课前阅读
Unit 7 Living with Disease Reading BORN DYING
Xiaohua is 12 and lives in a province in South China.
She is a happy girl who smiles a lot
and likes to talk to her friends after school.
People who see Xiaohua
would never guess that she is one of millions of children in the world
living and dying with AIDS.
AIDS is a disease that breaks down the body's immune system
and leaves a person defenceless against infections and illnesses.
Most people who have AIDS
manage to survive only a few years after they get the disease.
For some,medicine can help keep them alive,
but the treatment is expensive and does not cure them.
People get AIDS after having been infected with HIV.
HIV spreads through blood and other body liquids.
People transmit HIV by having unprotected sex,
by receiving infected blood transfusions or,as in Xiaohua's case,through birth.
Xiaohua's mother contracted HIV when she was 28,
and she died of AIDS only three years after Xiaohua was born.
Xiao Hua's mother did not know that she had AIDS until Xiaohua was born.
Xiao Hua's father,who also has AIDS,
takes care of her,but Xiaohua misses her mother.
"I wish I could remember more about my mum," Xiaohua says,
"I wish that she were here with me and that we weren't sick."
Thousands of children become infected with HIV every day.
In 2002, 800,000 children under 15 became infected;
the total number of infected children in the world was 3.2 million.
The disease is spreading fast in Africa and parts of Asia,
mainly because of a lack of proper health care,prevention and education.
As with most diseases and disasters, the young suffer the most.
For children like Xiaohua there is little hope.
The drugs that are available are much too expensive.
Xiaohua knows that she will die before she has a chance to grow old,
but she does not let that knowledge discourage her.
Instead,she has decided to use the limited time she has left
to do something to help others.
She spends much of her time telling others about her disease
and encouraging people to learn how to protect themselves.
She also goes to visit other AIDS patients in hospitals across the country
to support them and cheer them up.
"If I were to live long enough to have a job,
I would choose to be a doctor,helping these AIDS patients,"Xiaohua says.
The disease is not the only thing that AIDS patients suffer from.
They also have to deal with people's fear of the disease.
Many people do not know very much about AIDS
and are afraid that any contact with people who have AIDS is dangerous.
Xiaohua is trying to change this by creating a network of patients and doctors
that can persuade hospitals and companies
to spend more money on AIDS research and education.
"I wish people would find out the facts,"she says,
"and not act as if I were a bad or dangerous person."
When she talks to people about her disease,
she and Dr Wang,an AIDS specialist who helps Xiaohua,
often tell people that the most dangerous thing
is not knowing about the disease.
They explain how AIDS spreads
and let people know that it is safe to shake hands,
talk,and eat with someone who has AIDS.
People often ask what they can do to help.
"If I were you,"Xiaohua says,"I would give an AIDS patient a hug.
That is the best way to show that you care
and that we don't have to feel lonely."
Xiaohua has learnt to live with HIV
and the fact that she will one day develop AIDS.
She knows that her life will not be as long as her classmates'
but she will not let the disease destroy her happiness.
"My life may have to be short," she says,
"but there's no reason why it can't be beautiful."
综合技能
Integrating skills reading
DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER:THE DAY MY LIFE ENDED…AND BEGAN!
I will never forget that Tuesday afternoon in the doctor's office
I had been feeling sick for a long time
and my mum had taken me to hospital to have me examined.
Two weeks ago,Dr Richards asked me a great many questions
and took samples of my blood.
Now,he was looking at mum and me across his desk
and there was a sad look in his eyes I knew that the news was bad.
Dr Richards told me that the test results showed that I was suffering from a serious disease.
"It is cancer," he said.
I did not know much about cancer then,
but I had heard that it was an incurable disease.
Mum held my hand and I saw that she was crying.
I remember having an empty feeling in my stomach
and thinking that my life was going to end.
I was wrong. This was only the beginning.
Cancer,Dr Richards explained,can be treated.
Cancer is a disease that begins in cells.
There are many types of cells in the body and each has a special function.
In a healthy body,
cells grow and divide to produce new cells only when it is necessary.
In my body,the production of cells is disrupted.
