《参考消息》2006年6月1日第7版：美国一教授是成吉思汗后裔
《泰晤士报》2006年5月30日文章：我是怎么与成吉思汗扯上关系的
how i am related to genghis khan
by mark henderson
they seem the unlikeliest of relatives. one was a fearsome warlord whose name became a b_________（a） for savagery. the other is a mild-mannered accountancy academic from florida.
yet tom robinson, 48, has become the first man outside asia to trace his ancestry directly to genghis khan, the 13th-century mongol leader whose empire s_________（b） from the south china sea to the persian gulf. and, since his paternal great-great-grandfather emigrated to the united states from windermere, cumbria, many more descendants are probably scattered across the lake district.
genetic tests have revealed that mr robinson, a professor of accountancy at the university of miami, shares crucial portions of his dna with the mongol ruler. he has little in common with his infamous ancestor. he is not a k________（c） horseman. though a republican, his politics are moderate. and while genghis khan may have fathered thousands of children, professor robinson and his wife, linda, have no offspring.
“i’m not sure we have too many similarities,” he said. “i obviously haven’t conquered any countries, and （1）though i’ve headed up accounting groups, i’ve done nothing as big as genghis khan.
“i’m proud to have such an interesting ancestor. i’ve been reading a lot about him since i found out about the l_________（d）, and it does seem that his reputation is a little unfair.
“he conquered a lot of countries, but he had a pretty good system of government.”
professor robinson’s genetic past was uncovered by brian sykes, professor of human genetics at the university of oxford. his company, oxford ancestors, （2）offers genetic tests to help people to trace their family trees.
samples of professor robinson’s dna were first taken four years ago. tests suggested that his paternal forebears came from the caucasus, while his mother’s ancestors o_________（e） in the pyrenees.
then a study in 2003 suggested that up to 16 million people worldwide — and 8 per cent of asian men — were descended from genghis khan, and professor sykes decided to trawl through his database of approximately 25,000 male clients for a match.
the link is revealed by the y chromosome, a packet of dna that determines male sex, which is passed down from father to son. men who share a y chromosome are invariably descended from the same man at some point in the past, and （3）the accumulation of mutations can be used to date the common ancestor. women do not have a y chromosome, so they cannot be tested in the same way, although millions are likely also to be descended from the warlord.
the 2003 study found that large numbers of asian men from the regions that once made up the mongol empire shared a single y chromosome, and that this originated in a man who lived in the early 13th century.
genghis khan lived from about 1162 to 1227 and fathered hundreds or even thousands of children as his armies s_________（f） across the continent. this makes him by far the most probable source of the common chromosome.
professor sykes said: “genghis khan may have been the most successful male ever at spreading his genes. he would have passed his y chromosome on to his sons and grandsons, who inherited his empire and with it an opportunity to spread it even further.
“we knew it exists widely in asia today, but i was sure it must have moved further afield as well. tom robinson is the first man we’ve found who has it who is from a european or american background.”
oxford ancestors looked for genghis khan’s genetic signature by examining y chromosomes for nine characteristic dna markers. professor robinson’s y chromosome is an exact match for eight of the nine markers, and （4）one mutation is expected over the 800 years that separate him from the mongol ruler.
ravdan bold, the mongolian ambassador to the us, is holding a reception in professor robinson’s h_________（g） in washington dc next month.
any man who is interested in finding out whether he is descended from genghis khan can be tested by oxford ancestors for £195.
试一试：
1．翻译划线部分英文：
参考答案：
2．根据译文，写出单词：
（a）a b_______ for savagery.（野蛮残暴的代名词）
（b）s_________ from the south china sea to the persian gulf（从中国南海一直延伸到波斯湾）
（c）he is not a k________ horseman.（他并不热衷骑马。）
（d）found out about the l_________ （发现这一血缘关系）
（e）o_________ in the pyrenees.（源自比利牛斯山地区）
（f）s_________ across the continent（横扫欧亚大陆）
（g）a reception in professor robinson’s h_________（款待罗宾逊教授的招待会）
参考答案：（a）byword； （b）stretched； （c）keen； （d）link； （e）originated； （f）swept；（g）honor