First Self-contained Heart Implanted

A patient on the brink of death1 has received the world’s first self-contained artificial heart — a battery-powered device about the size of a softball that runs without the need for wires, tubes or hoses sticking out of the chest.

Two surgeons from the University of Louisville implanted the titanium and plastic pump during a seven-hour operation at Jewish Hospital Monday. The hospital said the patient was “awake and responsive” Tuesday and resting comfortably. It refused to release personal details.

The patient had been expected to die within a month without the operation, and doctors said they expected the artificial heart to extend the person’s life by only a month. But the device is considered a major step toward improving the patient’s quality of life.

The new pump, called AbioCor, is also a technological leap from the mechanical hearts used in the 1980s, which were attached by wires and tubes to bulky machinery outside the body. The most famous of those, the Jarvic–7, used air as a pumping device and was attached to an apparatus about the size of a washing machine.

“I think it’s potentially a major step forward in the artificial heart development,” said Dr. David Faxon, president of the American Heart Association. However, he said the dream of an implantable, permanent artificial heart is not yet a reality：“This is obviously an experimental device whose long-term success has to be demonstrated.” Only about half of the 4,200 Americans on a waiting list for donor hearts received them last year, and most of the rest died.

Some doctors, including Robert Higgins, chairman of cardiology at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, said artificial hearts are unlikely to replace donor hearts.

“A donor heart in a good transplant can last 15 to 30 years,” he said. “It’s going to be hard to replace that with a machine.”

The AbioCor has a 2–pound pumping unit, and electronic controls that adjust the pumping speed based on the body’s needs. It is powered by a small battery pack worn outside the body that transmits current through the skin.2

注釋：

1．on the brink of death (war, ruin...)：處于死亡（戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)、毀滅……）的邊緣

brink n.邊緣

2．It is powered... through the skin.它（指AbioCor)以佩戴在體外的一組小電池作為動(dòng)力，通過皮膚來傳遞電流。

worn是wear的過去分詞，作pack的定語(yǔ)；that引起的從句也是pack的定語(yǔ)。

練習(xí)：

1．The pump of the first implanted self-contained heart was made of titanium and plastic.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

2．The patient’s life was expected to last several years longer by implanting the artificial heart.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

3．There is no difference in structure between the self-contained heart and the mechanical heart.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

4．The American Heart Association recommended widely using the self-contained heart.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

5．Dr. David Faxon believed that the implantable, permanent artificial, heart will certainly be developed in the future.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

6．Approximately two thousand one hundred patients received heart implantation in America last year.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

7．Some doctors doubt the possibility of donor hearts being replaced by artificial ones.

A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

答案與題解：

1．A　第二段第一句就說到植入了鈦和塑料的泵，故是正確的。

2．B　第三段第一句說到醫(yī)生只指望人工心臟能延長(zhǎng)病人的生命大約一個(gè)月，而不是幾年，故是錯(cuò)誤的。

3．B　第一段、第四段和第八段對(duì)二者的構(gòu)造作了介紹，從中可以看到所用的動(dòng)力、是否要電線及軟管與體外連接以及體積大小都不相同，故此題應(yīng)是錯(cuò)誤的。

4．B　在第五段，該協(xié)會(huì)主席Faxon說“這可能是人工心臟發(fā)展中的一次重大飛躍”，還說“很顯然，這只是一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)裝置，其能否長(zhǎng)期成功還有待證實(shí)”，并沒有提到要“推薦廣泛使用”，故此題應(yīng)是錯(cuò)誤的。

5．B　第五段中，該協(xié)會(huì)主席Faxon說“可植入的永久性人工心臟這一夢(mèng)想還不現(xiàn)實(shí)”，并沒有說到他“相信將來一定會(huì)制造出來”的話或類似的意思。

6．A　第五段說“等待別人捐獻(xiàn)心臟的4,200個(gè)美國(guó)人中去年只有大約一半人接受到捐獻(xiàn)”，也就是大約2,100人，故此題是正確的。

7．A　第六段說“有些醫(yī)生說人工心臟不太可能代替捐獻(xiàn)的心臟”，第七段說“移植得好，一個(gè)捐獻(xiàn)的心臟可存活15～30年，而這一點(diǎn)機(jī)器是很難代替的”，可見他們對(duì)人工心臟是持懷疑態(tài)度的，故此題應(yīng)是正確的。

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（責(zé)任編輯：vstara）

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