97 对人类基因数量的质疑
SCIENCE REPORT September 20, 2001: Number of Human Genes QuestionedBy George Grow
（Start at 1'01"） This is Bill White with the VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT.
Scientists are questioning a widely reported finding from the first (1)detailed study of the human (2)gene map. The scientists (3)dispute the finding that humans have only about thirty-thousand genes.
The new report suggests the true number could be much greater. The Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation in San Diego, California prepared the report. It was published in Cell magazine.
Other scientists have long (4)argued about the number of human genes. Some believe that humans have more than one-hundred-thousand genes.
The issue seemed to be settled last February. That is when two competing teams of scientists published their (5)efforts to map the position of every human gene. A private American company called Celera Genomics published one of the genetic maps. An international group called the Human Genome Project prepared the other. Each group of scientists (6)estimated that humans have about thirty-thousand genes. That is about two times as many genes as some (7)insects.
That number came as a surprise to some people. They wondered how an organism as (8)complex as a human could have so few genes. It is important for scientists to identify every human gene in order to understand how cells work and what causes disease. Some scientists believed the small number of genes was good news. It meant it would be easier to (9)identify all the genes and understand how they work.
In the new study, the Novartis scientists (10)compared the two groups of human genes from the two genetic maps. They found that the two groups of scientists had identified two different sets of genes. Only about half the genes are (11)common to both groups. The Novartis scientists say this means the number of human genes may be about forty-thousand.
The director of the Human Genome Project, Francis Collins, said he would not be surprised if humans were found to have more than thirty-thousand genes. Celera's President, Craig Venter, notes that the process of discovering the real number is not simple. He said many of the genes noted in his company's study had not been (12)confirmed.
The real number of human genes may not be known any time soon. Scientists say it probably will take years before we have a list of the genes that control human biology.
This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by George Grow.
(1) detailed[?????????? ]adj.详细的, 逐条的
(2) gene[ ????? ]n.[遗传]因子, [遗传]基因
(3) dispute[???????????]v.争论, 辩论, 怀疑, 抗拒, 阻止, 争夺(土地,胜利等)n.争论, 辩论, 争吵
(4) argue[???????? ]vi.争论, 辩论vt.说服
(5) effort[?????]n.努力, 成就
(6) estimate[?????????? ]v.估计, 估价, 评估n.估计, 估价, 评估
(7) insect[ ??????? ]n.昆虫, 卑鄙的人adj..虫的, 虫子一样的, 对付虫子的
(8) complex[ ????????? ]adj.复杂的, 合成的, 综合的n.联合体
(9) identify[???????????i ]vt.识别, 鉴别, 把...和...看成一样v.确定
(10) compare[???????? ]v.比较, 相比, 比喻 n.比较
(11) common[??????? ]adj.共同的, 公共的, 公有的, 普通的, 庸俗的, 伪劣的n.[复][总]平民, 公有, 普通, 共通
(12) confirm[????????? ]vt.确定, 批准, 使巩固, 使有效v.确认, (基督教中)给...行按手礼
98 马来西亚展开学校技术革新计划
DEVELOPMENT REPORT - September 24, 2001: Internet in MalaysiaBy Jill Moss
（Start at 1'01"） This is Bill White with the VOA Special English Development Report.
(1)Malaysia has developed a program to help bring (2)technology to schools around the country. It is a traveling bus (3)equipped with twenty computers and other modern technology. Officials call the bus a (4)mobile Internet Unit,because students can use it to connect to the Worldwide Web. The (5)goal of the bus is to increase technology knowledge among teachers and students in poor farming areas.
Two technology experts drive the bus to schools throughout Malaysia. The technology experts show teachers and students how to use computers. The experts show them how to search for information on the Internet. The experts also collect information for future technology (6)training programs. The Malaysian government plans to put two Mobile Internet Units in each of its fourteen states by Two-Thousand-Five.
The United Nations Development Program and the Malaysian government support the Mobile Internet Unit program. It was started two years ago. (7)Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the project was necessary to reduce the differences between people who know how to use computers and people who do not.
The Asia-Pacific Development Information Program created the idea for Malaysia's traveling bus. Gabriel Accascina is the former head of the organization, which is based in Kuala Lumpur. He says he developed the idea from his earlier work in Mali in West Africa. During the Nineteen-Eighties, Mister Accascina and other aid workers drove a vehicle with a television and (8)video recorder to local villages. They used the technology to teach people about (9)nutrition, water and health issues.
