2018年可锐考研英语阅读文章精选.docx

可锐教育官网2018年可锐考研英语阅读文章精选（一）LSD Acid tests麦角酸二乙基酰胺 迷幻药之考验Research into hallucinogenic drugs begins to shake off decades of taboo迷幻药物的研究开始摆脱几十年来的禁忌THE psychedelic era of the 1960s is remembered for its music, its art and, of course, itsdrugs.20世纪60年代是一个让人产生迷幻的年代，这个时代因它的音乐，它的艺术，当然还有它的毒品而被人记得。Its science is somewhat further down the list.而那个时候的科学在某种程度上则不太被人们熟知。But before the rise of the counterculture, researchers had been studying LSD as a treatmentfor everything from alcoholism to obsessive-compulsive disorder , with promisingresults.不过在反传统文化兴趣之前，随着有价值的研究成果的出现，研究者们则正在研究LSD作为一种治疗从酗酒到强迫症的方法。Timothy Leary, a psychologist at Harvard University, was one of the best-known workers inthe field, but it was also he who was widely blamed for discrediting it, by his unconventionalresearch methods and his lax handling of drugs.哈佛大学的心理学家蒂莫西?利瑞就是该领域最为知名的人士之一，不过他也因为其非传统的研究方法和他对对药物不严格的处理而让这个药物声名狼藉，进而广受诟病。Now, the details of Leary s research will be made public, with the recent purchase of hispapers by the New York Public Library.现在，随着纽约公共图书馆购买他的论文，利瑞研究的细节部分将公之于众。These papers will be interesting not only culturally, but also scientifically, as they reflectwhat happened between the early medical promise of hallucinogens and their subsequentblacklisting by authorities around the world.这些论文不仅在文化方面将会很有引人注意，在科学上也同样如此，它们反应了从早期迷幻剂的医疗承诺到它们随后进入全球各地政府黑名单的之间的所发生的事情。American researchers began experimenting with LSD in 1949, at first using it to simulatemental illness.美国的研究人员研究LSD始于1949年，那时他们第一次用这个化合物来模拟精神病。Once its psychedelic effects were realised, they then tried it in psychotherapy and as atreatment for alcoholism, for which it became known at the time as a miracle cure.迷幻效果一被发现，他们接着就在心理治疗方面尝试用它，它也同样作为一个酗酒的治疗方法，因为在当时这个化合物以作为一个奇迹的治愈而得名。By 1965 over 1,000 papers had been published describing positive results for LSD therapy.It, and its close chemical relative psilocybin, isolated from hallucinogenic mushrooms, werereported as having potential for treating anxiety disorders, OCD, depression,bereavement and even sexual dysfunction.到1965年时，已经有一千多篇关于LSD治疗的积极结果的论文发表。LSD以及与它相关的化合物裸盖菇素，后者是从迷幻蘑菇中分离出来的一种物质，这二者都被报道有治疗焦虑症，强迫症，抑郁症，丧亲之痛甚至是性功能障碍的潜质。Unfortunately, most of the studies that came to these conclusions were flawed: many resultswere anecdotal, and control groups were not established to take account of the placeboeffect.不幸的是，这些结论大多数都是有缺陷的：许多的结果都是道听途说的，并没有设立相应的对照组以用来考虑安慰剂的影响。Still, the field was ripe for further study.尽管如此，但这个领域进一步研究的时机已经成熟了。But alongside growing public fear of LSD, Leary s leadership had become a liability.不过与之相关的公众对于LSD的恐惧也在与日俱增，不过利瑞的领军地位已经成了坏事。He was seen less and less as a disinterested researcher, and more and more as apropagandist.他被视为一个越来越缺少公正的研究员，而越多地被人视作是一个宣传员。In 1962, amid wide publicity, the Harvard Psilocybin Project was shut down.1962年，就在其大肆宣扬过程中，哈佛的裸盖菇素项目被撤销了。Leary took his research to an estate in upstate New York, where he also hosted a stream ofdrug parties.利瑞带着他的研究去了纽约北部的一个庄园，在那里他还组织了一系列的毒品聚会。Eventually both LSD and psilocybin were proscribed.最终LSD和裸盖菇素都被禁止了。Which was a pity because, like many other drugs the authorities have taken against as aresult of their recreational uses, hallucinogens have medical applications as well.