英語(yǔ)聽(tīng)力入門 step by step 2000 第三冊(cè)Unit 5 Health and Medicine

Unit 5 Health and Medicine
Part I Warming up
A1
1. This news item is about a successful brain tissue transplant carried out by a South African surgeon.
2. This news item is about the discovery of a new way to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
3. This news item is about the discovery of a new way to treat glaucoma.
4. This news item is about a new research on writing which shows that writing can result in clinically meaningful outcomes.
or
This news item is about a new research on writing which shows that writing can help people with chronic illnesses improve their health.
5. This news item is about the theory and function of acupuncture.
A2
1. The surgery was performed a week ago on a patient suffering from Parkinson's disease.
2. The effectiveness of chemotherapy can be increased by inhibiting a natural defense mechanism employed by cancer cells.
3. Glaucoma involves the death of brain cells.
4. The study adds to the growing amount of scientific literature suggesting that meeting patients’ psychological needs produces physical health benefits.
5. One of the key benefits of acupuncture is that it has few side effects and that when used with standard drug treatment it allows physicians to cut back on medication.
Tapescript:
1. The world's leading transplant surgeon, Dr Christopher Bernard, has carried out one of the most difficult brain tissue transplants yet attempted. The South African surgeon has succeeded in transplanting tissues into the human brain in what is thought to be the first operation of its kind. The surgery was performed a week ago on a patient suffering from Parkinson's disease. A portion of the patient's adrenal gland was implanted into a part of the patient's brain, an operation which has previously been performed only on rats and monkeys.
2. Approximately a-third of all people develop cancer at one point in their lives. Chemotherapy has its limitations, but it is one of the major treatment options. Some American scientists have discovered they can increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy by inhibiting a natural defense mechanism employed by cancer cells.
3. Glaucoma is responsible for blindness in an estimated 67 million people around the world. Until now, treatments have focused exclusively on the eyes. But that may change in the next few years, following the discovery that glaucoma involves the death of brain cells.
4. New research shows that the simple act of writing down thoughts about a stressful event can help people with chronic illnesses improve their health. This is the first study to show that writing can result in clinically meaningful outcomes for chronically-ill patients. The study adds to the growing amount of scientific literature suggesting that meeting patients' psychological needs produces physical health benefits.
5. Traditional Chinese medicine says that good health is associated with the balance of qi. Qi can be hindered or helped by yang and yin. According to traditional theory, the goal of acupuncture is to promote the flow of qi by keeping yin and yang in balance- and this is done by inserting needles at various points along primary channels and meridians that crisscross the body. One of the key benefits of acupuncture is that it has few, if any, side-effects; and that when used with standard drug treatment --in anesthesia, for example it allows physicians to cut back on medication, delivering the same level of benefit with fewer negative effects.
B.
Tapescript.
l. GMO & GE
Basically, genetic modification is when a scientist removes a gene that carries particular instructions for a particular characteristic from the DNA of one organism and inserts that gene into the DNA of another (sometimes very different) organism. The result is called a genetically modified organism or GMO. This technology is also referred to generally as genetic engineering or GE.
2. Organic, Semi-organic
Organic generally refers to farming using no artificial fertilizers or pest control chemicals, and the food produced by this fanning method. Semi-organic means farming using as little artificial fertilizers, etc. as possible. "Semi" means "half."
3. Transgenic organisms
Transgenic organisms are created when a short section of genetic material from an unrelated species is introduced into another species, for example, animal genes to a plant. "Trans" means "going across."
4. Pharming
A pun on the word for farming. It means using farm animals such as cows, goats and pigs, that have been genetically changed, to produce pharmaceutical drugs. Pharming beginning with a "ph" is pronounced the same as farming beginning with an ,,f. ,,
5. Frankenstein
Frankenstein refers to the novel of that name by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797- 1851). The novel is about a scientist who creates a subhuman creature that ends up destroying him. So Frankenstein means any "creation that ends up destroying the creator."
C.
1. Your 21st century future
The future is determined by the actions of the present day. The responsibility we have for the future begins when we recognize that we ourselves create the future- that the future is not something imposed upon us by fate or other forces beyond our control.
2. Your 21st century doctor
More and more doctors will use computers for medical diagnosis and treatment instead of their textbooks. Computers in your home will enable you to answer interactive questions about your health and show the alternative results which will affect you if you act in a certain way.
3. Your 21st century brain
Your brainwaves may be used to check out whether you are busy, tired, or doing your work properly. Bosses could measure brain activity through the scalp and tell whether a worker is performing well, working hard, or too tired to do the job properly. Ongoing computer analysis could tell whether a worker is seeing all the activity they have to monitor clearly enough.
Tapescript:
1. Your 21st century future
The future will not determine itself. The future is determined by the actions of the present day. Edward Cornish, the editor of The Futurist magazine published by the World Future Society, says, "The responsibility we have for the future begins when we recognize that we ourselves create the future--that the future is not something imposed upon us by fate or other forces beyond our control."
