
[전문 & mp3] / [받아쓰기]
When you are sick with a cold or the flu, you may have a runny nose. Why is it called a runny nose? Because of the mucus flowing and dripping from your nose. Yucky! But, guess what? Mucus is very helpful. Just hearing the word is enough to make some people uneasy, but science tells us that mucus is our friend. New research has found that health benefits can come from mucus and viruses. Our bodies can produces more than a liter of it every day. So what is it? “Mucus is typically a clear, gel-like substance. It is very slimy. Mucus is a secretion or substance that your body produces, and it produces it to protect itself but also to select for specific bacteria and microbes that actually help you and contributes to your immune system, and it sort of covers and coats almost the entire inside of our bodies.
* have a runny nose = 콧물이 흐르다/ mucus = (코 등에서 나오는) 점액/ flow = 흐르다/ drip = 방울방울[뚝뚝] 흐르다[떨어지다]/ uneasy = 불편한; (마음이) 불안한/ health benefit = 건강상의 이익[이점]/ simy = 끈적끈적한, 점액질의/ secretion = 분비, 분비물/ microbe = 미생물/ contribute to ~ = ~에 기여핟/ immune system = 면역 체계/ sort of = 어느 정도[다소]
That is Jeremy Barr, adjunct professor at San Diego State University. He says that mucus is where all of your good bacteria lives and grows. When you have a virus, it can cause many illnesses. Barr and his fellow researchers studied a virus called “phage.” He says this virus, when mixed with mucus cells in the body, can help protect it against bacteria. “Phages are a special kind of virus because they only infect and kill bacteria. They don’t infect humans or other animals. What our research has shown is that these phages actually stick to mucus layers all throughout your body and by sticking there they work with your body to protect and control the bacterial community that can reside or live in your mucus layers.” Mucus also helps protect your lungs from dust, bacteria, cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes and other intruders.
* adjunct professor = 조교수, 비상근[외래] 교수, 부교수/ bacterium(pl = bacteria) = 세균, 박테리아/ phage = 세포를 괴멸하는 세포의 뜻/ infect = 감염시키다/ stick to ~ = ~에 달라[들러]붙다/ bacterial community = 세균 집단[군집]/ reside = (특정한 곳에) 살다[거주하다]/ exhaust fumes(gas) = 배기 가스/ intruder = 불청객, 불법 침입자