2011年ESL之就医和人际交往 14 A Widespread Epidemic（打印版）

2011年ESL之就医和人际交往 14 A Widespread Epidemic（在线收听）

14 A Widespread Epidemic

GLOSSARY

outbreak – the moment when something begins to happen very suddenly,affecting many people

* The outbreak of war caused panic in the streets.

disease – illness; something that makes a person sick* Dominic suffers from a rare disease that makes his legs weak.

to come down with – to begin to have a particular illness; to become sick

* I’ve had a headache all day and my nose is stuffed up. I think I’m coming downwith a cold.

health authorities – a government agency and/or important doctors who areresponsible for monitoring people’s health and/or preventing illnesses

* The health authorities require restaurant workers to wash their hands afterusing the bathroom and before touching food.

localized – concentrated in a particular area; limited to a particular area, notaffecting the surrounding area

* The wildfires are still localized, but if it gets windy, they’ll probably move into alarger area.

widespread – covering or affecting a very large area

* The central bank’s announcement has led to widespread fears that prices willgo up.

rare – unusual; uncommon; not typical

* Due to changes in this area, finding wolves in the wild is very rare.

alarmed – shocked, surprised, and worried about something

* Ollie was alarmed when he realized it was 11:00 and his daughter still hadn’tcome home.

communicable – contagious; referring to a disease that can be passed amongpeople or animals

* Covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze is one way to slowdown the spread of communicable diseases.

epidemic – when many people are sickened by a particular disease in a shortperiod of time

* When the water treatment facilities stopped working, everyone became worriedabout a cholera epidemic.

pandemic – when many people are sickened by a particular disease throughouta very large part of the world

* Much of Africa is facing an AIDS pandemic.

symptom – something that is wrong with one’s body and indicates a medicalproblem or an illness

* Some of the symptoms of a heart attack include shortness of breath, dizziness,and chest pain.

sufferer – a person who has a disease or medical condition and feels pain ordiscomfort

* Pharmaceutical companies are trying to create new drugs that will helpsufferers of muscular dystrophy.

announcer – a person who presents information, especially on a TV show or aradio program

* A good announcer needs to be able to read aloud very clearly.

fate – the outcome of particular situation; the course of one’s life, perhapsbeyond one’s contro

* Bin’s brother failed the test, but Bin plans to take it next year and hopes hewon’t follow the same fate.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What news story is Alan referring to?

a) Health authorities just identified the cause of Podcaster’s Disease.

b) Many people are coming down with Podcaster’s Disease.

c) Scientists just found a cure for Podcaster’s Disease.

2. What would you expect a sufferer of Podcaster’s Disease to do?

a) To speak very loudly and clearly.

b) To speak very quickly.

c) To speak with an unusual accent.

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WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to come down with

The phrase “to come down with,” in this podcast, means to begin to have aparticular illness or to become sick: “How do doctors avoid coming down witheverything their patients have?” The phrase “to come down to” can mean totravel toward the south: “How often do your parents come down from Alaska tovisit you?” The phrase “to come down to” can also mean to agree to sellsomething at a lower price: “I’d like to buy your boat, but I can’t afford that price.

Can you come down to $3,700?” Finally, the phrase “to come down [hard] on(someone)” means to criticize someone: “Yes, you need to punish your son, butdon’t come down too hard on him.”

alarmed

In this podcast, the word “alarmed” means shocked, surprised, and worried aboutsomething: “The manager became alarmed when she realized her departmentwas over budget.” Normally an “alarm” is something that makes a loud noise asa warning: “When there’s a problem at the power station, a siren goes off and redlights begin to flash as an alarm.” An “alarm clock” is a small electronic devicethat makes a noise at a certain time to wake someone up: “Hunter sets his alarmclock for 6:00 every weekday, and for 8:30 each Saturday.” Finally, a “smokealarm” is a small electronic device that hangs on the ceiling and makes a loudnoise if there is smoke from a fire: “If you hear a smoke alarm, run outside andcall the fire department.”

CULTURE NOTE

Worst Epidemics in U.S. HistoryThe worst epidemic in U.S. History was an outbreak of Spanish “influenza” (flu) in1918. Although the flu normally lasts only a few days, causing “congestion”

(difficulty breathing through one’s nose), coughing, and a fever, the influenza in1918 killed more than half a million people – more than any other epidemic in thecountry.

The United States has “seen” (experienced) several epidemics of yellow fever.

Yellow fever killed 4,000 residents of Philadelphia in 1793, as well as almost8,000 in New Orleans in the mid 1800s, and more than 13,000 in the SouthernStates around the Mississippi Valley in 1878.

“Cholera” (a disease caused by drinking contaminated water or eatingcontaminated food) has also been “deadly” (killing many people). In 1832,cholera epidemics killed more than 3,000 people in New York City and more than4,000 people in New Orleans. Another 5,000 people died from cholera in NewYork City in 1848.

In 1916, “polio” (a disease that affects nerves in the spine (back), making thesufferer unable to move certain muscles) “claimed the lives of” (killed) more than7,000 and affected more than 27,000 others, with other major outbreaks in 1949and 1952.

The AIDS epidemic was a major concern between 1981 and 2005, when itaffected “nearly” (almost) a million people in the United States, resulting in morethan 550,000 deaths.

The most recent epidemic in the United States was H1N1 or “swine flu.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC; health authorities in theU.S.), 22 million people in the country were infected with the virus. Almost100,000 of them had to be “hospitalized” (spend time in the hospital fortreatment) and almost 4,000 died from H1N1.

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Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – b; 2 – a

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 721: A WidespreadEpidemic.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 721. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com. You can become a member of ESL Podcast anddownload a Learning Guide for this episode, all on our wonderful website.

