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我们的皮肤表面其实隐匿着一个庞大的寄生生物世界。无数微小的螨虫就栖息在我们面部的毛囊中，靠吞食皮脂度日。尽管大多数微寄生生物对人体无害，但某些特定物种却会引发皮肤健康问题。比如，疥螨会钻入我们的皮肤表面掘道产卵，从而诱发剧烈的瘙痒。本文将带你认识这些生活在皮肤上的生物，探索它们与我们之间奇妙而复杂的共生关系。

词汇：microbiology 微生物学

1 What animal do we have the closest relationship with? Many people would say dogs or cats, but it's actually the tiny arachnids that live all over your face. Yes, your face. Don't worry it's probably fine. Demodex mites live in the hair follicles around the peach fuzz hair that grows on your face. They are just one of the parasites that make our bodies a habitat. Some are harmless, while there are some that can cause problems.

2 Demodex mites are usually harmless. They live in our pores and feed on sebum, the oil produced by our skin. This means that you find the most in the greasiest areas of your face, particularly around your eyes, nose and mouth. According to associate professor of invertebrate biology Alejandra Perotti, we should be grateful because demodex clean our pores and keep them flat. She even describes them as 'cute'. However, you can have too many of them. It is possible to find your face covered with a white frost of demodex mites. This usually only affects people if their immune system is compromised. But some people may also have an allergic reaction to these creatures.

3 Not all mites are as cute and useful as demodex. Scabies is a condition that is caused by mites that burrow into our skin and lay eggs. This is very itchy and usually spreads to most of a person's body. It can also be quite uncomfortable to think about and is often stigmatised. Now, this is a problem because it can delay people getting treatment. Some of this stigma can come because we often associate scabies with people being unclean. This, however, is a complete myth.

4 This stigma may also be linked to how we feel. Mites and other parasites often cause us to feel disgust. This is something that we may have evolved to help us avoid illnesses, but here it could be stopping people getting the help they need or causing us to worry about something that can even be beneficial.

测验与练习

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 _______
Paragraph 2 _______
Paragraph 3 _______
Paragraph 4 _______

a. Often a harmless partner
b. An unhelpful stigma
c. An itchy problem
d. Covered in mites
e. Treatment options

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. Parasites never cause problems.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

2. What does 'this' refer to in the following sentence? This means that you find the most in the greasiest areas of your face, particularly around your eyes, nose and mouth.
a. Demodex mites are harmless.
b. Demodex mites live in our pores.
c. Demodex mites feed on sebum.

3. Why does Alejandra Perotti think demodex mites are beneficial?
a. They lay eggs.
b. They live around your mouth.
c. They clean your pores.

4. Why can the stigma around scabies be a problem?
a. It makes people itch.
b. It can stop people getting treatment.
c. It can stop people talking about it.

5. Why might we feel disgusted by mites and other parasites?
a. because they are unclean
b. because we evolved this reaction to help us avoid illness
c. because they stop us getting the help we need

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

1) _______ live on most people's faces. They often live in our hair 2) _______. Many are harmless and help remove the 3) _______ from our pores. However other types of parasites like to 4) _______ into our skin to lay their eggs. This is often incredibly 5) _______.

disgust
sebum
mites
itchy
burrow
follicles
compromised

（答案见词汇表后）

词汇表

arachnid 蜘蛛，蛛形纲生物
mite 螨虫
follicle 毛囊
peach fuzz 细软的毛发
parasite 寄生生物，寄生虫
habitat 栖息地，生长地
sebum 皮脂
greasiest 油脂最多的
invertebrate 无脊椎动物
pore 毛孔
immune system 免疫系统
compromised 受损的，缺乏的
allergic reaction 过敏反应
scabies 疥疮
burrow 钻到…的下面
itchy 发痒的，瘙痒的
stigmatise 使背负恶名
myth 普遍但却错误的看法
disgust 恶心，厌恶

答案

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 d) Covered in mites
Paragraph 2 a) Often a harmless partner
Paragraph 3 c) An itchy problem
Paragraph 4 b) An unhelpful stigma

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. b. False.Some are harmless, while there are some that can cause problems.

2. c. The pronoun 'this' refers to the second clause in this sentence 'They live in our pores and feed on sebum, the oil produced by our skin'.

3. c.According to associate professor of invertebrate biology, Alejandra Perotti, we should be grateful because demodex clean our pores and keep them flat.

4. b.It can be quite uncomfortable to think about and is often stigmatised. Now, this is a problem because it can delay people getting treatment.

5. b.This is something that we may have evolved to help us avoid illnesses, but here it could be stopping people getting the help they need or causing us to worry about something that can even be beneficial.

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

Mites live on most people's faces. They often live in our hair follicles. Many are harmless and help remove the sebum from our pores. However other types of parasites like to burrow into our skin to lay their eggs. This is often incredibly itchy.