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文本选自:The Economist(经济学人)
作者:Unknown
原文标题:How much is a human head?
原文发布时间:18 Jun. 2023
How much is a human head?
A human head will set you back about $640. An arm is less: that costs roughly $430. A leg, by contrast, is $1,600; while a torso costs around $2,000. A hand, however, is a mere $300. Postage and packaging, as so often online, add considerably to the cost of these American imports—at times to the tune of thousands of dollars. And not wholly without reason, for transporting fresh-frozen corpses can be tricky: they need a lot of ice. They can defrost at awkward moments. They can puzzle customs officials. But overall, human body parts come surprisingly cheap: getting an arm and a leg rarely costs an arm and a leg.
There exists a surprisingly lively international trade in dead human bodies for medical dissection. This trade is rarely discussed and relatively lightly regulated: there is no one head, or body, that directly oversees the imports of heads and bodies. This trade is also important, for it allows doctors to practise on real, dead humans before they practise on real, live ones. As one doctor puts it, "would you rather a surgeon learned on you, or on a cadaver?"
Most would rather ignore that question altogether. A combination of sanctity and squeamishness meant dissection was forbidden in Britain until the 16th century, while an early attempt by two Edinburgh-based entrepreneurs, William Burke and William Hare, to invigorate the market in corpses (by killing people) merely sullied the reputation of anatomists. If death remains a taboo then the remains of the dead are even more of one.
一个人头多少钱?
精听党背景导读
对社会来说,遗体捐献对社会医疗卫生事业有极大的贡献。人体解剖,人体器官移植等都需要大量的遗体来源。对个人来说,遗体捐献是种高尚人格的体现,是对自身、对社会乃至对自然的一种科学的态度和价值观。人死了之后,身体对本人来说是没有意义的,无论人死后有没有灵魂,遗体捐献却都具有意义。一方面,人想着在死后还能为社会、为人类做贡献,这本身就是一种很高的社会道德;另一方面,某些人相信死后可以通过器官的使用,而使自己的生命光辉也照亮别人的生命。(更有甚者认为自己的器官进入了别人身体并发挥作用时,自己在某种意义上获得了重生,而愿意遗体捐献。当然这是没有科学依据的。)
文本选自:The Economist(经济学人)作者:Unknown原文标题:How much is a human head?原文发布时间:18 Jun. 2023关键词:人体 交易 市场
精听党带着问题听
1.“包裹递送”用英语可以怎么表达?2. 如何理解段一中的“cost an arm and a leg”?3. 尸体市场是怎么活跃起来的?
精听党选段赏析
标题解读
How much is a human head?
一个人头多少钱?
段一
A human head will set you back about $640. An arm is less: that costs roughly $430. A leg, by contrast, is $1,600; while a torso costs around $2,000. A hand, however, is a mere $300. Postage and packaging, as so often online, add considerably to the cost of these American imports—at times to the tune of thousands of dollars. And not wholly without reason, for transporting fresh-frozen corpses can be tricky: they need a lot of ice. They can defrost at awkward moments. They can puzzle customs officials. But overall, human body parts come surprisingly cheap: getting an arm and a leg rarely costs an arm and a leg.
