巴菲特：“老狗也能学到新技”
今天，巴菲特股东大会通过线上举行。开场时巴菲特提到这是自己人生中几十年来首次用幻灯片给大家作介绍。
他表示，虽然大学里学过一点，但21岁到现在88岁都没再用过幻灯片了，谁说“老狗学不了新把戏/老狗不能学到新技”，他就在学习新技能。
英语中有一句话叫：You can't teach an old dog new tricks. 意思「年老难学艺；本性难移」说的就是年纪大的人难以适应/学习新事物（said to mean that it is very difficult to teach someone new skills or to change someone's habits or character）。
经济学人（Economist）2017年的一篇文章小标题就叫「Old dog, new tricks」即源于这一谚语。
类似的，有另一说法叫「Old habits die hard」表示「旧习难改」，对比下两句话的英文解释“used to say that it is difficult to make people change their attitudes or behaviour”，举个🌰：
She knew it probably wasn't necessary any more, but old habits die hard.
她知道这也许已经没有必要了，但是旧习难改。
再对比下另外两种完全相反的说法：
📍「It's never too late to mend」，可以解释为「亡羊补牢，为时不晚」、「过则勿惮改」，英文解释为：One is never too old to change one's ways; learning is always possible.
📍「You're never too old to learn」活到老学到老，这句就比较熟悉了，英文解释为：It is possible to learn new things, at any age; (implied) follow your desires and dreams.
- 📖 -
下面我们就来看看最近一则有意思的新闻，老狗真的学不了新技能吗？美国宾夕法尼亚州大学（University of Pennsylvania）的研究者正在训练狗的嗅觉，教它们嗅出新冠病毒患者。
无注释原文：
Could dogs learn to sniff out coronavirus on people? Researchers are trying to find out
New York Daily News
You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but how about new viruses?
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are training a team of scent detection dogs to determine if they can smell whether a person has coronavirus, an unconventional but promising method that could potentially help reduce community spread.
The pilot program will launch with eight dogs and preliminary tests on live humans could begin as early as July, according to the university’s School of Veterinary Medicine, known as Penn Vet.
The training will start with a three-week process called odor imprinting, in which the canines will be exposed to coronavirus-positive saliva and urine samples in a laboratory setting. After that, researchers will see if the dogs can discriminate between positive and negative samples — still within a lab setting.
If all goes well, the next stage will involve people, said Dr. Cynthia Otto, who’s leading the study.
“The potential impact of these dogs and their capacity to detect COVID-19 could be substantial," she said in a statement. “This study will harness the dog’s extraordinary ability to support the nation’s COVID-19 surveillance systems, with the goal of reducing community spread.”
The method could be particularly helpful in identifying people who have no symptoms and aren’t able to get a test.
It would not be the first time dogs are enlisted to help fight a disease.
Otto, who’s also the director of Penn Vet’s Working Dog Center, said scent detection dogs can already detect low concentrations of volatile organic compounds that are associated with several diseases — including ovarian cancer, bacterial infections and nasal tumors — through human blood, saliva, urine or breath.
- ◆ -
含注释全文：
Could dogs learn to sniff out coronavirus on people? Researchers are trying to find out
New York Daily News
You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but how about new viruses?
你可能无法教给老狗新把戏，但新的病毒呢？
sniff out
表示“嗅出”，英文解释为“to discover or find sb/sth by using your sense of smell ”举个🌰：
The dogs are trained to sniff out drugs.
这些狗是经过训练的嗅毒犬。
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are training a team of scent detection dogs to determine if they can smell whether a person has coronavirus, an unconventional but promising method that could potentially help reduce community spread.
宾夕法尼亚大学的研究人员正在训练一组气味检测犬，以确定它们是否可以闻到一个人是否患有冠状病毒，这是一种非常规但有希望的方法，可能有助于减少社区传播。
unconventional
unconventional表示“不因循守旧的；不因袭的；新奇的”，英文解释为“not following what is done or considered normal or acceptable by most people; different and interesting”，如：an unconventional approach to the problem 另辟蹊径解决这个问题的方法，unconventional views 新奇的观点。
The pilot program will launch with eight dogs and preliminary tests on live humans could begin as early as July, according to the university’s School of Veterinary Medicine, known as Penn Vet.
