UNIT 1
JOHN SNOW DEFEATS “KING CHOLERA”
John Snow was a famous doctor in London—so expert，indeed，that he attended Queen Victoria as her personal physician.But he became inspired when he thought about helping ordinary people exposed to cholera.This was the deadly disease of its day.Neither its cause nor its cure was understood.So many thousands of terrified people died every time there was an outbreak.John Snow wanted to face the challenge and solve this problem.He knew that cholera would never be controlled until its cause was found.
He became interested in two theories that possibly explained how cholera killed people.The first suggested that cholera multiplied in the air.A cloud of dangerous gas floated around until it found its victims.The second suggested that people absorbed this disease into their bodies with their meals.From the stomach the disease quickly attacked the body and soon the affected person died.
John Snow suspected that the second theory was correct but he needed evidence.So when another outbreak hit London in 1854，he was ready to begin his enquiry.As the disease spread quickly through poor neighbourhoods，he began to gather information.In two particular streets，the cholera outbreak was so severe that more than 500 people died in ten days.He was determined to find out why.
First he marked on a map the exact places where all the dead people had lived.This gave him a valuable clue about the cause of the disease.Many of the deaths were near the water pump in Broad Street(especially numbers 16,37,38 and 40)．He also noticed that some houses(such as 20 and 21 Broad Street and 8 and 9 Cambridge Street) had had no deaths.He had not foreseen this，so he made further investigations.He discovered that these people worked in the pub at 7 Cambridge Street.They had been given free beer and so had not drunk the water from the pump.It seemed that the water was to blame.
Next，John Snow looked into the source of the water for these two streets.He found that it came from the river polluted by the dirty water from London.He immediately told the astonished people in Broad Street to remove the handle from the pump so that it could not be used.Soon afterwards the disease slowed down.He had shown that cholera was spread by germs and not in a cloud of gas.
In another part of London，he found supporting evidence from two other deaths that were linked to the Broad Street outbreak.A woman，who had moved away from Broad Street，liked the water from the pump so much that she had it delivered to her house every day.Both she and her daughter died of cholera after drinking the water.With this extra evidence John Snow was able to announce with certainty that polluted water carried the virus.
To prevent this from happening again，John Snow suggested that the source of all the water supplies be examined.The water companies were instructed not to expose people to polluted
water any more.Finally “King Cholera” was defeated.
约翰·斯诺战胜“霍乱王”
约翰·斯诺是伦敦一位著名的医生——他的确医术精湛，以至于成了照料维多利亚女王的私人医生。但当他一想到要帮助(那些)得了霍乱的普通百姓时，就感到很受鼓舞。霍乱在当时是最致命的疾病。人们既不知道它的病因，也不懂如何治疗。每次爆发霍乱时就有成千上万惊恐的人病死。约翰·斯诺想面对这一挑战，解决这一问题。他知道在找到病源之前，霍乱疫情是无法控制的。
他对霍乱致人死地的两种推测产生了兴趣。第一种看法是霍乱病毒在空气中繁殖，像一股危险气体在空中到处漂浮，直到找到病毒的受害人。第二种看法是人们是在吃饭时把这种病毒引入体内的。病毒从胃部开始迅速殃及全身，患者就会很快地死去。
约翰·斯诺推测第二种说法是正确的，但需要有证据。因此在1854年伦敦再次爆发霍乱时，他就着手准备对此调研。当霍乱在贫民区迅速蔓延时，约翰·斯诺开始搜集信息。他发现特别在两条街上霍乱流行得很严重，以至于10天内就有500多人死亡。他决心查清原因。
他首先在地图上标注出所有死者曾住过的确切地点。该图提供了一条说明霍乱起因的很有价值的线索。许多死者都住在布洛德街上的水泵附近(尤其是这条街上的16、37、38和40号)。他还发现有些住户(如布洛德街20号和21号及剑桥街8号和9号)却无人死亡。他未预料到这种情况，于是他做了进一步调查。他发现这些人是在剑桥街7号的酒馆里打工。酒馆为他们供应免费啤酒，因此他们没喝布洛德街水泵里的水。看来水是罪魁祸首。
接下来，约翰·斯诺调查了这两条街上的水源。他发现水来自于河里，这条河被伦敦排出的脏水污染了。约翰·斯诺立即告诉布洛德街上惊慌失措的人们拆掉水泵的把手，这样水泵就用不成了。不久，疫情就开始得到缓解。他证明了霍乱是通过细菌传播而非气团传播。
在伦敦的另一地区，他从另外两例与布洛德街疾病爆发有关的死亡病例中得到了有力的证据。一个妇女，从布洛德街搬走了，但她非常喜欢水泵的水，她让人每天从水泵给她家送水。她和她的女儿在喝了这些水后，都死于霍乱。利用这个额外证据，约翰·斯诺就可以很有把握地宣布污染水携带病菌。
为防止这种情况再度发生，约翰·斯诺建议，所有水源都要经过检测。供水公司也得到指示再也不能让人们接触污染水了。“霍乱王”终于被击败了。
PUZILES IN GEOGRAPHY
People may wonder why different words are used to describe these four countries：England，Wales，Scotland and Northern Ireland.You can clarify this question if you study British history.
