随着工业化的发展，环境污染越来越严重，连地下水也不能幸免。近年来，科学研究发现，有些细菌可以被用来清除地下水里的污染物。
Using bacteria to clean up pollution
by Ryan F. Mandelbaum
Scientists were able to coax（劝诱） local bacteria into cleaning up a polluted aquifer（地下含水层） by injecting a safe, naturally occurring chemical into the water, according to a new study.
bacterium /bækˈtɪəriəm/ n. 细菌（bacteria /bækˈtɪəriə/ 是复数）
clean up 清除（有害物质）
pollute /pəˈluːt/ v. 污染
inject /ɪnˈdʒekt/ v. 注射
naturally /ˈnætʃ(ə)r(ə)li/ adv. 自然地、天然地（由natural加后缀-ly变成副词）
occur /əˈkɜː(r)/ v. 存在于
chemical /ˈkemɪk(ə)l/ n. 化学物质
A group of chemicals called chlorinated ethenes, once used as industrial solvents（溶剂） and cleaners, continue to pollute groundwater around the world to this day, and they're especially hard to break down. As researchers continue to hunt for ways to remove them from the environment, they realized that a group of bacteria can partially break down the chemicals but gets stuck before finishing the job. One team in Spain was able to decontaminate（净化） an aquifer just by adding lactic acid.
chlorinated ethenes 氯化乙烯
industrial /ɪnˈdʌstriəl/ adj. 工业的（由industry加后缀-al变成形容词）
cleaner /ˈkliːnə(r)/ n. 清洁剂（由clean加上表示人或物的后缀-er）
groundwater /ˈɡraʊn(d)wɔːtə(r)/ n. 地下水（由ground和water组成）
break down 分解
researcher /rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)/ n. 研究者（由research加上表示人的后缀-er）
hunt /hʌnt/ v. 搜寻
partially /ˈpɑːʃ(ə)li/ adv. 部分地（由partial加后缀-ly变成副词）
stuck /stʌk/ adj. 卡住的
Spain /speɪn/ n. 西班牙（西欧国家）
lactic acid 乳酸（这里指乳酸盐，比如乳酸钠）
This approach of removing a pollutant from the environment is called biostimulation（生物刺激） – stimulating the bacteria already found in the wild to do the clean-up for you. The researchers cited plenty of studies that showed organohalide-respiring bacteria could break down chlorinated ethenes in the lab, but few studies actually applied the method at larger scales in the real world.
approach /əˈprəʊtʃ/ n. 方法
pollutant /pəˈluːt(ə)nt/ n. 污染物
stimulate /ˈstɪmjuleɪt/ v. 刺激、激发
cite /saɪt/ v. 引用、援引
organohalide-respiring 呼吸有机卤化物的（氯化乙烯是有机卤化物中的一类）
apply /əˈplaɪ/ v. 应用、运用
scale /skeɪl/ n. 规模
The researchers focused on an industrial site in Barcelona that had contaminated（污染） an aquifer with chlorinated ethenes. First, they collected groundwater from the area to extract local microbes（微生物）. Then they added sodium lactate to some of the collected batches. The bacteria without the lactic acid started breaking down the pollutants but stalled and left behind still-toxic byproducts（副产品）. Those with lactic acid added completely broke down the target chemicals.
focus on 聚焦于、专注于
Barcelona /ˌbɑːsəˈləʊnə/ n. 巴塞罗那（西班牙城市）
extract /ɪkˈstrækt/ v. 提取
sodium lactate 乳酸钠
batch /bætʃ/ n. 一批
stall /stɔːl/ v. 停滞
toxic /ˈtɒksɪk/ adj. 有毒的
target /ˈtɑːɡɪt/ n. 靶子、目标
In October 2016, the team injected sodium lactate into one of the sites and monitored it for 190 days. The results were promising, so they performed a full-scale sodium lactate treatment in August 2017, injecting sodium lactate every three months for a year. They analyzed the samples for chlorinated ethenes in September 2018. After a year, most of the chlorinated ethenes had turned into the non-toxic ethene（乙烯）, and in many wells, the bacteria had fully broken down the chemicals to the point that they were not detectable.
monitor /ˈmɒnɪtə(r)/ v. 监控
promising /ˈprɒmɪsɪŋ/ adj. 有前景的、大有希望的
perform /pəˈfɔːm/ v. 做（某事）
treatment /ˈtriːtmənt/ n. 处理、化学处理
analyze /ˈæn(ə)laɪz/ v. 分析
sample /ˈsɑːmp(ə)l/ n. 样本
non- 前缀，表示否定
well /wel/ n. 井
detectable /dɪˈtektəb(ə)l/ adj. 可检测到的（由detect加后缀-able变成形容词）
It's important to note that while the method was effective in breaking down the chlorinated ethenes, in some cases it left behind the byproduct vinyl chloride, an also-toxic chemical that comes from the bacteria not fully breaking down the initial pollutant, though there was evidence of vinyl chloride breaking down into the safe ethene.
effective /ɪˈfektɪv/ adj. 有效的（由effect加后缀-ive变成形容词）
vinyl chloride 氯乙烯
initial /ɪˈnɪʃ(ə)l/ adj. 最初的、一开始的
evidence /ˈevɪd(ə)ns/ n. 证据
This new study follows several decades of work trying to remove this recalcitrant（难以控制的） pollutant from the environment. The researchers were excited that their technique lowered the chlorinated ethenes concentrations in ways that other strategies couldn't, according to a press release.
decade /ˈdekeɪd/ n. 十年
technique /tekˈniːk/ n. 技术、工艺
lower /ˈləʊə(r)/ v. 降低
concentration /ˌkɒns(ə)nˈtreɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 浓度
strategy /ˈstrætədʒi/ n. 策略
press release /rɪˈliːs/ 新闻通稿
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