2. Your 21st century doctor
More and more doctors will use computers for medical diagnosis and treatment.
You will visit your doctor, and find that he uses a computer screen and visual information about your condition instead of his textbooks.
Computers in your home will enable you to answer interactive questions about your health and show the alternative results which will affect you if you act in a certain way.
3. Your 21st century brain
Your brainwaves may be used to check out whether you are busy, tired, or doing your work properly.
Psychologist Arthur F. Kramer, at the University of Illinois, tested volunteers working on arithmetic problems. He found that he could predict their performance from the strength of the brain's electrical activity. This is measured through the scalp.
The future? Bosses could measure brain activity through the scalp and tell whether a worker is performing well, working hard, or too tired to do the job properly. Ongoing computer analysis could tell whether a worker, such as an air traffic controller, is seeing all the activity they have to monitor clearly enough.
Part II Frankenstein food to feed the world?
A.
Outline
I. Possible functions of GE
A. To repair a genetic "defect"
B. To make a characteristic already natural to that organism even better
C. To improve resistance to disease or outside damage
D. To make the organism do something it would not normally do
II The pros
A. Reducing chemical inputs to the land
B. Helping the environment
C. Increasing the possibility of growing crops in difficult geographic areas
D. Improving nutritional qualities of food
III. The cons
A. Upsetting the complex environmental balance
B. Creating many new non-reversible ecological problems
C. Increasing the dominance of major corporations
D. Disadvantaging small farmers
E. Causing damage to the human immune system
F. Causing cancer
Tapescript
You will be aware of the controversy in Europe and the United States over food that has been genetically modified. But why should our scientists want to do this?
Well, genetic engineering could be used to repair a genetic "defect" as with the current scientific trials of gene therapy in humans; to make a characteristic already natural to that organism even better, for example, to increase the growth rate of a crop; to improve resistance to disease or outside damage, for example, crop disease or resistance to cold or drought; to make the organism do something it would not normally do, for example, getting a tomato to ripen without going soft--this can be done simply by taking one of its own genes, turning its "pattern" upside down and putting it back again!
It sounds like an amazing new technology, but opinions differ greatly on the pros and cons of genetically engineered food (GE food).
Supporters of GE food say that GE crops will reduce chemical inputs to the land, help the environment, increase the possibility of growing crops in difficult geographic areas; improve nutritional qualities of food.
Opponents of GE food say that GE crops may upset the complex environmental balance, create many new non-reversible ecological problems, increase the dominance of major corporations and disadvantage small farmers, as these rich corporations will control seed varieties, at the worst, cause damage to the human immune system and cause cancer.
At the moment, there is much controversy surrounding GE food.
Some people claim GE food is safe for humans and safe for the environment and will benefit everyone.
Some say they support research into GE food because they recognize the possible benefits for economic food supply in the future.
But many also say that nothing has yet been proved for this new technology and the risks are so great, that it is wise to go slow. None of the GE foods so far produced are at all necessary. So why are they being sold? Why not wait longer until more scientific trials are carried out?
Some say no to GE foods. They are not worth the risk to the environment and our health. They say organic or semi-organic farming is the answer to feeding the world. This type of farming needs lots of labor, but needs no debt and no large corporations.
Others are angry that GE food is already being sold and that there is no way for consumers to know if they are consuming food made from plants that have had their genes altered in a laboratory. They feel that they have been tricked by big corporations and they do not like being human guinea pigs for this new GE food. They insist on clear labeling on food packaging to show whether GE food products are present.
It is a brave new world we are facing in the twenty-first century. As the molecular biologist Michael Antoniou says: "Genetic Engineering and conventional breeding are worlds apart. )' What Nature has done for us for millions of years is now suddenly out-of-date. Today's scientists face huge problems in deciding whether the benefits of the new technology are worth the risks. It is your future that is being decided here. It might be worth offering the scientists some guidance.
B.
1. When did people begin breeding wild plants and animals?
10,000 years ago
2. What kind of traits of plants and animals are preferred by human beings?
Fatter, easier to handle, more milk, bigger fruit
2. What are the four molecules that all genes are made from?
A, T,C; and G
4, What have the scientists done with breeding over the centuries?
To move genes around within a species
5. What are the scientists doing now?
To take genes from different species and put them into each other
6. What kind of problems may turn up in people and agriculture?
Possible new allergies in some people / possible resistance to pesticide in some pests
7. What is the advice given to us by the scientists?
To learn about the great benefits, but to proceed carefully
Tapescript:
Unnatural genetic modification of food has been around since the beginning of civilization.
Ten thousand years ago, we began breeding wild plants and animals to get more of the traits we like. Fatter, easier to handle, more milk, bigger fruit, which we later learned came from changes in their genes.
So for centuries now, most food we've eaten was genetically modified. Here's what's different. Scientists have discovered the four molecules all genes, plant and animal, are made from--A, T, C and G. And they now know how to manipulate them (and) move them ar