这就是一个遗憾，因为与其他官方反对药物的娱乐用途一样，迷幻剂也有同样的医疗应用。But time heals all wounds and now, cautiously, study of the medical use of hallucinogens isreturning.不过时间已经抚平了所有的创伤，现在对于迷幻剂的医疗研究应还是谨慎地归来了。Psilocybin has shown promise in treating forms of OCD that are resistant to other therapies,in relieving cluster headaches and in alleviating theanxiety experienced by terminally ill cancer patients.在对其他治疗方案都有抵触的强迫症形式，缓解头痛以及减轻晚期癌症病人所历经的焦虑方面，裸盖菇素显示出了希望的苗头。The first clinical study of LSD in over 35 years, also on terminally ill patients, is expected tofinish this summer.LSD的第一个临床研究和在身患绝症的病人方面的研究超过了35年了，预计会在这个夏季结束。Peter Gasser, the Swiss doctor leading the experiment, says that a combination of LSD andpsychotherapy reduced anxiety levels of all 12 participants in the study, though thestatistical significance of the data has yet to be analysed.领导这个实验的瑞士医生彼得?加塞说LSD和心理治疗的结合缓解了12名参与者的焦虑程度，虽然该实验的统计意义还有待于分析。Research into LSD is not confined to medicine.对于LSD的研究并不局限于药物方面。Franz Vollenweider, of the Heffter Research Institute in Zurich, for example, is scanningpeople s brains to try to understand how hallucinogenic drugs cause changes inconsciousness.例如，海弗特研究学会的弗朗茨?沃尔温德正在扫描人的大脑，试图搞清楚迷幻药如何引起意识的变化。And biotechnology may lead to a new generation of hallucinogenic drugs.生物技术也可能会导致新一代迷幻药物的出现。Edwin Wintermute and his colleagues at Harvard have engineered yeast cells to carry outtwo of six steps in the pathway needed to make lysergic acid, the precursor of LSD.埃德温?温特姆特和他在哈佛的同事已经通过基因工程改造了酵母细胞，在产生麦角酸LSD的前体的六步反应路径中已经实现了其中的两步。They hope to add the other four shortly.他们希望通过在短期内加入其他的四步反应。Once the pathway has been created, it can be tweaked.一旦这个路径打通，酵母就可以得到改良。That might result in LSD-like drugs that are better than the original.这或许就会产生类似于LSD药物并且比原来更好迷幻剂。Even if that does not happen, making lysergic acid in yeast is still a good idea.即便这种情况没有出现，不过在酵母中合成麦角酸依然是一个不错的构想。The chemical is used as the starting point for other drugs, including nicergoline, a treatmentfor senile dementia.这种化合物可以用于包括麦角溴烟酯在内其他药物的起点。The current process for manufacturing it is a rather messy one involving ergot, a parasiteof rye.目前制造麦角溴烟酯的工艺仍然相当复杂，它要用到麦角菌一种寄生在黑麦中细菌。It may, of course, be that LSD has no clinical uses.当然，LSD或许没有临床用途。Even when no stigma attaches to the drugs involved, most clinical trials end in failure.即使这种药物没有任何不光彩的地陷，那么大多数的临床实验还将会以失败告终。But it is worth seeing whether LSD might fulfil its early promise.此外，对于LSD能否履行其早期的承诺还值得一看。And if the publication of Leary s archive speeds that process up by exorcising a ghost thatstill haunts LSD research, then the New York Public Library will have done the world aservice.如果利瑞的档案能够加速驱除困扰着LSD研究的鬼魂，那么纽约公共图书馆将是服务了整个世界。二Combating addiction打击吸毒Can a vaccine stop drug abuse?是否有种疫苗能对付毒品滥用?It may be possible to vaccinate people against addictive drugs向吸毒者接种疫苗防止毒瘾将成为可能THE idea of vaccinating drug addicts against their affliction is an intriguing one.如何消除吸毒者的毒瘾折磨，是个有挑战性的命题。In principle, it should not be too hard.从理论上来讲，这并不难。The immune system works, in part, by making antibodies that are specific to particularsorts of hostile molecule.只要让免疫系统，产生某种针对这种恶性分子的抗体便可。Such antibodies recognise and attach themselves to these molecules, rendering themharmless.