托福考试阅读辅导:托业阅读模拟文(四)
文章来源: 文章作者: 发布时间:2007-06-01 07:01 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

Formerly1 conjoined twins doing well
  One year after a neurosurgeon separated them by cutting through a section of brain, Carl Aguirre says "Wow!" as he whizzes a toy truck off the tray of his high chair and his brother Clarence holds his nose to let his mother know his diaper is dirty.
  After "starting their life over," the formerly conjoined 3-year-old Filipino boys have been amazingly free of significant complications, doctors say. Clarence is about to take his first steps and therapists say Carl will soon follow.
  "When they emerged from the OR as separate boys, it was almost as if that was their second birth," said Dr. Robert Marion, the boys' pediatrician. "Their motor skills are what you'd expect of a 1-year-old. They're starting to walk. They're playing appropriately in the way that a 1-year-old would. Their speech, also, is like that of a 1-year-old."
  Until last Aug. 4, when they underwent the fourth in a series of major operations at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, Carl and Clarence had been unable to sit up, stand straight or see each other's face. Joined at the top of their heads, they were limited to lying on their backs, which stunted2 their development and subjected them to chronic3 pneumonia4 caused by inhaling5 food.
  "They were going to die," Marion said. "And now seeing them with unlimited6 potential, it's the most gratifying experience I've ever had in medicine."
  The boys and their mother, Arlene, came to New York in 2003, when Montefiore agreed to take the boys' case for free — it has cost more than $3 million so far — and the Blythedale Children's Hospital in Valhalla agreed to donate housing and therapy.
  The Children's Hospital team of neurosurgeon Dr. James Goodrich and plastic surgeon Dr. David Staffenberg separated the boys in a gradual "staged" approach, pushing apart their brains and dividing the blood vessels7 in four operations from October 2003 to August 2004. In between, the boys were given time to heal. It was a departure from the more common single marathon operation.
  During the final operation, the surgeons found that the boys' brains, which scans had indicated were abutting8 but separate, were actually shared and seamless at one point. Dreading9 whatever complications he might cause, Goodrich studied and consulted and finally found a place to cut where veins10 seemed to go in opposite directions。

"I am not a religious person," Goodrich said last week. "But I do think there was something guiding us along there."
  Marion said Carl suffered some seizures11 in the month after the separation, but Goodrich said his principal fears — neurological problems and liquid on the brain — did not develop.
  During a reporter's recent visit to Blythedale, Clarence walked proudly, holding onto a therapist with one hand and pushing his stroller with the other. He was so energetic that at one point he stepped out of his pants and staffers had to find him a belt.
  Meanwhile, Carl stood, a bit unsteadily, to play a bead12 game on a table.
  Later, the boys laughed as they tumbled down a padded slide together. Though their skulls13 have not yet been reconstructed — doctors don't want to interrupt their therapy — and specially14 designed plastic helmets haven't fit well, the doctors say the boys' heads are protected well enough by their bandages even for horseplay.
  Arlene Aguirre tried to hide while she watched her sons' therapy session, because when they see her the boys want to do nothing but cuddle.
  "Both of them want my attention all the time," she said. "But it's very exciting that I have to deal with two children. …… Before the separation, I was thinking: 'Will I ever see them again?'"
  She said she is encouraged when she hears Clarence say "yogurt" and call his brother by name. Carl says "walk" and "mama" and both boys use sign language to convey such phrases as "please more eat."
  Aguirre said she expects to move from Blythedale soon and set up a household with the boys, and hopes to eventually return to the Philippines.
  "My friends and family, I want to share the boys with them," she said. "It will be so exciting to go back there, holding one boy with each hand."
  The success of the operation has brought honors for Goodrich and Staffenberg, although Goodrich says the best prize he's received is a Montefiore parking space. They are constantly invited to speak or write about the procedure, which has been published in journals for neurosurgery, plastic surgery and anesthesia.
  The surgeons recommend their "staged" approach not just for conjoined twins but for other severe craniofacial cases. In the only separation of similar "craniopagus" twins in the U.S. since the Aguirre boys, surgeons at Johns Hopkins used the marathon approach on 1-year-old German girls and only one survived.
  Goodrich said an upcoming procedure overseas — he wouldn't say where — will be performed their way.
  He said he initially15 tried to keep an emotional distance from the boys, but confessed "you can't go through something like we did and not get attached. You can't be around them and not love them."
  Staffenberg said he recently came up behind Clarence, who was walking down a hallway while holding a therapist's hand.
  "Clarence turned around and looked at me and put his other hand out for me," Staffenberg said. "I don't think at any point during all the surgery I would have imagined that kind of situation. When you get the moment when they reach out for your hand, it's unbelievable."



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1 formerly ni3x9     
adv.从前,以前
参考例句:
  • We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
  • This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。
2 stunted b003954ac4af7c46302b37ae1dfa0391     
adj.矮小的;发育迟缓的
参考例句:
  • the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
  • But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。
3 chronic BO9zl     
adj.(疾病)长期未愈的,慢性的;极坏的
参考例句:
  • Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
  • Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。
4 pneumonia s2HzQ     
n.肺炎
参考例句:
  • Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
  • Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。
5 inhaling 20098cce0f51e7ae5171c97d7853194a     
v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He was treated for the effects of inhaling smoke. 他因吸入烟尘而接受治疗。 来自辞典例句
  • The long-term effects of inhaling contaminated air is unknown. 长期吸入被污染空气的影响还无从知晓。 来自互联网
6 unlimited MKbzB     
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。
7 vessels fc9307c2593b522954eadb3ee6c57480     
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》
8 abutting ba5060af7a6493c5ec6bae214ff83dfc     
adj.邻接的v.(与…)邻接( abut的现在分词 );(与…)毗连;接触;倚靠
参考例句:
  • He was born in 1768 in the house abutting our hotel. 他于1768年出生于我们旅馆旁边的一幢房子里。 来自辞典例句
  • An earthquake hit the area abutting our province. 与我省邻接的地区遭受了一次地震。 来自辞典例句
9 dreading dreading     
v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • She was dreading having to broach the subject of money to her father. 她正在为不得不向父亲提出钱的事犯愁。
  • This was the moment he had been dreading. 这是他一直最担心的时刻。
10 veins 65827206226d9e2d78ea2bfe697c6329     
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理
参考例句:
  • The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的,感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 seizures d68658a6ccfd246a0e750fdc12689d94     
n.起获( seizure的名词复数 );没收;充公;起获的赃物
参考例句:
  • Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因,有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句
12 bead hdbyl     
n.念珠;(pl.)珠子项链;水珠
参考例句:
  • She accidentally swallowed a glass bead.她不小心吞下了一颗玻璃珠。
  • She has a beautiful glass bead and a bracelet in the box.盒子里有一颗美丽的玻璃珠和手镯。
13 skulls d44073bc27628272fdd5bac11adb1ab5     
颅骨( skull的名词复数 ); 脑袋; 脑子; 脑瓜
参考例句:
  • One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中,其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
  • We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白,遍布白色的骷髅!
14 specially Hviwq     
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地
参考例句:
  • They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
  • The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。
15 initially 273xZ     
adv.最初,开始
参考例句:
  • The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
  • Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。
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