that the history of each epidemic disease is distinct.

每一段传染病史都是不同的
That's one of the reasons that I will be showing slides,

这是我向你们展示幻灯片的原因之一
to fix the image of a particular disease in your mind.

我要修正你们对于一些特殊疾病的印象
Because it's important not to confuse them,

将它们区别开来是非常重要的
because each has its own history.

因为每一个疾病都有自己的一段历史
And a crucial variable is the differing way

一个区别它们重要因素是
in which each of these diseases affected its victims.

这些疾病是如何影响受害者的
And a feature of the plague, I would argue,

我认为瘟疫的一个特征是它似乎
is that it seemed almost purposefully designed to maximize terror.

特意被设计成拥有使恐怖最大化的能力
I will be showing you some vivid material,

我要给你们展示几个生动的材料
and I'm sorry that it's just before lunch.

很抱歉这堂课正好在午饭前
And indeed a couple of years ago in this class

几年以前在这门课上确实有一位