$a^2-b^2=$  ____.

   Ellen Parker was worried about her health. She could not walk very quickly and it was difficult for her to climb stars. She was soon out of breath (气喘吁吁).
   “I suppose I had better go to the doctor,” she thought.
   She went to the doctor and told him her problem.
   “I'm not surprised at all,” he said. “It's obvious what your problem is.”He looked her over then gave her some advice.“If you don't do what I say, Mrs. Parker," he said, "you will have a heart attack. It could kill you.”
   Ellen Parker was very worried as she left the doctor's. She knew that she had to take his advice but it would not be easy and it would take time.
   The next day she went shopping. The first shop she went into was a butcher's shop (肉铺).“I'd like ten pounds of steak (牛排), please,” she said.“Certainly, madam,” the butcher replied and went into the cold room and found a large piece of steak. He brought the huge piece of meat back into the shop and put it on the scale (天平).
   “That's just under ten pounds,"he said.
   “That big enough," Mrs. Parker said.
   The butcher worked out the price.
   “At $4.99 a pound that will be $49.50, please. Would you like me to cut it up into smaller pieces for you?”
   “Oh, I don't want to buy the meat,"Mrs. Parker said.
   “If you don't want to buy it," the butcher replied angrily, "why did you ask me to get it for you?”
   “My doctor told me that I am over-weight and I have to lose ten pounds. I wanted to see what ten pounds of meat looked like.”

科普阅读题：

    1897年，人们发现了志贺氏菌，又称痢疾杆菌。感染这类细菌后，常导致水样便、急性腹痛、发烧等。志贺氏菌每年引起大约1.63亿人患严重痢疾，并夺走超过100万人的生命，可谓是臭名昭著！

    众所周知，抗生素是人们对抗这些恶魔的有力武器。但因为这些武器被滥用，许多细菌出现了耐药性，其中一些细菌甚至对多种抗生素都具有耐药性，成为“超级细菌”。人们如何抵抗愈发猖獗的耐药菌呢？

    在自然界中，生存着一种噬菌蛭弧菌（下面简称蛭弧菌），它以其他种类的细菌为食。“捕食”的对象正是多种致病菌，如大肠杆菌、志贺氏菌。其“捕食”过程见下图。

    目前，人类没有发现与蛭弧菌相关的疾病报道。因此，科学家们提出“以菌治菌”的设想，即利用蛭弧菌去抗击病原菌的感染。但蛭弧菌本身也是一种细菌，动物的免疫系统如果发现它们，会怎样对待这些“友军”？

    科学家用斑马鱼做了研究。在预实验中，将蛭弧菌注射进斑马鱼的后脑，24小时后，这些斑马鱼全部存活，而且后脑内的蛭弧菌数量逐渐减少。这样来看，蛭弧菌和斑马鱼短期内的“和谐共存”是可以达到的。

    接下来，研究者开始了“以菌治菌”环节。他们先向一群斑马鱼的后脑接种了致死剂量的志贺氏菌，然后对其中的部分斑马鱼再注射蛭弧菌。研究者发现，相比于对照组，注射了蛭弧菌的斑马鱼后脑内志贺氏菌大量减少，72小时后斑马鱼的存活率也更高。

    在此过程中，斑马鱼的免疫系统也没闲着：白细胞探测到蛭弧菌后，它们会聚集到注射部位将蛭弧菌吞噬。这看起来是“恩将仇报”，但免疫系统其实也是在尽忠职守。随后，研究者利用药物削弱了斑马鱼的免疫系统，再用志贺氏菌感染它们。这时，尽管蛭弧菌依然神勇，斑马鱼的存活率却明显下降，这说明免疫系统并不只是在拖蛭弧菌的后腿。

    至此，研究者认为，在抗击志贺氏菌感染时，蛭弧菌和斑马鱼免疫系统能巧妙地“配合”：蛭弧菌对志贺氏菌的“捕食”开始得非常迅速，能够在感染初期控制住志贺氏菌繁殖的势头，帮免疫系统减轻应对的压力。而等到大批白细胞赶来时，蛭弧菌已经饱餐过一顿，收拾志贺氏菌余孽的工作，免疫系统自己也能完成好。

    在耐药菌问题愈发严峻的当下，我们都迫不及待地想找到新的应对手段。前景越令人期待，研究者的推进工作也越要细致周密。蛭弧菌能不能真正作为“活的抗菌药”加入人类与病原菌的战争当中，我们将继续关注。