节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-08-17
难易度:Medium
关键字:surgery, checkup, contact lens, permanent, prescription, laser
OK. I hope you had a great break.
Welcome back.
Sue and Karen are friends who have at least one thing in common: They both have
poor vision.
Sue is interested in getting eye surgery whereas Karen, more the traditionalist,
is skeptical about that, and she prefers wearing glasses.
Let's return to their conversation now on line 15 and see what she has to say
next.
(Music).
Glasses, Contacts or Surgery?
I personally think glasses are pretty easy to deal with - you just have to put
them on and take them off.
I know, but they fog up, and you have to be careful not to lose or break them.
Laser surgery sounds kind of scary, though.
You have to be awake the whole time, and you can see almost everything that's
happening.
Well, the surgery might not be pleasant at the time, but to me, having a
permanent solution for my vision problems is worth the trouble.
But laser surgery doesn't always solve vision problems - I've heard some people
need it more than once.
And there are other risks too.
(Music).
So we're discussing with Sue and Karen if glasses, contact lenses or having
laser surgery are better options to help improve your vision.
OK. So Sue here has said that she thinks she might want to get laser surgery,
which is when they use that light to correct your eyes so you no longer need to
wear glasses or contacts.
That's right.
Right before the break Sue said that she doesn't want to always have to wear
contacts.
She'd like to get rid of them.
Now we do know that contacts are those lenses we put on our eyes.
And I said earlier that they can be troublesome, they can be a problem.
Over all, though, they're usually very nice because you don't have to have
anything on your face and you can still wear sunglasses.
But Sue thinks that she'd rather just get rid of them.
Yeah. I can understand that.
Every time I see you touch your eye when you're putting in the contract, it
makes me feel dirty.
I can't do that.
No. But you know, if you're going to get rid of them, that means she doesn't
want to use them anymore.
So her option is she's asking about laser surgery.
Well, what does Karen think about this?
Well, Karen actually thinks that glasses are pretty easy to deal with.
You just have to put them on and take them off.
That's true.
Glasses, you just put them on your face and take them off of your face.
But I don't really like wearing my glasses.
Yeah. I mean, you still have to deal with them, right?
If you deal with something, that means you have to go through something that you
don't really enjoy because you have to.
That's right.
Now Sue has a good point here.
She says: I know, but they fog up, and you have to be careful not to lose or
break them.
I like this point because I have fallen asleep accidentally with my glasses on.
And I rolled over, and the... they broke and they didn't... I couldn't wear them
anymore.
They were useless.
Yeah, I've seen that happen.
People break their glasses; and you try to put them on, they just fall off, and
you can't see.
So that can be a problem.
And they can also fog up.
I've seen that happen to yours too.
That is so troublesome when they fog up.
If it is cold outside and hot and wet outside, you go outside and it gets
covered in that... that layer of water, and you can't see through them.
Or if you're cooking in a kitchen, and you lean over the pot, all the steam
comes up and now you can't see anything.
OK. So that can be a problem.
If someone breathes on your glasses or if you're cooking, anything like that,
then you can't see through them because there is fog on them.
So Sue says: I still want laser surgery.
That's right.
You said people can breathe on them.
Now my sisters, I have two sisters and all three of us wear glasses.
And to harass her, to make fun of each other, when we were kids, we used to go
up and breathe on each other's glasses... and then fogged them up.
It was really mean.
Oh. So you can't see anymore, you're just walking around.
Yes.
So I think laser surgery sounds like it kind of could be a good idea, but Karen
doesn't think so.
Yeah. Karen says laser surgery actually sounds kind of scary.
And I think I might agree with her.
You have to be awake the whole time, and you can see almost everything that's
happening.
What is... what a crazy idea of being awake during surgery on your eyes and
being able to see it.
That sounds... maybe a little freaky.
Yeah, definitely.
You have to watch them use the laser right on your eye.
And I don't think I could do that.
