VOA标准英语2010年-Romanian Girl Gets Life-Altering Surge

At age 4, a Romanian girl was horrified¹ when her right eye began to swell².  Doctors in Andrea Nemethi's homeland told her family she had an inoperable tumor³ and gave her months to live.  But the diagnosis⁴ turned out to be wrong.  As she grew up, the tumor - although benign⁵ - continued to grow out.  When it was bigger than a mango, Nemethi flew across the ocean for life altering surgery in Boston, where surgeons removed the tumor and her right eye.

This may look like a normal fitting for eyeglasses.  But for this 12-year old Romanian girl, it's monumental.

"She was different than other children and people behaved differently as well," said her father, Peter Nemethi.

At first, Andrea Nemethi's face wasn't flat enough for glasses.  A rare tumor behind her right eyeball swelled⁶ so much, the tumor and eyeball protruded⁷ from the socket⁸.

"To give you an idea, I think the tumor was, maybe, probably bigger than most oranges that you see, maybe like two oranges," said Doctor Aaron Fay, a surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.  "You know, it was a pretty big thing and certainly much too big to fit inside an eye socket."

The tumor was discovered in 2002, when Andrea was 4 years old.  Although it was benign, doctors in Romania delivered grim news.  The family was told it was inoperable.

At school, the bulging⁹ tumor made Andrea self-conscious and shy. One of her teachers reached out to foreign doctors for help.

Camille Condon, Director of International Programs at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, received the request just one week after this man died.  Ray Tye was a Boston philanthropist who was dedicated¹⁰ to helping¹¹ children get the surgeries they needed, by paying for them.

"His passion came from his son who died, I believe of cancer," said Condon.  "And he was devastated¹² that all the money in the world couldn't save his son, and therefore, for his son, he was going to save other lives."

The hospital decided¹³ to memorialize Tye by performing a surgery he would have supported.  They chose Andrea.

Dr. Fay, operating for seven hours, was able to save Andrea's eyelid¹⁴, eye muscles and socket. He removed the tumor and Andrea's eye.

Camelia Rosca, Andrea's host in Boston, says coming to America has transformed the young girl and her family.  

"When you see people care about your child's life, it's been tremendous for the family and for Andrea," said Rosca. "She now behaves just like any pre-teenage girl."

The pre-teen now feels better about herself.  Andrea needs two more procedures before she heads home.

When she goes back to Romania, she says she'll never forget the kindness of strangers.  They too are transformed.

"You know it's quite an emotional experience for me," added Dr. Fay.

Those former strangers say Andrea won a place in their hearts
 

1 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

2 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

3 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

4 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

5 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

6 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

7 protruded   

v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The child protruded his tongue. 那小孩伸出舌头。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The creature's face seemed to be protruded, because of its bent carriage. 那人的脑袋似乎向前突出，那是因为身子佝偻的缘故。 来自英汉文学

8 socket   

n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口

参考例句：

• He put the electric plug into the socket.他把电插头插入插座。
• The battery charger plugs into any mains socket.这个电池充电器可以插入任何类型的电源插座。

9 bulging   

膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱

参考例句：

• Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
• Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她：“问问是不是重要的事。”

10 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 eyelid   

n.眼睑，眼皮

参考例句：

• She lifted one eyelid to see what he was doing.她抬起一只眼皮看看他在做什么。
• My eyelid has been tumid since yesterday.从昨天起，我的眼皮就肿了。