核心词汇 (Target Vocabulary)

掌握拿破仑死因科学调查核心词汇，点击语音按钮听美音发音，熟悉权威例句与法庭毒理学术语。

cease [siːs] v.
To stop happening or existing; to bring something to an end.
停止；终了
"The toxic substance caused his heart and nervous system to cease functioning."
compelling [kəmˈpelɪŋ] adj.
Evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way.
令人信服的；引人入胜的
"The forensic pathologist presented compelling evidence of arsenic poisoning."
dispute [dɪˈspjuːt] n.
An argument or disagreement, especially an official one between people or groups.
争论；争端；争议
"The true cause of Napoleon's death remains a subject of bitter dispute among historians."
grand [ɡrænd] adj.
Important and large in degree; magnificent or impressive.
宏伟的；重大的；堂皇的
"The emperor was buried in a grand marble tomb under the dome of Les Invalides."
inconclusive [ˌɪnkənˈkluːsɪv] adj.
Not leading to a firm conclusion or result; not decisive.
非决定性的；无结果的
"Initial toxicology tests on the hair samples were deemed inconclusive by skeptics."
plot [plɒt] n.
A secret plan by a group of people to do something illegal or harmful.
密谋；阴谋
"Some historians believe a sinister political plot led to the poisoning of the former ruler."
poison [ˈpɔɪzn] n. / v.
A substance capable of causing illness or death; to administer poison to.
毒药；投毒
"Arsenic is a notorious poison that leaves detectable traces in hair and bone long after death."
relentlessly [rɪˈlentləsli] adv.
In an unceasingly intense, harsh, or determined way.
无情地；持续严酷地
"The prosecutor relentlessly investigated every rumor surrounding the mysterious homicide."
revenge [rɪˈvendʒ] n.
The action of hurting or harming someone in return for an injury or wrong suffered.
报复；复仇
"Did Count Montholon murder Napoleon out of personal jealousy and revenge?"
symptom [ˈsɪmptəm] n.
A physical or mental feature indicating a condition of disease or poisoning.
症状；征兆
"Severe stomach pains and rapid weight loss were key symptoms recorded in the patient journal."
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Who Killed the Emperor?