set back 使推迟,使延缓,使阻碍;使花费;1. setback n. 挫折;阻碍;2. A bottle of beer will set you back $7. 一瓶啤酒将花费你7美元。
roughly adv. 粗略地,大约;
by contrast 相比之下;
torso n. 躯干;
mere adj. 仅仅,只不过;
postage n. 邮资,邮费;邮寄,邮递;1. postage stamp 邮票;
packaging n. 包装材料,外包装;包装工作;包装,美化;1. packaging delivery 包裹递送;
considerably adv. 非常,相当多地;
import n. 进口,进口商品;
to the tune of 达到(某一数量);
corpse n. 尸体;
tricky adj. 难对付的,棘手的;狡猾的,诡计多端的;
defrost vi. 解冻;
awkward adj. 令人尴尬的,使人难堪的;难对付的,难处理的;
puzzle vt. 使困惑,使迷惑;(因迷惑而)苦思,冥思苦想;
customs officials 海关官员;
cost an arm and a leg 价格昂贵;花费极大;
参考译文
一个人头要花掉你大约640美元。一只手臂的价格更低:大约430美元。相比之下,一条腿的价格为1600美元,而一个躯干的价格约为2000美元。然而,一只手只有300美元。邮寄和包装,就像网上经常发生的那样,大大增加了这些美国进口产品的成本——有时高达数千美元。并非完全没有理由,因为运输新鲜冷冻的尸体可能很棘手:他们需要大量的冰。它们可能会在尴尬的时刻解冻。他们可以迷惑海关官员。但总的来说,人体部位出奇地便宜:买一只胳膊和一条腿很少花大量的钱。
段二
There exists a surprisingly lively international trade in dead human bodies for medical dissection. This trade is rarely discussed and relatively lightly regulated: there is no one head, or body, that directly oversees the imports of heads and bodies. This trade is also important, for it allows doctors to practise on real, dead humans before they practise on real, live ones. As one doctor puts it, “would you rather a surgeon learned on you, or on a cadaver?”
exist vt. 存在,实际上有;
lively adj. 活泼的,生气勃勃的;热闹的,激烈的;1. She had a sweet, lively personality. 她有着可爱活泼的性格。
medical dissection 医学解剖;1. dissection n. 解剖,切开;解剖体;详细查究;
relatively adv. 相当地,相对地;1. The sums needed are relatively small. 所需金额相对较小。
lightly adv. 轻轻地;轻松地;容易地;不费力地;1. take it lightly 不把它当回事;
oversee vt. 监管,监督;
live adj. 活的,有生命的;
put vt. 说,表达;
surgeon n. 外科医生;
cadaver n. [医] 尸体;死尸;
参考译文
用于医学解剖的人体尸体国际贸易异常活跃。这种贸易很少被讨论,监管也相对宽松:没有一个负责人或机构直接监督头和身体的进口。这个行业也很重要,因为它允许医生先在真正的死人身上行医,然后再在真正的活人身上行医。正如一位医生所说,“你希望外科医生在你身上学习,还是在尸体上学习?”
段三
Most would rather ignore that question altogether. A combination of sanctity and squeamishness meant dissection was forbidden in Britain until the 16th century, while an early attempt by two Edinburgh-based entrepreneurs, William Burke and William Hare, to invigorate the market in corpses (by killing people) merely sullied the reputation of anatomists. If death remains a taboo then the remains of the dead are even more of one.
sanctity n. 圣洁;尊严;神圣不可侵犯性;1. the sanctity of marriage 婚姻的神圣;
squeamishness n. 神经兮兮;恶心;易呕吐;1. squeamish adj. 易呕吐的;易生气的;神经质的;过于拘谨的;洁癖的;
