剑桥雅思11Test4Passage1阅读原文翻译 Research using twins 利用双胞胎研究
剑桥雅思11阅读第四套题目第一篇文章的主题为利用双胞胎进行研究。文章一共十二段，分别介绍了双胞胎是研究基因和环境影响的宝贵对象，同卵双胞胎与异卵双胞胎的差异，双胞胎研究的两种思路，遗传因素的巨大影响等内容。下面是具体每一段的翻译。
点击查看这篇雅思阅读中需要大家掌握的重点词汇以及对应的答案解析：
雅思真题阅读词汇 剑桥雅思11 test 4 passage 1 双胞胎研究research using twins
剑桥雅思11Test4Passage1阅读答案解析 Research using twins 利用双胞胎进行研究
剑桥雅思11 Test4 Passage1阅读原文翻译
第1段
To biomedical researchers all over the world, twins offer a precious opportunity to untangle the influence of genes and the environment – of nature and nurture. Because identical twins come from a single fertilized egg that splits into two, they share virtually the same genetic code. Any differences between them – one twin having younger looking skin, for example – must be due to environmental factors such as less time spent in the sun.
对于全世界的生物医学研究者来说，双胞胎提供了理清基因与环境影响（或者说先天与后天）的宝贵机会。由于同卵双胞胎来自于一分为二的同一个受精卵，他们拥有几乎完全相同的基因编码。他们之间的任何差异-比如一个拥有看起来更为年轻的肌肤-一定是由环境因素造成的，比如晒太阳的时间更少。
第2段
Alternatively, by comparing the experiences of identical twins with those of fraternal twins, who come from separate eggs and share on average half their DNA, researchers can quantify the extent to which our genes affect our lives. If identical twins are more similar to each other with respect to an ailment than fraternal twins are, then vulnerability to the disease must be rooted at least in part in heredity.
另一方面，通过比较同卵双胞胎和异卵双胞胎（来自不同的受精卵，平均有一半的DNA相同）的经历，研究者文章来自老烤鸭雅思可以量化基因在多大程度上影响着我们的生活。如果同卵双胞胎对某一种疾病的反应比异卵双胞胎更为相似，那么这种疾病的易受性至少部分来自于遗传因素。
第3段
These two lines of research – studying the differences between identical twins to pinpoint the influence of environment, and comparing identical twins with fraternal ones to measure the role of inheritance – have been crucial to understanding the interplay of nature and nurture in determining our personalities, behavior, and vulnerability to disease.
这两条研究方向-研究同卵双胞胎的差异以明确环境的影响，以及比较同卵双胞胎和异卵双胞胎来衡量遗传的作用-对理解先天和后天在决定我们性格、行为和疾病易受性方面的互动至关重要。
第4段
The idea of using twins to measure the influence of heredity dates back to 1875, when the English scientist Francis Galton first suggested the approach (and coined the phrase ‘nature and nurture‘). But twin studies took a surprising twist in the 1980s, with the arrival of studies into identical twins who had been separated at birth and reunited as adults. Over two decades 137 sets of twins eventually visited Thomas Bouchard’s lab in what became known as the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart. Numerous tests were carried out on the twins, and they were each asked more than 15,000 questions.
使用双胞胎来衡量遗传因素的影响的想法可以追溯到1875年。那时英国科学家Francis Galton第一次提出这一方法，并创造出“先天和后天”这一组词汇。但双胞胎研究在20世纪80年代发生了令人惊讶的转折，研究对象放在了那些出生之后相互分离，但长大后又重新团聚的同卵双胞胎身上。在二十年的时间里，一共有137对双胞胎走进Thomas Bouchard的实验室。这次研究后来被人称为“Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart”。他们在双胞胎身上进行了大量的测试，每个人都回答了超过15000个问题。
第5段
Bouchard and his colleagues used this mountain of data to identify how far twins were affected by their genetic makeup. The key to their approach was a statistical concept called heritability. In broad terms, the heritability of a trait measures the extent to which differences among members of a population can be explained by differences in their genetics. And wherever Bouchard and other scientists looked, it seemed, they found the invisible hand of genetic influence helping to shape our lives.
Bouchard和他的同事利用这些如山般的数据来检测双胞胎在多大程度上受他们基因组成的影响。其研究方法的关键在于一种被称为“遗传性”的统计学概念。广义来讲，一种特质的可遗传性所衡量的是人口群体中各个成员之间的个体差异在何种程度上可以由他们之间的基因差异来解释。无论Bouchard和其他科学家看向何处，他们发现基因影响这一看不见的手似乎都在帮助塑造我们的生活。
第6段
Lately, however, twin studies have helped lead scientists to a radical new conclusion: that nature and nurture are not the only elemental forces at work. According to a recent field called epigenetics, there is a third factor also in play, one that in some cases serves as a bridge between the environment and our genes, and in others operates on its own to shape who we are.