这种抗体能识别并紧紧附在毒品分子上，尽可能消灭它们。Vaccines work by presenting the immune system with novel targets, so that it can learn toreact to them if it comes across them again.疫苗让免疫系统有了明确的对付目标，系统便能在下次遇到该种病毒时有所反应，将其及时消灭The problem is that the molecules antibodies recognise and react to are the big ones, suchas proteins, that are characteristic of bacteria, viruses and other infectious agents.问题是，抗体能够识别出较大的分子，比如以蛋白质形式表现出来的，像细菌，病毒，或者别的感染物质。Small molecules, such as drugs, go unnoticed.较小的分子，比如毒品，却不能识别出来。But not for much longer, if Kim Janda of the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego has hisway.不久后这一情况会有所改变，圣地亚哥克里斯普研究所的Kim Janda谈到。In a paper just published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Dr Janda and hiscolleagues suggest how a vaccine against methamphetamine, a popular street drug, mightbe made.近期出版的美国化学学会杂志中，一篇文章提到，Janda博士及他的同事们发现，一种对抗常见毒品甲基苯丙胺的疫苗有望实现。If their method works, it would open the possibility of vaccinating people against other drugs,too.以此类推，对抗其他毒品的疫苗也将可能到来。The idea of a methamphetamine vaccine is not new.研制对抗甲基苯丙胺的疫苗设想已不是新话题了。The problem is getting the immune system to pay attention to a molecule that is such asmall target.关键在于免疫系统能“发现”这样小的目标。The way that has been tried in the past is to build the vaccine from several components.过去的日子里很多方法都已试验，并从不同角度研发疫苗。First, there is a large carrier protein that forms a platform for the target.首先，需要一个蛋白质载体作为平台，让免疫系统能发现毒品分子。Then there is the target itself, a set of smaller molecules called haptens that are attached tothe carrier. These may either be the drug in question or some analogue of it that, for onereason or another, is to have a better chance of training the immune system.有了目标后，将会有一系列被称作半抗原的分子将会聚集在这些病毒载体上，这些病毒或者类似的分子，无论怎样，有助于提高免疫系统的识别能力。Finally, there is a chemical cocktail called an adjuvant that helps get the immune system topay attention to the carrier protein and the haptens.最后，一种叫佐剂的化学物质，推动免疫系统识别蛋白质载体和半抗原Dr Janda noticed that past experiments on methamphetamine vaccines had all revolvedaround tweaking either the carrier protein or the adjuvant, rather than tinkering with thehaptens.Janda博士根据过去针对甲基苯丙胺疫苗的实验发现，该疫苗更多时候是反复出现于蛋白质载体或者佐剂附近，却并非是半抗原的补充作用。He thought he might be able to change that, on the basis of work he had carried outpreviously, trying to design a vaccine against nicotine. In particular, nicotine is a highlyflexible molecule.他认为他可以设法改变这一现状。就目前的研发成果的基础上，他正在研发某种对抗尼古丁的疫苗。That makes it hard for the immune system to recognise.尤其是，尼古丁是一种较灵活的分子，使免疫系统更加难以识别。To overcome this, his team on the nicotine project had to work out how to fix their haptensto the carrier protein in a way that rendered them less capable of twisting and turning, andthus made them easier for the immune system to identify.为克服这一困难， Janda博士的团队已经研究出如何令半抗原附在蛋白质载体上，并让其活动稳定一些。如此，免疫系统便能更好的识别出病毒。In the new study, Dr Janda and his colleagues report that they have performed a similar trickwith methamphetamine haptens.Janda博士和他的同事们最新研究表示，他们已成功应对甲基苯丙胺半抗原，They used computer models to visualise the haptens in three dimensions and thus work outhow the molecules could be rearranged such that they could not spring, twist or turn whenbeing examined by the immune system.他们利用电脑模拟视图显示三种形式的半抗原，并证明免