Aspirin¹

阿司匹林

1.When the 5th century BC Greek doctor Hippocrates made a bitter powder from 1)willow² tree 2)bark, he certainly had no idea that he was taking the first step towards what is now a 3)multi-billion dollar industry. Today, over 200 billion aspirin are taken 4)annually³ and more uses for the pill are being found each year.

公元前五世纪，希腊医生希波克拉底以柳树皮制成一种苦药粉，当然他并不知道他所跨出的这一步，至今竟会成为价值数十亿美元的产业。如今每年有逾两千亿颗阿司匹林被人服用，而且每年都会有新的用途被发现。 。

1.1) willow (n.) 柳树 2) bark (n.) 树皮 3) multi-million (a.) 数十亿的 4) annually (adv.) 每年地

2. Throughout history, there have been mentions of the pain-killing uses of willow bark. It was mentioned by the Roman writer Pliny during the first century AD, and in the Middle Ages it was a popular 1)folk medicine for fever. However, during the fifteenth century, 2)stripping the bark off willows⁴ was 3)declared 4)illegal--to protect the new wicker industry--and so its use died out.

历史上一直有人提到柳树皮的止痛用途。在公元一世纪时，罗马作家蒲林尼就曾提及这件事，而在中世纪，它是民间流行的退烧药方。然而，到了十五世纪，剥柳树皮被列为违法──为了保护新兴的柳枝编制业──因而逐渐停止使用。

2.1) folk (a.) 民间的 2) strip (v.) 剥 3) declare (v.) 宣布 4) illegal (a.) 非法的

3.It wasn't until 1763 that aspirin was rediscovered by a British vicar, Edward Stone. During an afternoon walk, Stone felt like 1)chewing a bit of tree bark and started 2)nibbling on a 3)twig⁵ broken off from a 4)local willow. He discovered that it tasted like a Peruvian tree bark that was often used as a painkiller⁶. In one of the earliest 5)clinical trials of aspirin, Stone gave the bark to fifty fever 6)sufferers in his parish. It worked.

直至1763年，英国牧师爱德华史东才重新发现了阿司匹林。在一日午后的散步中，史东突然想嚼一点树皮，于是开始啃当地的一种柳树折下的小枝。他发现尝起来与常常用以做止痛药的一种秘鲁树皮很像。在阿司匹林最早的一个临床实验中，史东拿柳树皮给他教区内五十位发烧患者服用，结果奏效了。

3.1) chew (v.) 咀嚼2) nibble⁷ (v.) 细咬，啃 3) twig (n.) 小树枝 4) local (a.) 当地的 5) clinical (a.) 临床的 6) sufferer (n.) 患者

4. Over the next century, scientists in many different countries tried to make a purer and more pleasant 1)version of willow bark powder. The original 2)stuff worked, but it tasted like, well, tree bark. It made many people feel 3)nauseous and some found it just too unpleasant to take. Finally, in 1853, a French 4)chemist called Charles Gerhardt 5)managed to produce acetyl salicylic acid, or aspirin. But it was not until nearly fifty years later, in Germany, that the drug finally took off in popularity⁸.

在下一世纪中，许多国家的科学家尝试制造较纯、味道较好的柳树皮药粉。原本的药粉具有疗效，但尝起来就像--树皮。它使许多人感到反胃，有些人则觉得它难以下咽。最后在1853年，法国化学家查尔斯葛哈德终于制造出乙醯柳酸，即阿司匹林。但是一直到将近五十年后，这种药才开始流行于德国。

4.1) 1) version (n.) 版本，变化形式 2) stuff (n.) 东西 3) nauseous (a.) 欲呕的，反胃的 4) chemist (n.) 化学家 5) manage (v.) 设法做到，勉力完成

5.A young German chemist named Felix Hoffman, working for the Bayer company, tested aspirin on his sick father and tried to 1)persuade the company to put it into production. Bayer, however, was more interested in Hoffman's own recent discovery, diacetylmorphine. This drug made factory workers feel 2)fantastic, and they just couldn't get enough of it. Bayer gave it the catchy⁹ name Heroin¹⁰, tested it on babies and sold it as a cough medicine. It wasn't until five years later that the company actually 3)patented and started producing Aspirin.

一位在拜耳公司工作的年轻德国化学家菲里克斯霍夫曼，以生病的父亲做为阿司匹林的实验对象，并试图说服公司生产。但拜耳公司对霍夫曼本人的新发现二乙醯吗啡更有兴趣。这种药让工厂工人感觉很棒，而且他们似乎总吃不够。拜耳公司为这种药取了一个朗朗上口的名字「海洛英」，以婴儿做试验，并将它当作咳嗽药贩卖。一直到五年后，这家公司才取得阿司匹林的专利并开始生产。

5.1) persuade (v.) 说服 2) fantastic (a.) (口)极棒的 3) patent (v.) 取得专利


6. Although the year 1918 brought Germany's defeat in WWI, Bayer was becoming more and more successful. As part of Germany's war reparations, Bayer was forced to give up its patents to both Heroin and Aspirin. That's why in Britain, America, France and Russia aspirin is not a patent medicine, and is spelled with a small "a."

虽然1918年德国在第一次世界大战中战败，但是拜耳公司却愈来愈成功。它被迫放弃对海洛英与阿司匹灵的专利，做为德国战争赔偿的一部分。所在英国、美国、法国与俄罗斯，阿司匹林不是专利药物，且以小写开头。

7.By 1950, aspirin was the world's best-selling drug. However, new 1)painkillers like paracetamol and ibuprofen began to cut into the market, and for the next twenty years, aspirin was just another drug. Then, doctors gradually came to the 2)realization¹¹ that it was not just a painkiller. In 1974, tests showed that if taken everyday, aspirin can greatly 3)reduce chances of 4)heart attack. In recent years aspirin has been proven to help in the 5)treatment of everything from 6)strokes to cataracts¹² to many kinds of cancer.

到了1950年，阿司匹林已经成为世界最畅销的药物。然而，扑热息痛与布洛芬等新的止痛药开始瓜分市场。接下来的二十年，阿司匹林只是另一个普通的药物而已。然后，医生逐渐发现它不仅仅是止痛药。1974年，实验结果显示，每天服用阿司匹林可以大幅降低心脏病发作的机率。近年来，阿司匹林被证实有助于许多疾病的治疗，包括中风、白内障，以及许多种类的癌症。

7.1) painkiller (n.) 止痛药 2) realization (n.) 了解 3) reduce (v.) 减少，降低 4) heart attack (n.) 心脏病发作 5) treatment (n.) 治疗 6) stroke (n.) 中风


8. The only trouble for drug 1)firms is that aspirin is so cheap to produce that they make little 2)profit. A 3)desperate search is on for a "super-aspirin" that can be patented. Should one be found, it is likely to be expensive. In the words of one doctor, "The 4)potential market is 5)vast. Profits would be 6)unimaginably 7)huge."

制药厂唯一的问题在于阿司匹林的制造成本太低，所以利润很少。现在他们极力寻找的目标，是能申请专利的「超级阿司匹林」。若真能找到的话，它可能会很昂贵。有位医生是这么说的：「潜在的市场太大了，利润也大得令人难以想象。」

8.1) firm (n.) 公司 2) profit (n.) 利润 3) desperate (a.) 迫切的 4) potential (a.) 潜在的 5) vast [v1st] (a.) 广大的 6) unimaginably (adv.) 无法想象地 7) huge (a.) 巨大的

9.But then, who really needs it? Aspirin is already a wonder drug.

但话说回来，谁会真的需要它？阿司匹林已经是万灵丹了。