VOA常速英语2007-Israeli Prime Minister Says He Has Prostate Canc

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
29 October 2007

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. VOA'S Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem that Mr. Olmert says his cancer is treatable, and that it will have no effect on his job as prime minister.

Ehud Olmert called a news conference to say that while he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer his disease is not life-threatening and that he will continue to perform his job as prime minister.

Mr. Olmert says he will have an operation in the next few months to remove what he says is a microscopic¹ growth on his prostate, and that he will not need to undergo any type of radiation treatment or chemotherapy.

Israel's prime minister says he feels fortunate that his cancer was found early and that it will have no effect on how he performs his duties as prime minister.

Mr. Olmert's doctors, who also spoke² at the news conference, said it was likely that surgery will eliminate the cancer and that he has a 95 percent chance for a full recovery.

Ehud Olmert assumed office as prime minister nearly two years ago after Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke that left him in a deep coma³.

In the next few months he is likely to face intense pressure as Israel participates in a planned U.S-organized summit aimed at laying the groundwork for the eventual⁴ establishment of a Palestinian state.

1 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

4 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。