which is based at Fermilab and is currently the world's most powerful collider, have been seeing hints of the Higgs boson. Finding it would virtually guarantee the discoverer a Nobel Prize—shared jointly, no doubt, with Dr. Higgs. Hence the rush, as hundreds of physicists head down the rabbit hole, seeking their own adventures in Wonderland.

1. The sentences in Alice in Wonderland are cited in the first paragraph in order to _____.

[A] illustrate that the new machine European physicists have invented is full of wonder

[B] describe the mood of the European physicists facing the delay of the Large Hadron Collider

[C] tell people that the European physicists will put off the presentation of their new machine

[D] reflect the public's eagerness in using the Large Hadron Collider

2. The word “scoop” (Line 4, Paragraph 1) most probably means _____.

[A] forestall

[B] defeat

[C] surpass

[D] vanquish

3. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of Peter Higgs' contribution in this field?

[A] It was him who initiated the idea that there existed such a boson to make matter have mass.

[B] He made the famous estimate that human beings would find out such a boson in the future.

[C] He claimed with convincing evidence that America would outrun Europe in discovering the Higgs boson.