This episode is a dialogue between Alan and Katja about sicknesses or illnessesthat spread very quickly, that affect many people in a short amount of time. Let’sget started.

[start of dialogue]

Alan: Did you see today’s news? There’s been an outbreak of Podcaster’sDisease in the city.

Katja: Oh, my God, not Podcaster’s Disease! I would not want to come downwith that.

Alan: The first outbreak was at the local high school, and the health authoritiesthought it was localized. But a second, more widespread, outbreak has beenreported at the city’s government offices.

Katja: That’s terrible! I thought Podcaster’s Disease was very rare.

Alan: It is, and that’s why the authorities are so alarmed. It’s highlycommunicable, so they’re hoping it won’t turn into an epidemic, or worse, apandemic.

Katja: I’ve heard that this disease is horrible, but I’m not sure what the symptomsare. Do you know?

Alan: From what I’ve read, sufferers of Podcaster’s Disease can’t stop talkingand they speak in an announcer’s voice all the time.

Katja: Oh, my God, what a terrible fate!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Alan saying to Katja, “Did you see today’s news?

There’s been an outbreak of Podcaster’s Disease in the city.” An “outbreak”

(outbreak – one word) is the moment when something begins and it starts toaffect many people quickly. Usually, an outbreak is related to some illness orsickness that people are starting to get. A “disease” is just another word for anillness, a sickness. So, this is an imaginary disease called Podcaster’s Disease.

Katja says, “Oh, my God, not Podcaster’s Disease! I would not want to comedown with that.” The expression “to come down with (something)” means to geta particular illness, to become sick with something. “I’m coming down with acold” means that I am starting to get a cold. “I’m coming down with the flu”

means I’m starting to get the influenza illness – the flu.

“The first outbreak,” Alan says, “was at the local high school, and the healthauthorities thought it was localized.” The “health authorities” would be thegovernment doctors and other important officials who make decisions aboutissues of health in a state or area. To say something is “localized” means it’s justaffecting one small particular area, it doesn’t affect things around it. Because thefirst outbreak was at the local high school, the local high school kids got sick,they thought it was just there. “But a second, more widespread, outbreak hasbeen reported at the city’s government offices.” So there are now two placeswhere people are getting sick. When we say something is “widespread” (oneword), we mean it covers or affects a very large area.

Katja says, “That’s terrible! I thought Podcaster’s Disease was very rare.”

Something that is “rare” is unusual, uncommon, not typical. Alan says, “It is(meaning it is rare), and that’s why the authorities are so alarmed.” “To bealarmed” means to be surprised and worried. You might be worried aboutsomething bad that is happening; you might be “shocked,” we would say. Alansays that this disease is highly communicable. When we talk about an illness ora disease being “communicable,” we mean that it can be passed from oneperson to another or from one animal to another very easily. “Highlycommunicable diseases” are diseases that can spread very easily from oneperson to another. Another word for this is “contagious” (contagious). Alan saysthat the health authorities are hoping that this disease won’t turn into – won’tdevelop into or become – an epidemic. An “epidemic” (epidemic) is when manypeople become sick from a particular disease in a short period of time. Anepidemic can affect a large group of people. A “pandemic” (pandemic) is anillness that affects people in many different parts of the whole world. So, a “pandemic” would be a disease that many people suffer in many differentcountries.

Katja says, “I’ve heard that this disease is horrible, but I’m not sure what thesymptoms are.” A “symptom” (symptom) is something that is wrong with yourbody that indicates that there’s a problem. If you have a cold, your symptomsmight be a sore throat or sneezing a lot. Katja says, “Do you know (what thesymptoms are)?” Alan says, “From what I’ve read, sufferers of Podcaster’sDisease can’t stop talking.” A “sufferer” (sufferer) comes from the verb “tosuffer.” It’s a person who has a disease that feels pain and discomfort.

Sometimes we use the expression “I suffer from….” “I suffer from allergies.”

That means that allergies bother me, they affect me, I have that disease.

“Sufferers” are the people who have a disease. Allen says that the sufferers ofPodcaster’s Disease can’t stop talking and they speak in an announcer’s voice allof the time. An “announcer” is a person usually who presents information,especially on a television or radio program. The sports announcer is the personwho describes what is happening in the game to the people watching or listening.

A news announcer is someone who announces or gives – tells people about thenews. So, Podcaster’s Disease causes people to talk as if they were announcersall of the time. An announcer usually has a certain voice on television. [In adeep voice] “Hello and welcome to the news. My name is Jeff McQuillan. Intonight’s top stories….” That’s kind of an announcer’s voice. Some people say Italk in an announcer’s voice. Usually my wife tells me that sometimes. Notalways, sometimes. Maybe I have Podcaster’s Disease!

Katja says, once again, “Oh, my God.” “Oh my God” is a very commonexpression nowadays, especially among young people. On email or in textmessages or instant messages it’s sometimes abbreviated “OMG.” And now,people even talk in abbreviations; someone might even say to you, “OMG,”

meaning oh, my God. It’s an expression of shock – of surprise. It’s becomepopular in the last, I don’t know, maybe 10 or 15 years. It’s always been anexpression in English, but for whatever reason it’s become more popular amongyounger people on the Internet. Some people don’t like the expression; religiouspeople think that you shouldn’t use the name of God that way. It is, however, avery common thing that you will hear.

Katja says, “Oh, my God, what a terrible fate!” “Terrible” is very bad, awful,horrible. “Fate” (fate) is the outcome of a particular situation, what happens as aresult of a certain situation. Some people talk about “fate” as being what willhappen to you that you cannot control. Some people believe that there issomeone controlling you or some thing controlling you, and you can’t avoid it and you can’t do anything about it; you can’t control it in any way. This is a very oldidea; it goes back at least to the ancient Greeks, who believed in a form of fate.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.