First there was England.Wales was linked to it in the thirteenth century.Now when people
refer to England you find Wales included as well.Next England and Wales were joined to Scotland in the seventeenth century and the name was changed to “Great Britain”．Happily this was accomplished without conflict when King James of Scotland became King of England and Wales as well.Finally the English government tried in the early twentieth century to form the United Kingdom by getting Ireland connected in the same peaceful way.However，the southern part of Ireland was unwilling and broke away to form its own government.So only Northern Ireland joined with England，Wales and Scotland to become the United Kingdom and this was shown to the world in a new flag called the Union Jack.
To their credit the four countries do work together in some areas (eg，the currency and international relations)，but they still have very different institutions.For example，Northern Ireland，England and Scotland have different educational and legal systems as well as different football teams for competitions like the World Cup!
England is the largest of the four countries，and for convenience it is divided roughly into three zones.The zone nearest France is called the South of England，the middle zone is called the Midlands and the one nearest to Scotland is known as the North.You find most of the population settled in the south，but most of the industrial cities in the Midlands and the North of England.Although，nationwide，these cities are not as large as those in China，they have world-famous football teams and some of them even have two！It is a pity that the industrial cities built in the nineteenth century do not attract visitors.For historical architecture you have to go to older but smaller towns built by the Romans.There you will find out more about British history and culture.
The greatest historical treasure of all is London with its museums，art collections，theatres，parks，and buildings.It is the centre of national government and its administration.It has the oldest port built by the Romans in the first century AD，the oldest building begun by the Anglo-Saxons in the 1060s and the oldest castle constructed by later Norman rulers in 1066.There have been four sets of invaders of England.The first invaders，the Romans，left their towns and roads.The second，the Anglo-Saxons，left their language and their government.The third，the Vikings，influenced the vocabulary and place-names of the North of England，and the fourth，the Normans，left castles and introduced new words for food.
If you look around the British countryside you will find evidence of all these invaders.You must keep your eyes open if you are going to make your trip to the United Kingdom enjoyable and worthwhile.
