科學(xué)家們稱，一項新發(fā)現(xiàn)可以解釋肥胖者更容易患癌癥的原因。來自都柏林圣三一學(xué)院的研究團隊發(fā)現(xiàn)，人體用來破壞癌變組織的一種細(xì)胞會被過多的脂肪阻塞，從而停止工作。英國癌癥研究院（Cancer Research UK）稱，在英國，肥胖是僅次于吸煙的最大的、可預(yù)防性的致癌因素。

文字稿

Obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK after smoking. More than one in 20 cancer cases are caused by excess body weight, according to Cancer Research UK. Experts already suspect that fat sends signals to the body that can cause growth and damage to cells, resulting in cancer.

在英國，肥胖是僅次于吸煙的可預(yù)防的最大致癌因素。據(jù)英國癌癥研究院統(tǒng)計，每二十個癌癥病例中就有超過一例是因體重超標(biāo)而導(dǎo)致的。專家們已經(jīng)懷疑，由于脂肪會給人體發(fā)出可造成細(xì)胞增大和損壞的信號，所以才引發(fā)了癌癥。

Now the team at Trinity have found another pathway that could explain the obesity-cancer link. Too much fat in the body can clog some of the body’s cancer-fighting cells, according to the new work published in Nature Immunology journal.

現(xiàn)在，這支來自圣三一學(xué)院的研究團隊發(fā)現(xiàn)了另一種可以解釋肥胖與癌癥之間聯(lián)系的方法。他們在《自然免疫學(xué)》期刊上發(fā)表的新研究稱，體內(nèi)過多的脂肪可能會阻塞體內(nèi)的抗癌細(xì)胞。

By doing tests on these ‘natural killer’ cells in their lab, the researchers were able to pinpoint the steps that led to the clogging. Armed with this knowledge, they hope to be able to find drug treatments that could restore the cancer-fighting abilities of natural killer cells.

通過在實驗室中對這類 “自然殺傷” 細(xì)胞進行測試，研究人員得以準(zhǔn)確指出造成細(xì)胞堵塞的每一個階段。認(rèn)識到了這一點以后，他們希望能找到可恢復(fù)這類自然殺傷細(xì)胞抗癌能力的藥物療法。

1. 詞匯

obesity 肥胖
preventable 可預(yù)防的
excess body weight 超重，體重過重
fat 脂肪
sends signals to 向…發(fā)送信號
pathway 途徑、方法
clog 阻塞、堵塞
cancer-fighting 抗癌的
pinpoint 準(zhǔn)確地描述
armed with 具備了…

2. 閱讀理解：請在讀完上文后，回答下列問題 。 

1. What is the biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK?

2. How have the team at Trinity explained the obesity-cancer link?

3. True or false? According to Cancer Research UK, more than 5% of cancer cases are caused by being overweight.

4. Which word in the text means ‘to bring back something to its former condition’?

3. 答案

1. What is the biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK?
The biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK is smoking.

2. How have the team at Trinity explained the obesity-cancer link?
The team at Trinity have explained in their new work published in the Nature Immunology journal that too much fat in the body can clog some of the body’s cancer-fighting cells.

3. True or false? According to Cancer Research UK, more than 5% of cancer cases are caused by being overweight.
True. The text says that according to Cancer Research UK, more than ‘one in twenty’, which means 5%, of cancer cases are caused by excess body weight.

4. Which word in the text means ‘to bring back something to its former condition’?
Restore.