VOA慢速英语-Health Report - Dr. Michael DeBakey's Long and Produ

The surgeon was a pioneer in open heart surgery, artificial hearts and heart transplants. He worked up until his death this month in Houston, at age 99. Transcript¹ of radio broadcast:
22 July 2008

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Michael DeBakey performed more than sixty thousand operations during his long career as a heart surgeon.
　

Michael DeBakey

His patients included American presidents John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. They also included Russian president Boris Yeltsin and the Shah of Iran.

Doctor DeBakey died July eleventh in Houston, Texas, two months' short of his one hundredth birthday.

As a medical student in nineteen thirty-one, he invented the roller pump. Years later it would be used for blood transfusions² during heart operations.

The roller pump became a major part of the heart-lung machine. The machine pumps oxygen-rich blood to the brain and other organs so doctors can operate on the heart.

Michael DeBakey was a pioneer of open heart surgery, which has saved countless³ lives. The name means that the chest is open and surgery is performed on the heart. Doctors may or may not open the heart itself as well.

Michael DeBakey was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on September seventh, nineteen hundred and eight. His parents were Lebanese immigrants.

He was always a good student. He loved to learn. As a child his mother taught him to sew. This proved helpful years later when he sewed polyester tubes into patients to perform heart bypass operations.

He developed a way to replace or repair blood vessels⁴ with Dacron, a stretchy manmade material. He continued to improve on the process. Today the DeBakey artificial graft⁵ is used around the world.

He was also a pioneer in artificial hearts, heart transplants and recording⁶ surgeries on film. He revolutionized medicine in the nineteen fifties and sixties.

During World War Two he helped develop the Mobile Army Surgical⁷ Hospital, or MASH⁸.

Michael DeBakey earned his medical degree in nineteen thirty-two from Tulane University in New Orleans.

For years he led the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He joined the faculty⁹ in nineteen forty-eight when the school was still part of Baylor University.

He became president of the medical college and supervised its separation from the university in nineteen sixty-nine.

Over the years he received many awards. In April, he received Congress' highest civilian¹⁰ honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.

Michael DeBakey continued his work until his death. He received a hero's burial last Friday at Arlington National Cemetery¹¹ across the Potomac River from Washington.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver¹². I'm Pat Bodnar.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 transfusions   

n.输血( transfusion的名词复数 )；输液；倾注；渗透

参考例句：

• Still, transfusions have apparently never spread the disease, even among hemophiliacs. 还有，输血很明显从未传播过这种病，即使在血友病人之间也是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 口蹄疫疯牛病
• Blood transfusions are a special, limited example of tissue transplantation. 输血是一个特殊的、有限制的组织移植的例子。 来自辞典例句

3 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

4 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

6 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

7 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

8 mash   

n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情

参考例句：

• He beat the potato into a mash before eating it.他把马铃薯捣烂后再吃。
• Whiskey,originating in Scotland,is distilled from a mash of grains.威士忌源于苏格兰，是从一种大麦芽提纯出来的。

9 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

10 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

11 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

12 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。