I don't even like bringing my finger too close to my eye.
Well, Sue here makes a good point.
Here she says: Well, the surgery might not be pleasant at the time, but to me,
having a permanent solution for my vision problems is worth the trouble.
Hmm, now she says it might not be pleasant.
If something is pleasant, then it is a little enjoyable, something you don't
mind.
And she says this is not enjoyable, but it might be worth the trouble.
That's right.
She says that it... at that time, it could be a problem.
And that means during the surgery.
But it ends up being a great permanent solution.
Now a "permanent" solution is something that is lasting for a very long time or
forever.
So you don't have to wear glasses or contacts, it's just fixed.
That's right. So that might be worth the trouble.
Now friends, we've got a little more information about that phrase, so let's go
to Liz with Grammar on the Go.
Hi, friends.
How are you doing today?
My name is Liz.
And it's time for Grammar on the Go.
So what do you think?
If you wear glasses or contacts, is it a good thing to have an operation and get
your vision corrected?
For many people, the idea of surgery scares them.
But then, there are those who would say: ... having a permanent solution for my
vision problems is worth the trouble.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence, by the way.
And notice the phrase at the end of the sentence, worth the trouble.
The word "worth" is normally used to talk about the value of something like:
This painting is worth a lot of money.
But we can also use "worth" to talk about how it is a good thing to do
something.
In the case of today's sentence, although a person may have to go through some
trouble to get the surgery done for their eyes,
it is a good thing to do because it is a permanent solution for his or her
vision problems.
It is worth the trouble.
If something takes a lot of time to do like, for example, cooking a certain
dish,
but you are willing to do it because the food just tastes so good in the end.
Then you can say:
Making this dish is worth the time because it is so delicious.
Or let's say it takes a long time to get to the top of a certain mountain.
But when you do get there, you'll find the view to be magnificent. So you can
say:
It is tiring to climb to the top of the mountain, but the view is magnificent
and is worth the energy.
Now what if something is not that good to do?
Then simply add the word "not" in front of "worth," like:
Making this dish is not worth the time.
Or: The view from the top of the mountain is not worth the energy.
Well friends, and that's all the time we have for today.
Be sure to look at your magazine for more example sentences.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
Karen and Sue are back discussing this.
And we've just made the point that laser vision surgery could probably be a
little uncomfortable.
Yeah. Now Sue thinks, well, if you have laser surgery, it might be
uncomfortable, but the permanent solution is that you have better eyes.
But Karen says: Well, laser surgery doesn't always solve vision problems - I've
heard some people need to have it more than once.
That's right.
Sometimes it's not a permanent fix.
Sue thinks it's permanent, lasting forever.
But for some people, that's not the case.
Karen also says there are other risks involved too.
Well, we're going to talk about some of those risks tomorrow.
But right now, let's go visit some friends and hear their opinions in these
interviews.
In my opinion, laser eye surgery is your best option.
Even though it has a greater upfront cost, it has less nuisances than contacts
and glasses do.
With glasses, you have to worry about wearing them in bad weather or fogging up.
With contacts, you can only wear them for 10 to 12 hours.
So if you have a long day, this is not a good option for you.
Laser eye surgery is a permanent correction.
And there's nothing to worry about once you have it done except for recovery
time.
I'd like to wear glasses.
It's easy.
Your eyes might get infected if your contact lenses are not clean enough.
My older sister had a laser surgery; and she loves it.
So it depends on what you like.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Wow, time really flies.
Make sure you come back tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle.
We appreciate that.
Friends, one great way to help your English vocabulary grow is to write.
We give you an opportunity to do just that every month with our Studio Classroom
Editor's Pick.
Write a short essay and send it to us at letters@StudioClassroom.com.
It's your chance to improve your English, get published and win a fun prize.
Check page 9 in your magazines for more information.
And then join us tomorrow as we continue talking about the pros and cons of
Glasses, Contacts and Surgery.
Have a great day.
Bye-bye.