初中英语in the job of good health, vitamins are some of the most important英语听力.docVIP

初中英语In the Job of Good Health, Vitamins Are Some of the Most Important Helpers 维生素是身体的健康的重要因素 (MUSIC) BOB DOUGHTY: This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I’m Bob Doughty. SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I’m Shirley Griffith. This week, we tell about vitamins. (MUSIC) BOB DOUGHTY: Many jobs must be done with two people. One person takes the lead. The other helps. It is this cooperation that brings success. So it is with the human body. Much of our good health depends on the cooperation between substances. When they work together, chemical reactions take place smoothly. Body systems are kept in balance. Some of the most important helpers in the job of good health are the substances we call vitamins. SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The word “vitamin” dates back to Polish scientist Casimir Funk in nineteen twelve. He was studying a substance in the hull that covers rice. This substance was believed to cure a disorder called beriberi. Funk believed the substance belonged to a group of chemicals known as amines. He added the Latin word “vita,” meaning life. So he called the substance a “vitamine” －an amine necessary for life. BOB DOUGHTY: Funk was not able to separate the anti-berberi substance from the rice hulls; it was later shown to be thiamine. Other studies found that not all vitamines were amines after all. So the name was shortened to vitamin. But Funk was correct in recognizing their importance. Scientists have discovered fourteen kinds of vitamins. They are known as vitamins A, the B group, C, D, E and K. Scientists say vitamins help to carry out chemical changes within cells. If we do not get enough of the vitamins we need in our food, we are at risk of developing a number of diseases. SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: This brings us back to Casimir Funk. His studies of rice were part of a long search for foods that could cure disease. One of the first people involved in that search was James Lind of Scotland. In the seventeen forties, Lind was a doctor for the British navy. He was