节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-07-04
难易度:Medium
关键字:assistance, pregnancy, financial, production, premature, Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
Well, for the next couple of days we will be talking about Christian Salvation
Service.
They're celebrating their 30th anniversary this week.
I would just like to read their statement of purpose.
Christian Salvation Service endeavors to provide personalized support and
service for women and children and other people experiencing pain,
stress, isolation, abuse and other problems in their daily life.
Christian Salvation Service will deliver this support in a manner that reflects
God's love for all people, enabling them to enjoy a healthy and productive life.
They do, indeed, celebrate life.
Let's continue learning about them now.
(Music).
Christian Salvation Service Celebrates Life.
Baby Rescue.
In the 1980s, along with assisting women and teens with unwanted pregnancies,
CSS led the way in premature baby rescue.
Neonatal Intensive Care Units (ICU) were new and too costly for many.
CSS assisted by taking financial responsibility for the babies' care, enabling
many to live full lives.
Changed lives.
David - born in 1983, lives in the USA.
Sports, band and singing in high school productions marked David's youth.
His acting and singing were amazing.
At 17 he visited his birth family with his adoptive parents, and they all found
out why.
His birth mother, a professional performer, was a member of a tribe noted for
its performance abilities.
Well, it sounds like David has been able to live a wonderful life.
Going back to the beginning of this section we see the title "Baby Rescue." So
we're going to be talking about rescuing babies.
All right.
And we see in the 1980s, along with assisting women and teens with unwanted
pregnancies, CSS led the way in premature baby rescue.
All right.
Before we continue, we have some words we want to talk about there.
The first is from our Word Bank: pregnancy.
Now if you have a pregnancy, that means you are pregnant.
There is a child growing inside of you; so a pregnancy.
That's right.
So maybe you might ask someone how far along they are in their pregnancy.
When is your baby due?
All right.
That's a common question that people ask: How far along are you?
So here we're talking about teens with unwanted... pregnancies.
So maybe this means unplanned pregnancies or maybe it made things a little
inconvenient for them.
So they're unwanted for different reasons.
But we continue.
The CSS led the way in premature baby rescue.
So when you "lead the way," that's a phrase we want to talk about.
Carolyn, what does that mean when you lead the way in something?
Well, if you lead the way, then you are the first to do something.
You are breaking new ground, doing something that no one else is doing and doing
it well.
It's true.
Actually, it kind of reminds me of Studio Classroom.
There are many English teaching organizations out there.
But I think many would agree that Studio Classroom has led the way for English
teaching.
Well, here we're talking about premature baby rescue. OK.
Paula, could you tell us a little bit about premature baby rescue?
What's a premature baby?
Well, a premature baby is any baby born under 30 weeks gestation.
So 40 weeks would be considered full-term.
But the high risk infants are those that are born just barely able to be viable
and have a chance at life but it's not sure.
OK.
So maybe 22 weeks of a pregnancy or 24 weeks.
And they will only weigh as much as a hamburger from Chili's - a quarter of a
pound.
And so there's a lot of medical intervention needed.
But rescuing these babies means that the best doctors have to take their cases,
and the parents have to be willing to allow the doctors to treat them.
OK.
And this is where we really had to rescue a lot before there was universal
insurance (OK...) because the cost to save a baby was high.
Right.
And the outcome is uncertain.
And so many families were hesitant.
And it was heartbreaking to see little babies in good hospitals just pushed into
the corners with no treatment being done,
and the light on their incubator turned out because no one was willing to pay to
keep them going.
All right.
Well, I'm glad that CSS, that Christian Salvation Service stepped in and started
helping these premature babies.
They came to the rescue.
Now we continue.
Neonatal ICU units were new and too costly for many.
Now "neonatal," that's kind of a word that we don't use every day.
Uh, this is an intensive care unit for ill or premature infants.
That's right.
And they were very expensive.
As Paula mentioned, it was very costly for many.
And CSS assisted by taking financial responsibility for the babies' care,
enabling many to live full lives.
All right.
Well, we need to look at that word from our Word Bank.
It is "financial." This has to do with money.
I think of money when I think of financial or finances.
All right, maybe your income, your money.
That's right.
So it does have to do with money.
And it was difficult for people to be able to afford these intensive care units.
They were very expensive.
Well, I would like to learn about some of these changed lives.
We continue learning about David.
Born in 1983, lives in the USA.
Sports, band and singing in high school productions marked David's youth.
Let's take a look at that word from our Word Bank: production.
This is basically another word for a show of some kind, like maybe a concert or
drama.
That's right.
So it's some kind of performance that you put on.
That's right.
Well, we continue learning about David.
His acting and singing were amazing.
And at 17 he visited his birth family with his adoptive parents, and they all
found out why.
That's right.
His birth mother, a professional performer, was a member of a tribe noted for
its performance abilities.
Well, hey, I just wanted to ask you to clarify.
It mentions a member of a tribe here.
Is that an aboriginal tribe here in Taiwan?
Yes, it was.
OK. That's great.
Well, some of them are noted for their performance abilities.
Let's continue learning something with Liz in the Grammar Gym.
And then we'll continue on to Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hi there, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
In today's article we read:
His birth mother, a professional performer, was a member of a tribe noted for
its performance abilities.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus today is on the phrase: noted for.
It's another way to say famous for or known for.
So today's sentence just means that his birth mother was a member of a tribe
that is famous for its performance abilities.
So if you want to talk about a certain quality that makes something or someone
famous, consider using "noted for." For example:
This spa resort is noted for its luxurious relaxation therapy.
Or: The university's foreign language department is noted for its overseas
exchange programs.
If you'd like to see some more example sentences, they're available in today's
Grammar Tip section in your magazine.
That's all the time we have for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
OK.
(Chinese).
Now I'll give the time back to our teachers.
We've been learning about a wonderful organization today, and some of you may be
interested in how you can help.
Paula, how can our viewers get involved if they're interested?
Well, it would be great if viewers could check our websites for activities and
events that are going on and see where their skill sets could help us.
Well, that would be wonderful.
Also, I think the viewer should help by really building up their friends and
neighbors, their classmates.
I think that if they can learn to value themselves and to improve self-esteem,
they can pass that on.
And I think self-esteem is the thing that makes less crisis in life.
Value yourself, and that is one way to help.
All right.
That's very good advice.
Well, we're so glad that you are able to join us here today on Studio Classroom.
Thank you.
It's a privilege to be with you.
And of course, we will see everyone here again next time right here on Studio
Classroom.
See you.
See you then.