根据该大学的兽医学院（Penn Vet）的说法，该试验计划将从八只狗开始，对活人的初步测试最早可于7月开始。
preliminary test 初步试验；预先测试
The training will start with a three-week process called odor imprinting, in which the canines will be exposed to coronavirus-positive saliva and urine samples in a laboratory setting. After that, researchers will see if the dogs can discriminate between positive and negative samples — still within a lab setting.
训练将从一个为期三周的过程开始，这个过程被称为气味印记，在这个过程中，警犬将在实验室环境中接触到冠状病毒阳性的唾液和尿液样本。之后，研究人员将观察犬类是否能够区分阳性和阴性样本--仍在实验室环境中进行。
odor
odor/odour 表示“气味；臭味”，英文解释为“a smell, especially one that is unpleasant”，如：a foul/musty/pungent odor 难闻的气味、难闻的霉味、刺鼻的气味等。
🐶 canine /ˈkeɪnaɪn/ 作形容词：connected with dogs 犬的；似犬的，作名词则表示狗，犬。
saliva
saliva /səˈlaɪvə/ 表示“唾液”，英文解释为“Saliva is the watery liquid that forms in your mouth and helps you to chew and digest food.”
If all goes well, the next stage will involve people, said Dr. Cynthia Otto, who’s leading the study.
负责这项研究的辛西娅·奥托（Cynthia Otto）博士说，如果一切顺利，下一阶段将对人进行试验。
“The potential impact of these dogs and their capacity to detect COVID-19 could be substantial," she said in a statement. “This study will harness the dog’s extraordinary ability to support the nation’s COVID-19 surveillance systems, with the goal of reducing community spread.”
"这些狗的潜在影响以及它们检测COVID-19的能力可能是巨大的，"她在一份声明中说。"这项研究将利用狗的非凡能力来支持国家的COVID-19检测系统，目的是喂了减少社区传播。"
harness
harness /ˈhɑːnɪs/ 作动词，表示“控制，利用（以产生能量等）”，英文解释为“to control and use the force or strength of sth to produce power or to achieve sth”举个🌰：
We must harness the skill and creativity of our workforce.
我们必须尽量发挥全体职工的技能和创造力。
下面再看看电影中的例句，比如：
🎬《复仇者联盟2：奥创纪元》（Avengers: Age of Ultron）中提到的：如果我们能够驾驭这种能量，If we can harness this power, ...
🎬《奇异博士》（Doctor Strange）中提到的：我们收集/汲取能量，We harness energy...
The method could be particularly helpful in identifying people who have no symptoms and aren’t able to get a test. It would not be the first time dogs are enlisted to help fight a disease.
这种方法可能特别有助于识别那些没有症状而无法进行检测的人。这不是狗第一次来帮助抗击疾病。
Otto, who’s also the director of Penn Vet’s Working Dog Center, said scent detection dogs can already detect low concentrations of volatile organic compounds that are associated with several diseases — including ovarian cancer, bacterial infections and nasal tumors — through human blood, saliva, urine or breath.
奥托（Otto），也是宾夕法尼亚大学兽医学院（Penn Vet）工作犬中心的主任，他说，气味检测犬已经可以通过人的血液、唾液、尿液或呼气，检测出低浓度的挥发性有机化合物，这些化合物与几种疾病有关--包括卵巢癌、细菌感染和鼻腔肿瘤。
concentration
concentration除了表示我们平常熟悉的“专注、专心；关注、重视；集中、聚集”等，还可以表示“（液体中某物质的）浓度”。
🧪volatile organic compounds 挥发性有机化合物
🧪ovarian cancer 卵巢癌
🧪bacterial infection 细菌感染
🧪nasal tumors 鼻肿瘤
- 相关阅读 -
- END -