Aspirin

阿司匹林 （ 1 ）

1.When the 5th century BC Greek doctor Hippocrates made a bitter powder from 1)willow 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)annually 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 willows 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)twig broken off from a 4)local willow. He discovered that it tasted like a Peruvian tree bark that was often used as a painkiller. 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) nibble (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 popularity.

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

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