純正地道美語 第246期(外教講解):生命的奇蹟

A: Continuing with our class, today we are going to study briefly the miracle of life. Many of you may think you already know how babies come to be, but I am sure that some of the things that we will be talking about today may surprise you. Billy ，can you turn on the projector please? Thanks. Ok, does anyone know what this is?

B: Looks like a goat head to me!

A: Nice try, but this is a woman’s womb which contains her uterus and ovaries. The ovaries are packed with eggs and each month during the middle of the menstrual cycle, the ripest one will be sucked up by one of the fallopian tubes. This is called ovulation and the exact time of ovulation depends on the length of your cycle. In an average 28 day cycle, ovulation will most likely happen between the 12th and 15th days, counting day 1 as the first day of your last period.

B: That’s amazing! So each month, the woman produces these eggs and then waits for them to be fertilized?

A: Actually, every woman is already born with over four hundred thousand eggs! Some will start dying off immediately and others released during her fertile period.

B: What about the guys? I know they produce sperm and stuff.

A: That’s right! The man’s body has a tiny factory that produces sperm twenty four hours a day! Each ejaculation will release about a hundred million sperm so the factory is always pretty busy. The sole purpose of a sperm’s life is to fertilize the woman’s egg.

B: So, then we basically need to put one-and-one together so we can have babies right?

A: Yes, the man will have an orgasm during intercourse and ejaculate sperm and semen. Now this is where the race begins and all those millions of sperm will race and swim from the cervix, through the uterus to the fallopian tubes. This could take anywhere from forty five minutes to twelve hours! Not all of them make it, since some go the wrong way and get lost or simply die. Many will actually reach the egg but only one will penetrate it and fertilize it. Once this happens, the egg instantly changes and creates a protective shield once the sperm is safely inside.

B: And then? That’s it?

A: Well, the egg will be fertilized within about 24 hours of its release. The genetic material from the sperm combines with the genetic material in the egg to create a new cell that will rapidly start dividing. The woman is not actually pregnant until that bundle of new cells, known as the embryo, travels the rest of the way down the fallopian tube and attaches itself to the wall of her uterus. Any other questions? Then let’s move on.

womb n.子宮

ovulation n.排卵

ejaculation. n.射精

embryo n. 胚胎

wall n.內壁

A: 現在繼續我們的課程，今天我們要簡要第學習下“生命的奇蹟”。你們中的很多人也許認爲你們已經知道嬰兒是如何形成的，但是我敢保證我們今天談的事一定會讓你吃驚。Billy你能打開放映機嗎？謝謝。有人知道這是什麼嗎？

B: 對我來說，看起來像個羊頭。

A: 不錯，這實際上是子宮，包括子宮和卵巢。卵巢上有很多卵子，在每月的月經期，成熟的卵子會從輸卵管留出。這叫做“排卵”， 排卵的時間取決於你的生理週期。在平均28天一個循環中，排卵最可能發生在第12天至第15天，上次排卵結束的那天叫做第1天。

B: 很令人驚奇。每個月，女人都能產生卵子，然後等待卵子成熟嗎？

A:事實上，女人出生時就有4百萬卵子，有些會馬上死掉，其他的會在成熟期排掉。

B: 那男人呢？我知道男的會產生精子和精液。

A: 是的，男人的身體有一個微型的工廠，它24小時都在產生精子。每次射精會釋放1百萬精子，所以那個工廠相當忙。精子的主要用途是爲卵子授精。

B: 那隻需要將精子和卵子一配一就會形成嬰兒？

A: 是的，男人在做愛中會有高潮，會射出精子和精液。現在這就是種族起源的地方，這些百萬個精液會在子宮頸中賽跑和游泳，經過子宮到達輸卵管。這個過程大概從55分鐘到12小時不等，並不是所有的精子都能到達，有些會走錯路，迷路然後死掉。大多數精子會到達卵巢，但是隻有一個精子會結合卵子並授精。這個過程一旦發生，卵子馬上會發生改變，一旦精子安全地在裏面，卵子會形成保護盾。

B: 然後呢？這就完事了？

A: 卵子在24小時內授精。精子中的基因和卵子中的基因結合形成新的細胞，細胞迅速開始分裂。在形成胚胎前，女人實際上並沒有懷孕，胚胎會進入輸卵管並附着在子宮的內壁上。還有別的問題嗎？我們繼續。