forbid vt. 禁止;
Edinburgh n. 爱丁堡(英国城市名);
entrepreneur n. 企业家,创业者;
invigorate vt. 鼓舞;使精力充沛;1. invigorate enterprises 搞活企业;2. Take a deep breath in to invigorate you. 深吸一口气,抖擞你的精神。3. China is looking into ways of invigorating the economy. 中国正在想办法让经济活跃起来。
sully vt. 玷污;使丢脸;
anatomist n. 解剖学家;剖析者;
taboo n.(宗教或社会习俗方面的)禁忌,忌讳;禁忌的事物,禁忌行为(或做法);
remains n. 剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗骸;
参考译文
大多数人宁愿完全忽略这个问题。在16世纪之前,解剖在英国是被禁止的,这是一种神圣和恶心的结合,而爱丁堡的两位企业家威廉·伯克(William Burke)和威廉·黑尔(William Hare)的早期尝试(通过杀人)活跃了尸体市场,这只是玷污了解剖学家的声誉。如果死亡仍然是一种禁忌,那么死者的遗体更是一种禁忌。
精听党每日单词
set back
使推迟,使延缓,使阻碍;使花费;
roughly
/ˈrʌfli/ adv. 粗略地,大约;
by contrast
相比之下;
torso
/ˈtɔːrsoʊ/ n. 躯干;
mere
/mɪr/ adj. 仅仅,只不过;
postage
/ˈpoʊstɪdʒ/ n. 邮资,邮费;邮寄,邮递;
packaging
/ˈpækɪdʒɪŋ/ n. 包装材料,外包装;包装工作;包装,美化;
considerably
/kənˈsɪdərəbli/ adv. 非常,相当多地;
import
/ˈɪmpɔːrt/ n. 进口,进口商品;
to the tune of
达到(某一数量);
corpse
/kɔːrps/ n. 尸体;
tricky
/ˈtrɪki/ adj. 难对付的,棘手的;狡猾的,诡计多端的;
defrost
/diːˈfrɔːst/ vi. 解冻;
awkward
/ˈɔːkwərd/ adj. 令人尴尬的,使人难堪的;难对付的,难处理的;
puzzle
/ˈpʌz(ə)l/ vt. 使困惑,使迷惑;(因迷惑而)苦思,冥思苦想;
customs officials
海关官员;
cost an arm and a leg
价格昂贵;花费极大;
exist
/ɪɡˈzɪst/ vt. 存在,实际上有;
lively
/ˈlaɪvli/ adj. 活泼的,生气勃勃的;热闹的,激烈的;
medical dissection
医学解剖;
relatively
/ˈrelətɪvli/ adv. 相当地,相对地;
lightly
/ˈlaɪtli/ adv. 轻轻地;轻松地;容易地;不费力地;
oversee
/ˌoʊvərˈsiː/ vt. 监管,监督;
live
/laɪv/ adj. 活的,有生命的;
put
/pʊt/ vt. 说,表达;
surgeon
/ˈsɜːrdʒən/ n. 外科医生;
cadaver
/kəˈdævər/ n. [医] 尸体;死尸;
sanctity
/ˈsæŋktəti/ n. 圣洁;尊严;神圣不可侵犯性;
squeamishness
/ˈskwiːmɪʃnəs/ n. 神经兮兮;恶心;易呕吐;
forbid
/fərˈbɪd/ vt. 禁止;
Edinburgh
/ˈedɪnbərə/ n. 爱丁堡(英国城市名);
entrepreneur
/ˌɑːntrəprəˈnɜːr/ n. 企业家,创业者;
invigorate
/ɪnˈvɪɡəreɪt/ vt. 鼓舞;使精力充沛;
sully
/ˈsʌli/ vt. 玷污;使丢脸;
anatomist
/əˈnætəmɪst/ n. 解剖学家;剖析者;
taboo
/təˈbuː/ n.(宗教或社会习俗方面的)禁忌,忌讳;禁忌的事物,禁忌行为(或做法);
remains
/rɪˈmeɪnz/ n. 剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗骸;
精听党文化拓展
人们倾向于认为,人的身体是神圣的,不是能随意拆卸、变卖的二手车零件,世界上的大多数国家也把花钱购买人体组织列为违法行为。
而实际情况是,从头发、血液,到器官、骨头,再到妇女的子宫乃至人类的儿童等等,人体交易市场欣欣向荣。这些交易往往打着“利他主义”的名头进行。
在印度洋海啸发生前后,印度一只肾的公开价码是3000美元左右,但掮客通常只会把其中的一小部分支付给卖肾者。患者支付费用的95%,落进了各级掮客、交易商、提供换肾手术服务的医疗机构和医生的口袋,而处于产业链末端,同时也是牺牲最大的卖肾者,只拿到了5%。
在印度、埃及、巴西、菲律宾的贫民窟,永远不缺像罗妮和玛莉佳那样的愿意售卖自己器官的卖家。他们有效地填补了全球对于活体移植器官的需求。而且,在第三世界进行器官移植,费用仅为西方的一个零头。
人体器官交易在印度也是违法的,但是相关的监管很多时候都是走过场。
精听党每日美句
There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.
唯一的好是知识,唯一的坏是无知。