Mister Accascina said he developed Malaysia's traveling bus with just seventy-five-thousand dollars from the United Nations. Two Malaysian companies also support the project. They are the (10)Automotive Corporation Malaysia and Mimos Berhad, a local information technology company.
Malaysia says its traveling bus could easily be copied in other developing countries where it is difficult to train people to use computers and the Internet. Experts say programs (11)similar to the Mobile Internet Unit could (12)prevent developing countries from falling farther behind industrial countries in information technology.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.
(1) Malaysia[ ???????? ]n.马来群岛
(2) technology[???????????? ]n.工艺, 科技, 技术
(3) equip[??????? ]vt.装备, 配备, 训练, 准备行装
(4) mobile[????????? ]adj.可移动的, 易变的, 机动的n.运动物体
(5) goal[????? ]n.目的, 目标, 守门员, 球门, (球赛等的)得分
(6) training[????????? ]n.训练, 练习adj.训练的
(7) deputy[????????? ]n.代理人, 代表
(8) video[???????? ]n.电视, 录象, 视频
(9) nutrition[???????????n ]n.营养, 营养学
(10) automotive[ ??????????? ]adj.汽车的, 自动推进的
(11) similar[?????????]adj.相似的, 类似的
(12) prevent[????????? ]v.防止, 预防
99 吸收金属原料的植物有助于抗癌药品的研制
AGRICULTURE REPORT September 25, 2001: Plants that Absorb MetalsBy George Grow
（Start at 1'00"） This is Bill White with the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.
Too much metal in the (1)soil is considered (2)pollution. Yet too little metal in a person's diet can cause health problems. An American scientist says the answer to both problems may be plants that take up large amounts of metal in their (3)tissues.
David Salt is an expert on plants at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He is working with plants that store large amounts of metals.
In recent years, scientists have shown interest in using such plants to clean up harmful waste materials. Professor Salt says such plants also could be used to (4)improve people's diets or even to create foods that fight (5)cancer.
Humans need a number of metals in their diets, including (6)iron and (7)zinc. These metals are needed in very small amounts, however. That is why they are called (8)micronutrients. The lack of micronutrients is blamed for health problems in many developing countries. Children and (9)pregnant women are mostly affected.
Recently, Mister Salt announced that he has identified and copied the genes from a kind of plant that stores metals in its tissues. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published his findings.
Mister Salt says his study suggests it may be possible to develop plants that contain minerals needed for good health.
For example, the metal (10)selenium is a strong anti-cancer agent. Some wild plants store selenium naturally. Mister Salt says foods to fight cancer might be created if genes from these plants could be moved into crop plants.
A plant called (11)locoweed stores selenium. Locoweed is common in the western United States. Mister Salt says it may be possible to create cancer-fighting foods from locoweed. He and scientists from a company called NuCycle Therapies have copied the gene that causes locoweed to take up selenium from the soil.
Many people take pills to add important (12)minerals or vitamins to their diet. However, Mister Salt notes that most selenium products sold in health food stores are of little use. That is because the human body can only take in and use selenium if it is in the right chemical form.
The scientist says his team would like to develop a vegetable crop high in selenium. He wants to create an anti-cancer product in the foods we already eat.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by George Grow.
(1) soil[????? ]n.土壤, 土地, 国土, 国家, 温床, 粪便, 务农vt.弄脏, 污辱vi.变脏
(2) pollution[????????????????????]n.污染, 玷污
(3) tissue[???????? ]n.薄的纱织品, 薄纸, 棉纸, [生]组织, 连篇
(4) improve[????????? ]v.改善, 改进
(5) cancer[??????? ]n.癌, 毒瘤
(6) ron[?????? ]n.铁, 熨斗, 坚强, 烙铁, 镣铐vt.烫平, 熨, 用铁装备vi.烫衣服
(7) zinc[??????]n.锌vt.涂锌于
(8) micronutrient[???????????????????]n.[生]微量营养素
(9) pregnant[?????????? ]adj.怀孕的, 重要的, 富有意义的, 孕育的
(10) selenium[?????????????????? ]n.[化]硒(非金属元素,符号 Se,原子序34)
(11) locoweed[???????????]n.<美>[植] 疯草（牲畜食后引起疯草病）
(12) mineral[????????? ]n.矿物, 矿石
