But this flu virus should not be so complacent as it seems to be.As it reproduces in your bloodstream,the virus is met by a certain kind of white blood cell,the lymphocytes.The lymphocytes are the foot soldiers that keep you alive.
The number of lymphocytes in your body is hard to imagine.Thousands of them could fit in the period at the end of this sentence.Your body holds about a trillion —that’s 1,000,000,000,000 of them,or about 3,000 in every drop of blood.Since you began reading this sentence,over 800,000 of them have been created and destroyed.
Some of these lymphocytes pass through a small walnutsized organ called the thymus.The thymus is the base of the neck.Here,special hormones(荷尔蒙)turn lymphocytes into fighting cells,called T cells.
T cells have one terrific talent:They can tell the difference between friend and foe;what should be in our bodies and what shouldn’t.They do not affect the body ’s healthy cells.Yet they attack everything that is foreign to our bodies,such as germs,transplants,and even our own cells which have become abnormal,as in the case of cancer.
31.What is the function of our immune system?
A)To take over our tissues and feed off our bodies’ nutrients.
B)To prevent bacteria or germs from entering the body.
C)To destroy the troublemakers in order that they might not hurt the body.
D)To fight against T cells.
32.What does the word “lymphocytes” mean?
A)Food soldiers.B)Flu virus.
C)White blood cells.D)Troublemakers.
33.The last sentence in para 5 “since you began reading this sentence,over 800,000 of them have been created and destroyed” implies that ____.