地理学的困惑
对于用不同词汇来描述英格兰、威尔士、苏格兰和北爱尔兰这四个国家，人们感到很奇怪。如果你研究英国历史，你就可以弄清楚这个问题。
首先是英格兰。威尔士在公元13世纪时与英格兰是一体的。现在当人们说到英格兰时，你会发现威尔士也包括在其中。接着英格兰和威尔士在17世纪同苏格兰合并，更名为“大不列颠”。苏格兰的詹姆斯国王也成为英格兰和威尔士的国王，幸运的是这并未经过战争。最后在20世纪初，英国政府打算把爱尔兰也和平联合起来组建联合王国。但是爱尔兰的南部很不情愿，分离出去并建立了自己的政府。因此，只有北爱尔兰与英格兰、威尔士和苏格兰统一成为联合王国，这在新国旗上展现给世人，叫做“英国国旗”。
值得赞扬的是，这四个国家在某些领域确实能够合作(比如， 在货币和国际关系上)，但是它们的制度很不相同。例如，北爱尔兰、英格兰和苏格兰有不同的教育及司法体系，还有不同的足球队去参加像世界杯这样的比赛！
英格兰是四个国家中最大的，为方便起见，它大体上分成三个区。最靠近法国的是英格兰南部，中部地区被称为英格兰中部，最靠近苏格兰的称为英格兰北部。你可以看到大多数人口定居在南部，但多数的大型工业城市在英格兰的中部和北部地区。尽管英格兰全国的许多城市不如中国的城市大，但它们都有著名的足球队，有些甚至有两支！可惜的是，这些建于19世纪的工业城市不吸引游客。为游览古代建筑你就得去那些最初由罗马人建造的更古老但是更小的城镇。在那儿你会了解更多的关于英国历史和文化的东西。
最伟大的历史财富是伦敦，它拥有博物馆、艺术珍藏、戏院、公园以及建筑。它是全国的政治中心。它还有罗马人于公元1世纪建的最古老的港口，盎格鲁—撒克逊人于11世纪60年代始建起的最古老的建筑以及后来的诺曼统治者于1066年建造的最古老的城堡。曾经有四批侵略者到过英国。第一批入侵者是罗马人，他们留下了他们的城镇和道路。接着是盎格鲁—撒克逊人，他们留下了他们的语言和政体。第三批是斯堪的纳维亚人，他们对词汇以及北部的地名造成了一定的影响。第四批是诺曼人，他们留下了城堡和表示食物名称的词语。
如果你到英国的乡村看看，你会发现所有这些入侵者留下的证据。如果你想让你的英国之旅很有价值，你必须留心观察！
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Spacemail：liqiang299A@GreatAdventureSpaceStation.com15/11/3008(Earthtime) Dear Mum and Dad，
I still cannot believe that I am taking up this prize that I won last year.I have to remind
myself constantly that I am really in AD 3008.Worried about the journey，I was unsettled for the first few days.As a result，I suffered from “time lag”．This is similar to the“jet lag”you get from flying，but it seems you keep getting flashbacks from your previous time period.So I was very nervous and uncertain at first.However，my friend and guide，Wang Ping，was very understanding and gave me some green tablets which helped a lot.Well-known for their expertise，his parents' company，called “Future Tours”，transported me safely into the future in a time capsule.
I can still remember the moment when the space stewardess called us all to the capsule and we climbed in through a small opening.The seats were comfortable and after a calming drink，we felt sleepy and closed our eyes.The capsule began swinging gently sideways as we lay relaxed and dreaming.A few minutes later，the journey was completed and we had arrived.I was still on the earth but one thousand years in the future.What would I find?
At first my new surroundings were difficult ot tolerate.The air seemed thin，as though its combination of gases had little oxygen left.Hit by a lack of fresh air，my head ached.Just as I tried to make the necessary adjustment to this new situation，Wang Ping appeared.“Put on this mask，”he advised.“It'll make you feel much better.”He handed it to me and immediately hurried me through to a small room nearby for a rest.I felt better in no time.Soon I was back on my feet again and following him to collect a hovering carriage driven by computer.These carriages float above the ground and by bending or pressing down in your seat，you can move swiftly.Wang Ping fastened my safety belt and showed me how to use it.Soon I could fly as fast as him.However，I lost sight of Wang Ping when we reached what looked like a large market because of too many carriages flying by in all directions.He was swept up into the centre of them.Just at that moment I had a “time lag” flashback and saw the area again as it had been in the year AD 2008.I realized that I had been transported into the future of what was still my hometown！Then I caught sight of Wang Ping again and flew after him.
Arriving at a strange-looking house，he showed me into a large，bright clean room.It had a green wall，a brown floor and soft lighting.Suddenly the wall moved－it was made of trees！I found later that their leaves provided the room with much-needed oxygen.Then Wang Ping flashed a switch on a computer screen，and a table and some chairs rose from under the floor as if by magic.“Why not sit down and eat a little？”he said.“You may find this difficult as it is your first time travel trip.Just relax，since there is nothing planned on the timetable today.Tomorrow you'll be ready for some visits.”Having said this，he spread some food on the table，and produced a bed from the floor.After he left，I had a brief meal and a hot bath.Exhausted，I slid into bed and fell fast asleep.
More news later from your loving son， Li Qiang