The father of sugar pills saved millions of children

題材 體裁 文章詞數 難度 建議用時醫學技術 記敘文 336 ★★★ 6 分鐘

難詞探意

1. the oral polio vaccine 口服脊髓灰質炎疫苗

2. polio /?p??li??/ n. 小兒麻痹癥

3. paralysis /p??r?l?s?s/ n. 麻痹；癱瘓

4. appall /??pɑ?l/ v. 使震驚

5. casualty /?k??u?lti/ n. （事故或戰爭中的）傷亡人員

6. certify /?sз?t?fa?/ v. 證明；證實

7. terminator /?tз?m??ne?t?/ n. 終結者

He was regarded as “the father of sugar pills” in China forthe oral polio vaccinehe developed, which saved millions of children from cripplingparalysisfrom 1949 to 1993.

“I spent my whole life doing one thing—developing an effective and affordable polio vaccine,” Gu Fangzhou once said. Born in 1926,Gu's family faced a difficult time with the sudden death of his father.

Overcoming bad conditions, he secured admission to the Peking University's medical department in 1944. In 1955, a disastrous outbreak of polio in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu Province, paralyzed 1,680 people,mostly children in the age below seven.Appalledby massivecasualty, government designated Gu to lead polio research in 1957. A significant breakthrough was achieved in 1959 when Gu succeeded in developing the first polio(Sabin type) live vaccine.

According to Gu's biography, in order to test the vaccine, he administered the vaccine to himself and started the first stage of the human trial. After extensive testing, he took another bold step to administer an oral vaccine to his one-month-old son. This inspired his colleagues to vaccinate their kids. They became the first generation in China to try a polio vaccine.

To eliminate polio, it's essential to maintain efficacy of the vaccines by ensuring a cold chain. However, it was impossible to provide a freezer for vaccines in-transit or in non-electrified rural areas in those days.

Gu's team solved the challenge by developing a sugar-coated pill that tasted good and was also easy to preserve.The sugar pill concept killed two birds with one stone—the sweet taste made it easy to administer the pills to the kids while making the vaccine affordable.

The moment of glory came in 2000 when Gu, then 74, signed China's confirmation report on polio eradication as a special representative.The WHOcertifiedChina “polio-free” the same year. Gu Fangzhou, known as China's polioterminator,passed away at 92 on January 2,2019.

Reading Check

Fill in each blank with a proper word or with the word given in its proper form.

Gu Fangzhou 1. _________（regard） as “the father of sugar pills” in China. In 1944, he was 2. _________to the department of medicine, Peking University. A significant 3. _________was achieved in 1959 when Gu succeeded in developing the first polio live vaccine. To test the efficacy and side effects of the vaccine, he 4. _________the vaccine to himself. After extensive testing, he administered an oral vaccine to his one-month-old son. To better 5. _________the vaccine, Gu's team developed a sugar-coated pill that tasted good and was also easy to administer. In 2000, Gu,then 74, 6. _________China's confirmation report on polio eradication. Gu Fangzhou passed away at age 92 on January 2, 2019.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

The sugar pill concept killed two birds with one stone—the sweet taste made it easy to administer the pills to the kids while making the vaccine affordable.

【翻譯】___________________________________________________________________________

【點石成金】本句中，“kill two birds with one stone”意為“一石二鳥；一舉兩得”?！癿ake it +adj.+to do”意為“使得做某事……”。

Cultural background

中國脊髓灰質炎疫苗之父——顧方舟

1951 年8 月至1955 年9 月，當時還是博士的顧方舟就讀于蘇聯醫學科學院病毒學研究所；1958 年7 月至1964 年8 月， 顧方舟任中國醫學科學院病毒學研究所脊髓灰質炎研究室主任和副研究員；1964 年9 月至1971 年10 月，顧方舟任中國醫學科學院醫學生物學研究所副所長和副研究員；1985 年11 月至1993 年12 月，任中國醫學科學院院長、中國協和醫科大學校長和研究員。

2019 年9 月17 日，國家主席習近平簽署主席令，授予顧方舟“人民科學家”國家榮譽稱號。 12 月18 日，顧方舟入選“中國海歸70 年70 人”榜單。 顧方舟對脊髓灰質炎的預防及控制的研究長達42 年，是中國組織培養口服活疫苗的開拓者之一，被稱為“中國脊髓灰質炎疫苗之父”。