冠状病毒计算器有助于保持社交距离

浙江杭州市富阳区新登中学 胡君祥

题材社会服务体裁说明文文章词数 难度 建议用时约3 3 4 ★★★ 6分钟

难词探意

1.parliament/'pɑːləmənt/n.国会；议会

2.variable/'veəriəbl/n.变量

3.parameter/pə'ræmɪtə（r）/n.决定因素；规范；范围

London's Parliament Square is usually full of tourists this time of year,but the streets have grown much quieter as social distancing and self-isolation（隔离）rules have kicked in—and it's helping slow the spread of the virus.However,you've probably seen the stories about the British who are ignoring the advice to practice social distancing in the time of coronavirus(冠状病毒).It's because they don't believe or don't understand why isolation works.

The good news is that a so-called social distance calculator has been created.It shows how individual actions save lives.You can save 399 people from infection and 15 lives in 30 days if you go under 100% self-isolation.

The inventors based their calculator's variables on scientific research on how to control COVID-19 outbreaks.In their calculator as many as seven variables are introduced to simulate the outbreak.All of them are important in understanding the outbreak process to see which factors are most dangerous and how we can protect ourselves from infection.

To make the calculator more user-friendly,the inventors added comments and inferred how many lives could be saved.Sometimes math can get through to people who aren't listening to public-health directions.Seven variables are di-vided into three groups:virus outbreak parameters,actions taken by the government and your own decisions.

Outbreak parameters include initial cases,reproduction number R0,asymptomatic（无症状的）cases,and spread before symptoms.Among the outbreak parameters,asymptomatic cases should be especially noted.It means that some people may be carriers of the virus and still be able to spread the virus without showing any signs of infection at all.This makes the outbreak more difficult to control because the government cannot detect and isolate asymptomatic cases.That's why self-isolation is so important.

The inventors hope more and more people will consider social distancing a key approach to stopping this viral spread after using this calculator.To do this,they designed their calculator to present complex research in an understandable way.

Reading Check

1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A.London's Parliament Square is now full of coronavirus.

B.Visitors are now restricted to London's Parliament Square.

C.There are fewer people on the street now and they keep silent.

D.Some British people don't think isolation can slow the spread of the virus.

2.How many people can you avoid infecting on an average day if you're completely isolated?

A.About 6. B.About 13. C.About 21. D.About 38.

3.What is mainly introduced in the fourth paragraph?

A.The ways to control the spread of the virus.

B.The functions of the social distance calculator.

C.The working principles of the social distance calculator.

D.The operating instructions of the social distance calculator.

4.Why did the inventor invent the social distance calculator?

A.To help the government gather information.

B.To find a cure for the current infectious disease.

C.To raise people's awareness of social distancing.

D.To help doctors treat people with infectious diseases.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

The inventors hope more and more people will consider social distancing a key approach to stopping this viral spread after using this calculator.

【翻译】________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

【点石成金】social distancing a key approach作consider的复合宾语。to stopping this viral spread为介词短语作定语修饰前面的approach。after using this calculator为介词短语作状语。