With thick mucus, though, it gets a lot harder to clear and the mucociliary action becomes defective, which means bacteria is allowed to chronically colonize the lungs.

当黏液厚重时，粘液纤毛作用就变得困难起来，细菌得以在肺内长期繁殖。

Normally the cilia, these hair-like projections lining the airways, do a pretty good job of keeping the them clean by moving mucus, which catches things like debris and bacteria, toward the pharynx, called mucociliary action.

一般情况下，纤毛像毛发一样排列在气道内，在排送黏液、保持气道清洁方面有很大的作用，它们将捕获了污垢和细菌的黏液向咽部排送，这就是粘液纤毛作用。