法医毒理学视角：拿破仑流放圣赫勒拿岛暴毙的历史悬案与现代证据辨析

Paragraph A
Who killed the Emperor? It's a story as compelling as any murder mystery. It begins in 1821 on the remote British island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. This is where Napoleon Bonaparte, one time emperor of France, is held prisoner after losing his final battle at Waterloo in 1815. In February 1821, Napoleon's health reportedly begins to fail and he dies three months later at the age of 51. An autopsy performed the next morning reveals a stomach ulcer, possibly cancerous. The real cause of death, however, has been in dispute ever since. Historians, toxicologists, doctors and other experts, as well as amateur investigators, have considered the question of how and why Napoleon died. Many are convinced that he was actually murdered.
Paragraph B
So far, though, the experts have not been able to reach an agreement. Political murder? Ben Wieder, founder of the International Napoleonic Society, believes that Napoleon was poisoned with arsenic, a deadly chemical. Wieder has relentlessly sought the cause of Napoleon's death for more than four decades, and has put considerable resources into solving the mystery. In his view, Napoleon was poisoned by the British and by French royalists, who wanted him out of the way once and for all. Wieder offers, as the central point of his hypothesis, the hair analysis done by Pascal Kins, a French toxicologist at the Legal Medicine Institute of Strasbourg, Kins analyzed Napoleon's hair and confirmed that it contained arsenic. While Kins can't say exactly how or why the arsenic was there, Wieder is convinced that the poisoning of Napoleon was planned and deliberate. Poisoned by his wallpaper? David Jones, an immunologist at the University of Newcastle in England, has studied the walls at Longwood House, the building on St. Helena, when Napoleon lived his last years.
Paragraph C
He found that the wallpaper was painted with a substance containing arsenic, according to Jones, conditions on the hot and humid island cause the arsenic to be released into the air. Then again, paint may not have been the only source of arsenic on St. Helena. Some toxicologists say that it is not uncommon for people who eat large amounts of seafood to have an unusually high level of arsenic in their blood. Because St. Helena is a small island, 2000 kilometres from the nearest mainland, it is likely that a large part of Napoleon's diet consisted of seafood. Additionally, the doctors who examined Napoleon's body after his death didn't find any of the usual symptoms associated with arsenic poisoning, such as bleeding inside the heart. Doctors mistake? Stephen Karch, an American heart disease expert, believes that Napoleon was killed by his own doctors. They gave him large doses of dangerous chemicals, commonly used as medicine at the time. According to Karch's theory, the day before Napoleon's death, he was given a massive amount of mercurious chloride, a chemical once given to patients with heart disease.
Paragraph D
That and other medications, Karch theorizes, disrupted Napoleon's heartbeat, and ultimately caused his heart to cease beating. While Karch admits that arsenic exposure was a partial cause, he believes it was the doctor's errors that actually caused the heart attack. Disease? Historian Jean-Talar believes that cancer and ulcers, as reported by doctors who examined the body, were the cause of Napoleon's death. To Lara remains unconvinced by cancer's hair analysis. In his estimation, the hair that was tested may not even have been Napoleon's. To Lara also discounts the poisoning theory, on the grounds that no one has yet found anything linking the British or the French royalists, or anyone else for that matter, to applaud against Napoleon's life. Still, doubts remain that cancer was one of the main causes. One cancer specialist believes that Napoleon probably didn't have advanced stomach cancer, because people with that disease always lose a lot of weight.
Paragraph E
According to reports, Napoleon never lost any weight during his stay on St. Helena. In fact, he gained a fair amount. A case of revenge? One of my ancestors did it. Says Francois de Condé-Monthalor. I'm an aristocrat. aristocrats don't like revolution and Napoleon made revolutions. Condé-Monthalor's great, great, great, great grandfather, the count of Marthalor, was stationed with Napoleon on St. Helena.
Paragraph F
Napoleon had a love affair with the Count's wife, and there were rumors that Napoleon was, in fact, the father of her youngest child. The count, it is observed, had controlled of Napoleon's wine cellar and food. Could he, motivated by revenge, have poisoned the wine? Everyone is right, and no one is right. Says Paul Fauness of the George Pompidu Hospital in Paris. Fauness has reviewed the 1821 autopsy report, and other historical records and concludes. Napoleon may have died with cancer, but he didn't die of cancer. Likewise, he says that although the hair analysis indicate the presence of arsenic, no one can say if he was intentionally given the arsenic, or if it was what ultimately killed him.
Paragraph G
In Fauness's opinion, evidence from murder by poisoning is inconclusive and wouldn't hold up in a court of law. Napoleon Bonaparte's body was returned to France in 1840, and it has rested in a grand tomb in Paris ever since. Something it is time to open the tomb, and to examine the remains using modern methods. French historian and doctor, Jean-François Lamère, however, believes that serious science and history have a little to do with it anymore. We are now in the world of entertainment, he says. It seems unlikely that new facts will settle the issue. People just enjoy the mystery too much. Thank you.

课文配套练习 (Reading Exercises)

严格对应教材 Page 134–140 官方练习：Before You Read、Reading Comprehension、事实与推测辨析及法庭证据评估。

1.
Definitions (p.134) If something, such as a chemical or disease, is ______ in something else, it exists within it.
2.
Definitions (p.134) ______ is a serious disease caused by the spread of abnormal body cells.
3.
Definitions (p.134) A ______ is someone who has been captured by an enemy and is kept in a confined place.
4.
Gist (p.139) What could be another title for this reading?
5.
Detail (Para C, p.139) Which person strongly believes that Napoleon was murdered?
6.
Detail (Para D, p.139) What may have caused the wallpaper at Napoleon’s house to release arsenic into the air?
7.
Detail (Paras D and F, p.139) Which of the following do both David Jones and Steven Karch believe?
8.
Inference (Para H, p.139) Why does François de Candé-Montholon seem proud that his ancestor murdered Napoleon?
9.
Fact or Speculation (p.139) An autopsy showed that Napoleon had a stomach ulcer when he died.
10.
Fact or Speculation (Para C, p.139) Napoleon was poisoned by the British and by French royalists.
11.
Fact or Speculation (p.139) The wallpaper in Napoleon’s home contained arsenic.
12.
Fact or Speculation (Para E, p.139) Napoleon ate a lot of seafood while living on St. Helena.
13.
Fact or Speculation (Para F, p.139) The chemical mercurous chloride caused Napoleon’s heart to stop beating.
14.
Fact or Speculation (Para H, p.139) Napoleon fathered a child with another man’s wife on St. Helena.
15.
Fact or Speculation (p.139) Napoleon is now buried in Paris.
16.
Evaluating Evidence (p.140) What evidence supports: Napoleon was poisoned with arsenic as political murder?
17.
Evaluating Evidence (p.140) What evidence supports: Napoleon was accidentally killed by his own doctors?
18.
Evaluating Evidence (p.140) What evidence supports: Napoleon’s death was due to cancer and ulcers?

Critical Thinking · Historical Forensic Inquiries
Jean-François Lemaire notes: "We are now in the world of entertainment." Should Napoleon's tomb be reopened for modern DNA and forensic isotope testing?