节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-10-22
难易度:Low
关键字:bald, blush, tease, recover, alopecia, hairpiece
OK, friends.
Welcome back from the break.
Some people, especially girls and women, get really attached to their hair, and
I mean emotionally attached.
So getting a haircut isn't always easy.
Let's listen now to a short interview with Studio Classroom's Elizabeth Sunshine
about her very first haircut.
Elizabeth, tell us, when did you first hear about Locks of Love?
I first heard of the organization a few years before I donated my hair.
I read about it in a magazine.
What made you decide to donate your hair?
Well, at the time I had never had short hair before.
This was the first time I ever got my hair cut, so I was ready for a change.
I also thought it would be a bit easier to deal with short hair.
And so since I wanted to get my hair cut, I thought it would be really great if
I could use all that hair that I had grown for all those years to help somebody
out.
As a kid, how much was your hair a part of your identity?
Well, it was... in some ways, it was a big part of my identity because I saw
this as something that made me really different from a lot of my classmates.
And it was unusual when I got a lot of comments on it.
But after I got it cut, I was a little bit surprised at how... in some ways, I
really didn't feel any different.
I was still the same person.
Elizabeth, what changed besides your appearance after you cut your hair?
Yes, like... Well, like I said, my personality and um, my character didn't
change that much.
But one thing that did change was that before I got my hair cut, my hair had
always been straight.
Um, and then after I got it cut, though, it started to become curly.
I think before, since it was so long, it was very heavy in the way it was
pulling it down.
So I was very surprised when my hair started drying and I saw that it was
curling.
Elizabeth, would you donate your hair again?
Yes, I would.
I was really happy to have the opportunity to help people.
Well, thank you again, Elizabeth.
You're welcome.
Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing with us some of your story.
And right now, let's pick up the story of Madonna Coffman on line 8.
(Music).
Locks of Love.
In her 20s, Madonna Coffman developed alopecia, a skin disease that causes hair
loss.
She recovered after a few years, but 15 years later, her 4-year-old daughter
developed alopecia.
Her daughter's struggle inspired Coffman to make Locks of Love a non-profit
organization.
Locks of Love makes hairpieces available to children who lose their hair for
medical reasons.
Children from poor families receive hairpieces for free or at prices their
families can afford.
The organization hopes to increase the children's confidence and help them enjoy
a more normal life.
All right.
So friends, we've seen a situation to kind of help you try to see what it feels
like when you lose your hair.
Friends, we just saw an interview with Steve and Lissy, or Elizabeth.
And she gave us a little bit of background on how she donated her hair to Locks
of Love.
And so we see from her perspective what that might look like.
OK, so we're looking at what it's like to donate to Locks of Love.
But let's find out where Locks of Love got started so we understand this
organization.
Well, in her 20s, which was between 20 and 29 years old, Madonna Coffman
developed alopecia.
Now that's a skin disease that causes hair loss.
That's right. And so this disease caused her, well, to lose her hair.
And so if you see the word "hair loss" together, that means you are no longer
growing hair, you are losing hair.
That's right.
Alopecia is the losing of hair usually from the head, but can be from other
parts of the body as well.
Ryan, actually I have a friend from college who has alopecia, and she does wear
wigs.
She has absolutely no hair on her head, but she is really funny.
She wears like a red-haired short wig, and then the next day has long blond
hair.
She's... she makes a fun out of it.
But it can be very embarrassing.
She does not like to be seen without some sort of hair on her head.
Right. And like you said, wigs are those things that you put on your head that
are fake hair.
Or as we'll find out, they can be made of real human hair, but is not your own
hair.
That's right.
Now... this lady Madonna Coffman, she recovered after a few years, which is not
always the case, but she did recover.
Now to "recover" means she got better or she was healthy again.
She got the ability back to grow her hair.
So she got over this disease.
OK, so she got better after a few years.
But we see 15 years later, then her 4-year-old daughter developed alopecia.
So it wasn't just her.
That's right. Her daughter developed it as well.
Now to develop means she... this disease started to affect her daughter.
Exactly. And so something that develops, grows.
And so this disease began to grow in her daughter as well, and she started to
lose her hair.
Well, her daughter's struggle inspired Coffman to make Locks of Love, now that's
a non-profit organization.
OK. So her daughter was struggling, that means she was having a hard time.
And that inspired, or gave her the idea, to start this company.
That's right.
Now so she decided start Locks of Love.
And it was a non-profit, which means she's not getting money from this
organization.
And that's this... let's see how she helps people.
OK.
They make hairpieces available to children who lose their hair for medical
reasons.
OK, so hairpiece.
Let's look at that word "hairpiece." It's an artificial covering of hair used to
hide the head for when there is no hair that you can grow.
So we... most people naturally have hair on your head.
But when you lose hair, you're just... you're bald.
It's just your skin.
So a hairpiece is another word we used earlier as a wig.
That's usually referring to a hairpiece a woman would wear.
And a man has a different one called a "toupee." But they're all the same
hairpiece idea - goes on your head to cover that bare skin.
Exactly, so it looks like you have a full head of hair, but you can actually
take it off.
That's right.
Now they provide hairpieces for children who lose hair for medical reasons.
So not if they just shave it off but if they're sickly, they can get these
hairpieces.
Exactly.
And then these children that are usually from poor families will actually
receive those hairpieces for free or at prices that their families can afford.
Now friends, if you've ever looked at buying a wig or buying a hairpiece,
they're very expensive.
So this provides these for these kids so their families can afford it.
Exactly. And to be able to afford something means you have enough money to pay
for it.
Now the organization hopes to increase the children's confidence and to help
them enjoy a much more normal life.
OK. "Confidence" means you are proud of what you can do and you believe you can
do it.
And so they want the children to be happy and to help them to have a natural
life.
That's right.
To increase, that means they're encouraging them to have that confidence.
And give them a normal life for people don't point and stare and laugh at them
where they feel they need to hide.
So Locks of Love is doing a great thing here.
We're going to talk more about this organization tomorrow.
But right now, let's visit Michelle for our Language Tips.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
I guess we have to say goodbye now.
Take care and I'll see you soon.
Friends, good well-fitting hairpieces are not cheap.
They range in price from $3,000 to $6,000 each.
And consider, as bald children grow up, they may need two, three or more
different size hairpieces before they stop growing.
So you can see how expensive all this can get.
Knowing this gives us a better understanding of just how important the work of
Locks of Love is.
Friends, please join us for more about this special organization tomorrow.
And until then, have a great day.