新概念英语青少年版第四册第53课:Television Day:

Lesson 53 Television Day:Penicillin
第53课 电视日:青霉素
If you leave a piece of bread in a warm damp place mould will soon grow on it.
如果你把一片面包放在温暖潮湿的地方,上面很快会长上霉菌.
When this happens,we say that bread "has gone mouldy".
这种情况发生时我们说那面包"发霉"了.
Mould can grow on all kinds of things besides food--
除食品以外,所有东西上也都会长霉菌--
on leather,clothing,even on wood.
皮革、衣服,乃至木头.
It grows from tiny spores which are in the air.
它是从空气中的微孢里长出来的.
Each spore is like a little mushroom.
每个孢就像个小蘑菇.
If the conditions are right,
如果条件适宜,
a single spore can quickly spread and form a mould.
一个孢就能很快长成一个霉菌.
It is extremely common and we have all noticed it.
这是极寻常的事,我们都见过.
In 1928,Sir Alexander Fleming found that
1928年,亚历山大.弗莱明爵士发现
mould had killed some germs he was trying to grow in his laboratory
霉菌杀死了他在实验室培植的某些细菌.
If he had not noticed this
如果他没有发现这一现象的话,
the world would have lost one of the greatest discoveries of the century.
世界就失去了本世纪内最伟大的发现之一.
Fleming called the substance "penicillin"
弗莱明把这一物质叫做"青霉素".
Because penicillin can kill germs,doctors use it to treat diseases.
青霉素能杀菌,所以医生用它治病.
It has saved millions of lives.
它拯救了几百万人的`生命
Scientists grow enormous quantities of common mould
科学家培植大量的普通霉菌
so that they can get penicillin from it in order to make antibiotics,
从中提取青霉素生产出抗生素,
that is,substances that kill germs.
即杀菌物质.
Next time you see some mould on a piece of bread,
下次你要是看见面包上的霉菌,
remember that it is one of man's greatest friends!
记住它可是人类最好的朋友之一呢!