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　　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.

　　characteristic n. 特征；特性

　　radium n. 镭

　　painter n. 画家；油漆匠

　　put forward 提出

　　scientific adj. 科学的

　　conclude vt. & vi. 结束；推断出

　　conclusion n. 结论；结束

　　draw a conclusion 得出结论

　　analyse vt. 分析

　　△ infect vt. 传染；感染

　　△ infectious adj. 传染的

　　△ cholera n. 霍乱

　　defeat vt. 打败；战胜；使受挫

　　n. 失败

　　expert adj. 熟练的；经验或知识丰富的

　　n. 专家；行家

　　attend vt. 照顾；护理；出席；参加

　　physician n. 医生；内科医师

　　expose vt. 暴露；揭露；使曝光

　　expose ... to 使显露；暴露

　　△ deadly adj. 致命的

　　cure n. 治愈；痊愈

　　vt. 治愈；治疗

　　△ outbreak n. 爆发；发作(尤指疾病或战争)

　　challenge n. 挑战

　　vt. 向……挑战