Cells either divide too fast or at the wrong time,
making it difficult for the body to function properly.
Nobody knows why some people get cancer and others do not.
Doctors do know that cancer is not caused by injury
and is not contagious it does not spread from one person to another.
The next year was painful and difficult for me and my family.
Like many people with cancer,
I had to be treated with radiation followed by treatment with chemicals.
The treatment made me sick.Very sick.
There were days when I wished that I were dead
so that I would not have to feel so sick.
My family and friends were wonderful.
They helped me find the strength I needed to recover
and they kept me from feeling sad and lonely.
Dr Richards and the others at the hospital told me that I was a fighter
and that I could win.
They were right.
The treatment was successful
and I was able to go home after exactly fourteen months,
two days and six hours in hospital.
Two years have passed since that day in Dr Richards' office
and my life has not yet ended.
On the contrary, I now feel as if that was when my life really began.
I have been living with cancer for two years
and I plan to keep living with it for a long,long time.
Yes, my life has changed.
The cancer in my body has been defeated for the moment,
but I know that I will never be completely free from it.
It can come back at any time and the struggle will never end.
I now think of my cancer as a gift.
It taught me an important lesson about life.
Living with cancer has made me realise how precious life is
and how important it is for us to take every chance to live life to the fullest.
Every day is a new opportunity,
and I have learnt to appreciate every minute of each day.
课后练习
Work book Unit 7 Integrating skills
Reading FIGHTING THE VIRUS:HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA
The numbers are frightening:
in 2002 more than 40 million people in the world were living with HIV or AIDS.
Of these,about 3 million were children and more than 11 million
were between 15 and 24
Since the first case was discovered in 1981,
nearly 24 million people have died of AIDS
and about 3 million people die of the disease every year.
Each year,more than 5 million people become infected with the virus.
The situation is especially difficult in Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the United Nations,
there are 640 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa,
and almost 27 million are infected with the virus.
Of all the AIDS deaths to date,16 million,or 66.7%,have been in Africa
and in 2002 there were 3.5 million new infections.
HIV / AIDS is spreading fast
more than 3 million Africans become infected every year
and most countries do not have enough money to prevent and treat the disease.
About 2.5 million Africans die of AIDS every year
and tens of millions more will die soon if nothing is done.
Millions of children
lose their parents and families lose their ability to make enough moneyto survive.
The effect of AIDS is so strong
that many African countries are almost being destroyed by the disease.
If these numbers were to grow,the future of Africa might be in danger.
As with many diseases,children seem to suffer the most from AIDS.
About 2 million African children have HIV /AIDS.
Even if they themselves are not infected,the disease can ruin their lives.
They may have to care for sick relatives and are often unable to go to school.
Living with a parent or parents who have AIDS is painful and difficult.
Because the parents cannot work,
the children may not have enough food and must help take care of the family.
If a child is indeed infected,
he or she often has to keep the disease a secret.
If people were more understanding,
the lives of these children could be improved.
One of the most important things we must do is to make sure that children
who are affected by the disease receive the help and care that they need.
The good news is that it is still not too late to protect the poor against the worst effects of HIV /AIDS.
By providing education,health care and wider access to medicines,
the spread of the disease can be slowed down and the effects can be reduced.
In some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa,
the fight against the virus is beginning to show results.
In areas where powerful action has been taken,
there are fewer new infections and better care for the victims of the disease.
Great challenges remain,of course:prevention efforts and the treatment,
care and support of those who are suffering from the disease must continue.
More than 90% of Africans have not acquired HIV/AIDS.
What we must do now
is to make sure that they do not become infected in the future
It is especially important to protect young people from the disease.
We must also treat and care for the millions of Africans
who are living with the disease.
We must also understand that HIV / AIDS is a global problem.
The disease may have hit Sub-Saharan Africa harder than other areas,
but the disease is still spreading
and we must all be part of the fight against the virus.
If more is done,the situation will improve.
It seems unlikely that AIDS will ever disappear.
We hope for a cure and new discoveries,
but the fact seems to be that we must all learn to live with HIV/AIDS.
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