【一起听英语】疼痛
人体的疼痛机制是什么样的，为什么会感觉到痛呢？
Callum: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I’m Callum and with me today is
Jennifer. Hello Jennifer.
Jennifer: Hello Callum
Callum: Now Jennifer, would you like to help me with a little experiment?
Jennifer: Sure, what do you need me to do?
Callum: Just stay there, don’t move.
(Sound of slap)
Jennifer: OW! Why did you do that?
Callum: Did it hurt?
Jennifer: Of course it did!
Callum: All in the name of science and learning 1 English Jennifer because today we’re
talking about pain! And I wanted to find out if you have a high pain threshold 2.
Jennifer: Well you could have just asked – you didn’t have to hit me!
Callum: Ah, yes, I suppose I could have. Sorry about that. Anyhow, moving on, here’s
today’s question.
An anaesthetic is a drug or gas used to stop pain, particularly during medical
procedures 3, but which language does the word come from?
Greek, Latin 4 or Old Norse? What do you think Jennifer?
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012
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Jennifer: Well I think there are a lot of words from the Greek language when it comes to
medicine and things like that so I’ll say Greek.
Callum: OK, we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme. Now Jennifer, do
you think pain is a good thing.
Jennifer: Well, I’d rather not have it, but I suppose it does tell us that something is wrong.
Callum: Do you think it would be better not to be able to feel pain.
Jennifer: Well I think that would be great, particularly after the introduction to this
programme!
Callum: Steve Pete from Washington State in the United States was born with a rare
condition which means he has never been able to feel physical pain. He was
interviewed on BBC radio about his condition. When was it first diagnosed 5?
Steve Pete
Well I was diagnosed with it at a young age. I was a toddler when I began chewing pretty
much the whole front portion 6 of my tongue off.
Callum: So Jennifer, when was it diagnosed?
Jennifer: Steve says that it was diagnosed when he was a toddler – which means when he
was very young and just starting to walk, so he’s maybe 12 months, 18 months
old, something like that.
Callum: Children that age love to chew on things, don’t they?
Jennifer: Yes, they do, and in Steve’s case it was his own tongue that he chewed on!
Callum: Ouch! His parents then took him to a paediatrician, which is a children’s doctor.
Listen now to what this doctor did to test Steve.
Steve Pete
My parents took me to my paediatrician where he took a lighter 7, placed it underneath 8 my foot,
held it there for a moment until my skin began to blister 9 and then he had a pretty good idea of
what it was that my condition was.
Callum: So what did the doctor do?
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Jennifer: He used a lighter to put fire under the toddler’s foot until it started to burn.
Callum: And because the child didn’t react in any way he was able to figure out that he
had this rare medical condition which is called Congenital Analgesia 10.
Steve’s brother shares this condition, so what kinds of problems did it cause
them when they were growing up?
Steve Pete
We were always getting into trouble, we kind of pushed things to the extreme. We’d always
end up with broken bones, we’d be visiting the hospitals frequently, wearing casts throughout
most of our childhood. So it was quite difficult.
Callum: Jennifer, what was his childhood like?
Jennifer: He says it was difficult. They made regular visits to hospitals and spent a lot of
time wearing casts – a cast is the thick plaster 11 protection that is put on to
broken arms and legs. They got lots of broken bones because they didn’t feel
pain.
Callum: So they didn’t know when to stop doing something which could be damaging
their body. Have you ever had to wear a cast?
Jennifer: Luckily I’ve had no broken bones so no, I’ve never worn a cast.
Callum: I’ve never had a cast either, but I did have a major operation this summer and
there was a lot of pain after it. But because of the pain I wasn’t able to move
around very much, but that was good, because it meant it gave my body time to
heal 12. If I hadn’t had that pain, I would probably have caused even more
damage.
Jennifer: I find it hard to imagine what it must be like to never feel physical pain.
Callum: I know, and in the same way Steve Pete finds it hard to imagine what it must be
like to feel pain.
Steve Pete
I’ve never really tried to imagine what it would be like to feel physical pain. I do understand
the emotional 13 pain part though. But when it comes to empathy which is kind of interesting it is
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hard for me to feel sorry for an individual who’s going through a painful situation when it’s
regarding 14 physical pain. I do have difficulty with that.
Callum: He talks about the difficulty he has with empathy. What’s empathy Jennifer?
Jennifer: Empathy is the ability to understand someone else’s feelings and appreciate
what that they are experiencing. Because he can’t feel physical pain, he doesn’t
really feel sorry for people in painful situations.
Callum: After hearing about the problems of this condition, do you think you’d still like
not to feel pain?
Jennifer: Well I still don’t like feeling pain but I think after hearing this I realise that it’s
very useful. What about you?
Callum: I agree with that. Sometimes I would like the pain to be less but I think on
balance it’s good to have it.
Well just about time to go but before we do the answer to today’s question,
which was about the language origin of the word anaesthetic.
Which language does the word come from? Greek, Latin or Old Norse? Jennifer,
you said?
Jennifer: I thought it was Greek.
Callum: And you were absolutely right, well done, congratulations with that.
That’s all from us today. Thanks very much Jennifer.
Jennifer: Thanks.
Callum: And I should say in case anyone was worried, no presenters 15 were harmed during
the making of this programme. Goodbye.
Jennifer: Goodbye.
- When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
- Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。
- I'll never cross the threshold of your house again.我再也不进你的家门了。
- He stopped at the threshold of the bedroom.他在卧室门口停住了。
- procedures that must be followed to ensure full compliance with the law 为确保严格遵守法律所必须遵行的程序
- You need to become fully conversant with the company's procedures. 你得对公司的程序了如指掌。
- She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
- Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。
- Some foetal malformations cannot be diagnosed until late in pregnancy. 有些胎儿的畸形部位得等到妊娠后期才能诊断出来。
- He diagnosed the trouble that caused the engine to knock. 他找出了引擎咔咔响的毛病所在。
- You are paid your portion not later than a week. 不会晚于一周你就可以得到你那一部分报酬。
- Three thousand dollars is no more than a portion.3000美元只不过是一部分。
- The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
- The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
- Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
- She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。
- I got a huge blister on my foot and I couldn't run any farther.我脚上长了一个大水泡，没办法继续跑。
- I have a blister on my heel because my shoe is too tight.鞋子太紧了，我脚后跟起了个泡。
- Acupuncture anesthesia and acupuncture analgesia has promoted the acupuncture therapy.针灸麻醉和针灸止痛促进了针灸疗法的发展。
- Scientists believe swearing elicits an emotional response which leads to what is known as "stress-induced analgesia."科学家们认为，咒骂引发情绪反应，该反应引起被称作“压力诱发止痛”的现象。
- He mixed up some plaster to repair the wall.他和了一些灰泥去补墙。
- She applied the plaster on his shoulder.她将膏药贴在他的膀子上。
- Time helped heal the old wounds.时间有助于治愈旧创伤。
- This wound will soon heal if yon keep it clean.如果你保持伤口清洁，它很快就会痊愈。
- Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
- This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。
- Regarding John,I will write to him at once.至于约翰，我将立即给他写信。
- Regarding these facts,a special committee is to be appointed.鉴于这些事实，必须成立一个专门委员会。
- Each week presenters would put the case for their favourite candidate. 每个星期主持人推出他们最喜欢的候选人。 来自互联网
- Karaoke was set up to allowed presenters to sing on the stage. 宴会设有歌唱舞台，可让出席者大演唱功。 来自互联网