VOA标准英语2009年-Want to Lose That Double Chin?

Ted¹ Landphair | Washington, DC 30 November 2009

One of the hottest terms in the mushrooming field of personal communication devices - including cell phones and other palm-sized gadgets² - is app - short for application.  These handheld phones, texting machines, and entertainment centers can be - and many have been - loaded with hundreds of such applications of your choosing.  Many apps are free; others cost a few dollars at most.

Popular apps include music playlists, weather radar³ readings, audio books, computer games, broadcasts of your favorite sports, and television shows.  You name it, and there's probably an app for it.

But would you have guessed that there's a brand-new app on which you can practice . . . plastic surgery!? 

Virtually, of course.  You don't wield⁴ a scalpel.  You can upload pre-programmed images of ordinary people and, using just your thumbs on your PDA, give them a tummy tuck, a nose job, or tighter skin around their eyes.  It's a complete image modification⁵, as the application's developer calls it.

And the person getting the fuller cheeks or more bountiful bosom⁶ could be YOU if you upload your own image.  According to Michael Salzhauer, the Miami, Florida, plastic surgeon who developed "isurgeon," this app delivers realistic photo alterations⁷ while allowing users to partake in plastic surgery games playing the role of the surgeon. 

The game mode costs less than a dollar for unlimited⁸ play.  The advanced version costs less than two dollars, for which one can practice the kind of dramatic cosmetic⁹ changes seen in beauty-makeover shows on television. 

Of course, once you've seen yourself with perfectly¹⁰ reshaped ears, pouty¹¹ lips, and a flat tummy, what will you think the next time you pass a mirror?

Read more of Ted's personal reflections and stories from the road on his blog, Ted Landphair's America.
 

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

3 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

4 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

5 modification   

n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻

参考例句：

• The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的，它需要修改。
• The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。

6 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

7 alterations   

n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变

参考例句：

• Any alterations should be written in neatly to the left side. 改动部分应书写清晰，插在正文的左侧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code. 基因突变是指DNA 密码的改变。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

9 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 pouty   

adj.撅嘴的，容易生气的

参考例句：

• She also gave up green locks, pouty lips and cheekbones of a supermodel. 她同时放弃了绿发，翘起的嘴唇，还有超级模特般的颧骨。 来自电影对白