然后，最近的双胞胎研究帮助将科学家引向一个全新的结论：先天和后天并不是唯一发挥作用的基础因素。根据近期出现的、被称为“表观遗传性”的研究领域，在此过程中还有第三个因素。它在一些情况下架起了环境与基因之间的桥梁，在另外一些情况下则独自发挥作用塑造我们的人生。
第7段
Epigenetic processes are chemical reactions tied to neither nature nor nurture but representing what researchers have called a ‘third component‘. These reactions influence how our genetic code is expressed: how each gene is strengthened or weakened, even turned on or off, to build our bones, brains and all the other parts of our bodies.
表观遗传的过程是这样一些化学反应。它们与先天和后天都不相关，但却代表了研究者所称之为的“第三种因素”。这些反应影响我们基因编码的表达方式：即每个基因如何被强化或弱化，甚至被打开或关闭，来构建我们的骨骼，大脑和身体的其他部分。
第8段
If you think of our DNA as an immense piano keyboard and our genes as the keys – each key symbolizing a segment of DNA responsible for a particular note, or trait, and all the keys combining to make us who we are – then epigenetic processes determine when and how each key can be struck, changing the tune being played.
如果你将我们的DNA想象成巨大的钢琴键盘，将基因想象成琴键-每个琴键象征着DNA的一个片段，它负责某个特定的音调或者特征。而所有的琴键结合在一起构建我们自身-那么表观遗传过程就决定了每个琴键什么时候以及如何被按下，从而改变演奏的乐曲。
第9段
One way the study of epigenetics is revolutionizing our understanding of biology is by revealing a mechanism by which the environment directly impacts on genes. Studies of animals, for example, have shown that when a rat experiences stress during pregnancy, it can cause epigenetic changes in a fetus that lead to behavioral problems as the rodent grows up. Other epigenetic processes appear to occur randomly, while others are normal, such as those that guide embryonic cells as they become heart, brain, or liver cells, for example.
表观遗传学的研究通过揭示环境直接影响基因的机制彻底改变了我们对生物学的理解。例如，对动物的研究表明，当一只老鼠在怀孕期间经受压力时，就可能在其胎儿中引发表观遗传性的改变，进而随着这只啮齿动物的成长而导致行为方面的问题。一些表观遗传过程似乎是随机发生的，但其他的则是常规现象，比如在胚胎细胞变成心脏、大脑或者肝脏细胞过程中起指导作用的那些。
第10段
Geneticist Danielle Reed has worked with many twins over the years and thought deeply about what twin studies have taught us. ‘It’s very clear when you look at twins that much of what they share is hardwired,’ she says. ‘Many things about them are absolutely the same and unalterable. But it’s also clear, when you get to know them, that other things about them are different. Epigenetics is the origin of a lot of those differences, in my view.’
基因学家Danielle Reed多年来研究了许多对双胞胎，对双胞胎研究给我们的启示进行了深入的思考。“当你观察双胞胎的时候，很明显，他们大部分相同的地方是由基因决定的”。她说，“他们的许多特点完全相同而且无法改变。但同样明显的是，当你了解他们之后，与他们相关的其他东西则存在差别。在我看来，表观遗传学正是大多数这些差异的根源”。
第11段
Reed credits Thomas Bouchard’s work for today’s surge in twin studies. ‘He was the trailblazer,’ she says. ‘We forget that 50 years ago things like heart disease were thought to be caused entirely by lifestyle. Schizophrenia was thought to be due to poor mothering. Twin studies have allowed us to be more reflective about what people are actually born with and what’s caused by experience.’
Reed将今天双胞胎研究的兴起归功于Thomas Bouchard的工作。“他是这个领域的先驱”，她说，“我们忘记了，50年前，像心脏病这样的事情被认为是完全由生活方式造成的。精神分裂被认为由于不良的照料方式所引发的。双胞胎研究让我们能够进一步反思哪些东西是人们与生俱来的，哪些东西是由经历造成的”。
第12段
Having said that, Reed adds, the latest work in epigenetics promises to take our understanding even further. ‘What I like to say is that nature writes some things in pencil and some things in pen,’ she says. ‘Things written in pen you can’t change. That’s DNA. But things written in pencil you can. That’s epigenetics. Now that we’re actually able to look at the DNA and see where the pencil writings are, it’s sort of a whole new world.’
在这之后，Reed补充到，表观基因学的最新研究还有可能进一步加深我们的理解。“我想要说的是，部分先天特质是用铅笔写成的，部分则是用钢笔写成的”，她说，“用钢笔写成的东西无法更改。那是DNA。但用铅笔写成的东西可以更改。那是表观遗传学。现在，我们已经能够研究DNA，来观察哪里是由铅笔写就的，这是一个全新的世界”。
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