2006年VOA标准英语-Iraqi Baby with Spina Bifida Recovering fr

By Deborah Block
Washington, DC
11 January 2006
 
watch Baby Noor report

Doctors in the southern U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia say an Iraqi infant known as Baby Noor is doing well after surgery Monday to repair a severe spinal¹ defect. But she faces additional surgery if fluid builds up in her brain. 

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Iraqi Baby Noor  
  

Noor al-Zahra, nicknamed "Baby Noor," came from Iraq to the U.S. southern city of Atlanta, Georgia after an American National Guard unit from Georgia discovered the infant's family living in poverty in Baghdad.  The soldiers noticed the baby's legs were paralyzed and she had a growth on her back.  The three-month-old had spina bifida, a birth defect in which the backbone² and spinal cord do not close before birth.  

The National Guard unit worked with U.S. officials and charitable groups to bring her to Atlanta for treatment.

 
National Guardsman 
  
A Guardsman instrumental in getting help remarked, "It's really gratifying to know that my actions, and the actions of my platoon and unit could help this little girl.  Give her the medical attention that she needs and potentially give her a new start in life."

On Monday, Baby Noor was carried into the operating room at a children's healthcare unit at Scottish Rite³ Hospital in Atlanta.

Under an operating room microscope, neurosurgeon Roger Hudgens uncovered the spinal cord.

Surgeons positioned her spinal cord in its proper place and removed a fluid-filled sac from the baby's back.
 

Dr. Roger Hudgens  
  
Doctor Hudgens says the surgery went well, despite the fact that the procedure ideally should be carried out within days of birth.

"It was as difficult as I thought it was going to be because this is not the time that we close a defect such as this."

Doctors say she most likely would have died without the operation.  But despite the surgery, she will remain a paraplegic and will not be able to move her legs. 

1 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

2 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

3 rite   

n.典礼，惯例，习俗

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite.这个节日起源于宗教仪式。
• Most traditional societies have transition rites at puberty.大多数传统社会都为青春期的孩子举行成人礼。