(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
New University Center to Treat Stuttering
About three million people in the United States, including a presidential candidate, find they sometimes stutter.
It is a condition that causes people to repeat the beginning sound of words, or whole words while speaking.
At times, they even have trouble saying a word. People who stutter know exactly what they would like to say but have trouble producing a normal flow of speech, making it difficult to communicate with others.
Arthur Blank is the owner of the Falcons, an American football team in Atlanta, Georgia. He stutters. Other members of his family also stutter.
Blank said, "Defining communication by how fluent you are doesn't get at the freedom — the freeing of the inner person, the inner soul, the inner spirit, the inner mind, the intellect of what each person has to say and feel."
Last week, he gave the University of Texas at Austin $20 million to create a new center for research and education into stuttering. It is called the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Research and Education.
Courtney Byrd, a professor of speech, language and hearing sciences at the university, will lead the center. She said, "Our focus is on the person, not on the stuttering. We're teaching people as young as 3 years of age to adults over the age of 90, you can communicate effectively, and you can do so even if you continue to stutter."
Last February, former Vice President Joe Biden spoke at a campaign event in New Hampshire. Biden spoke about his experience of learning to live with stuttering as a child. He talked about the anger he felt at school. He said other students and a teacher laughed at him for his stuttering.
"It has nothing to do with your intellectual makeup," Biden said.
Brayden Harrington, a 13-year-old boy from Concord, New Hampshire, was at the event. Harrington is a person who stutters, too.
Biden asked Harrington to talk more about his experience. Biden shared that he had controlled his own stuttering by looking in the mirror while speaking. The presidential candidate also gave the boy a speech he had prepared. It had markings on its pages showing where Biden would take breaks and pause. That way, he said, words would come out more smoothly.
Amber Doctrow works with students on speech problems at Montgomery County Public Schools in Silver Spring, Maryland. She told VOA that stuttering often begins in early childhood. Some children outgrow it but others will not.
She said a person who stutters may have thoughts that stop them from speaking, like:
"Oh well, I am going to stutter and then this is going to happen, I'm going to stutter, and then they'll think that I'm stupid, or I'm going to stutter and then I won't be able to say what I want to say."
Or they may move their body or take a deep breath to try to stop the stutter. These things may only work for a little while and then they stop working. Instead, she said, speech pathologists teach the person who stutters to overcome the problem by addressing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of stuttering, such as by reducing tension while speaking.
"So, for instance, a cancellation is when you reduce the tension in your speech after you stutter. So, if I were to say, p-p-p-p-p–peach, and I have this tension in my speech when I stutter on that word, I could then go back and try it again with less tension: p-p-p-p- peach. And so, I may still stutter on the word but I'm doing it with less tension."
The U.S. National Institutes of Health says although there is no cure for stuttering, there are several treatments available. The health agency advises the following methods:
Provide many chances for the child to speak, especially when the child is excited and has a lot to say.
Listen carefully when the child speaks. Do not try to complete the child's sentences. And speak slowly.
Talk openly and honestly to the child about stuttering if he or she brings up the subject. Let the child know that it is fine. Adults and older children with stuttering should learn to speak slowly and regulate their breathing.
In the end, Doctrow said being a person who stutters does not mean you cannot be an effective communicator.
Joe Biden is one of many politicians, actors and teachers who stutter.
I'm Jill Robbins.
重点解析
重点讲解：
1. at times 有时；时常；
Their working relationship was stormy at times.
他们在工作中关系有时也闹得很僵。
2. be able to 会；有能力做某事；
They may be able to help with childcare so that you can have a break.
他们可以帮忙照料孩子，这样你就可以歇一歇了。
3. such as 例如；像；
There are also unpleasant brain effects such as anxiety and neurotic behaviour.
也会对大脑产生不良影响，如焦虑和神经质的行为。
4. bring up 提出；养育；
If you try to bring up the matter again, you will be very foolish.
如果你想再提出这件事，那你就太傻了。
参考译文
治疗口吃的新大学中心
在美国大约有三百万人有时会口吃，其中包括一位总统候选人。
口吃是一种导致人们在说话时，重复单词的起始音或整个单词的病症。
有时，他们甚至连一个词都说不出来。口吃的人很清楚自己想说什么，但是很难产生一种正常的语言流动，这使得他们很难与他人交流。
亚瑟·布兰克是美国橄榄球队“猎鹰队”的老板，该队位于佐治亚州亚特兰大市。他就口吃，其他家庭成员也结巴。
布兰克说：“用流利程度来定义交流并不能获得自由——那种内心的自由，内心的灵魂，内心的精神，内心的思想，每个人所说所感的智慧。”
上周，他为德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校捐款2000万美元，用于建立一个新的口吃研究教育中心，名字是阿瑟·布兰克口吃研究教育中心。
考特尼·伯德是该大学言语、语言和听觉科学教授，他将负责该中心。她说：“我们关注的是人，而不是口吃。我们教3岁以上的幼儿，至90岁以下的成年人，能让他们有效地交流，即使仍然口吃，但也可以做到。”
去年2月，美国前副总统乔·拜登在新罕布什尔州的一次竞选活动上发表讲话。拜登谈到他小时候口吃的经历。他谈到在学校里的愤怒，说其他学生和老师嘲笑他口吃。
拜登说：“这与智力构成无关。”
来自新罕布什尔州康科德市的13岁男孩布莱登·哈林顿出席这次活动，哈林顿也口吃。
拜登请哈林顿多谈谈他的经历。拜登分享说，他通过边说话边照镜子来控制口吃。总统候选人也给这个男孩做了一个他准备好的演讲。演讲稿的页面上有标记，显示拜登将在哪些地方停顿。他说，这样的话，话语就会更流畅。
安博·多克特洛与学生合作，在马里兰州银泉市的蒙哥马利县公立学校就言语问题进行讨论。她告诉《美国之音》，口吃通常始于童年。有些孩子长大后没事了，但其他孩子仍然口吃。
她说，口吃的人可能会出现阻止他们说话的某些想法，比如：
“哦，好吧，我要结巴了，然后就结巴了。我口吃，他们会认为我很蠢，或者我口吃，说不出我想说的话。”
或者，他们可能会移动身体或深呼吸，试图阻止口吃。这些可能短时有效，然后就不行了。相反，她说，言语病理学家教导口吃者克服问题的方法，是解决有关口吃的想法、感受和行为，比如在说话时减少紧张感。
“举个例子，撤销就是你在结巴后，减轻演讲中的紧张感。如果我要说的是ppppp-peach（桃子），那么当我在说那个词结巴时，我讲话就会紧张，我可以在减少紧张的情况下再重说一遍：p-p-p-p- peach。因此，我可能还会结巴，但紧张程度有所减轻。”
美国国立卫生研究院表示，虽然没有治愈口吃的方法，但有几种疗法可供选择。卫生研究院建议采用以下方法：
给孩子提供很多说话的机会，特别是当孩子很兴奋，有很多话要说的时候。
孩子说话时要仔细倾听，不要试图帮孩子把话说完，慢慢地说。
如果孩子提起口吃这件事，要开诚布公地谈论，让孩子知道这没事。患有口吃的成年人和年龄较大的儿童应该学会慢点说话，同时调节呼吸。
最后，多克特洛说，口吃并不意味着你不能成为有效的沟通者。
乔·拜登就是一位口吃的政治家、演员和教师。
吉尔·罗宾斯报道。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
