Oral Workshop: Discussion Lesson34-35 ;
[00:09.66]Lesson 34 ;
[00:16.87] Isn't It Good to Speak a Foreign Language? ;
[00:20.71] Text A ;
[00:23.38]"You really are a lucky dog." ;
[00:26.41]Many people assume that admission into the Institute of Foreign Trade ;
[00:30.88]means not only a farewell to "unemployment", ;
[00:33.57]but also a hearty handshake with affluence. ;
[00:36.55]They say,and I quote,"As soon as you graduate, ;
[00:40.03]you will have a hair chance to go abroad. ;
[00:42.32]You may fly round the world,see exciting things and exotic places ;
[00:46.74]and feel as happy as a lark and as proud as peacock." ;
[00:50.56]I didn't know what to think when I first came to this institute.Happy? ;
[00:55.46]Yes,happy that I had been admitted by ;
[00:57.99]this splendid institute of higher learning. ;
[01:00.03]I started to dream about ;
[01:01.33]the many things I had so excitedly heard from those who like to dream. ;
[01:04.93]I fancied myself posted to one of our commercial offices overseas, ;
[01:08.80]working in carpeted offices with air-conditioning, ;
[01:11.34]and delightful social activities and parties in the evenings. ;
[01:14.79]"What would you like,tea or coffee?" ;
[01:16.84]I would answer with a nod,"Brazilian coffee with Danish milk please." ;
[01:21.54]And trying to make conversation. I would say, ;
[01:23.79]"What lovely Mediterranean weather we are having!" ;
[01:26.73]Sometimes,however, I felt a bit uneasy. ;
[01:30.04]Comfort is not the only thing in life, you know. ;
[01:32.62]I do care about what people may think of me, ;
[01:35.08]particularly those "scholarly" people who might turn up their noses ;
[01:38.53]at the mere mention of the word"trade" and frown at me, ;
[01:41.82]taking me for a little money-grubbing, vulgar merchant. ;
[01:45.05]Well,a year at this institute has taught me a great many things.First, ;
[01:50.54]it is not at all easy to be trained for the foreign trade service. ;
[01:54.00]Like the students of all other institutes,you must work hard, ;
[01:58.11]be straight in all your dealings, ;
[01:59.93]staunchly patriotic, loyal and 100% reliable. ;
[02:04.21]You must get a good command of two foreign languages and Chinese, ;
[02:08.41]and try in every way to broaden the range and scope of your knowledge, ;
[02:11.75]which you may have to draw upon in your future work- history,geography, ;
[02:15.64]culture and so on and so forth. ;
[02:18.09]Let me cite one or two examples to show how important it is ;
[02:21.92]to know the customs and culture of different countries. ;
[02:25.01]Once,one of our corporations wanted ;
[02:28.27]to sell washing machines to Arab countries. ;
[02:31.10]In an advertisement to promote sales, ;
[02:33.74]strategy demands diagrams instead of written instructions. ;
[02:37.31]Dirty clothes went into the machine in the first diagram, ;
[02:40.41]a thorough washing was illustrated in the third.Simple and clear. ;
[02:45.04]But the result was disastrous.Arabic is written from right to left. ;
[02:51.38]How can this corporation expect to promote sales with ;
[02:54.37]dirty clothes as a result of the new machine? ;
[02:57.41]Another example concerns trade-marks. ;
[03:00.57]One of the best batteries produced in China is ;
[03:03.61]the "White Elephant" battery.In English, however, ;
[03:07.13]"White Elephant" means an object that is useless, ;
[03:10.29]overpriced and utterly undesirable. ;
[03:12.96]Do you think English -speaking people would be inclined to make a large ;
[03:16.50]purchase of this "White Elephant"? ;
[03:18.89]Second,I've come to learn that the life of a foreign trade worker ;
[03:24.46]is not exactly what most people think it is. ;
[03:27.10]A good foreign trade worker is one who is dedicated to his work. ;
[03:31.17]He must have a strong sense of duty ;
[03:33.26]and be fully aware that a slight mistake may bring colossal losses ;
[03:36.70]to the country both politically and economically. ;
[03:39.76]My uncle,for instance,happens to be a foreign trade worker. ;
[03:43.89]Since he is very busy,my aunt has to do nearly all the housework. ;
[03:48.02]He is often disturbed in his sleep because of the heavy responsibility. ;
[03:51.65]Sometimes,he goes to dinner parties four times a week, or even twice a day, ;
[03:56.61]but his duties as a translator prevent him from partaking in these banquets. ;
[04:00.79]I've seen many of his colleagues burning the candle at both ends. ;
[04:04.11]They seldom go to theatres. ;
[04:05.88]They seldom go to concerts and they can't even afford time ;
[04:08.87]to watch a football match which they're very much interested in. ;
[04:11.61]They always think of the interests of the people and the country, ;
[04:15.32]without a single thought for themselves.So,think of the tasks, ;
[04:19.86]think of the responsibility. ;
[04:21.59]Shame on those who only think of their personal comfort, of going abroad, ;
[04:25.59]drinking toasts and coming back loaded with foreign made articles. ;
[04:29.23]Last,but not least, I've come to learn that foreign trade ;
[04:33.62]plays a substantial role in our national economy. ;
[04:36.63]This is done by acquiring from abroad the equipment ;
[04:40.43]and technical know how necessary for our modernization drive and by pushing ;
[04:45.03]the sales of our exports which form he material basis of our imports. ;
[04:48.51]There are so many new fields to open up and so many new things to be learned ;
[04:53.27]Four or five years is not enough.It requires more than one's lifetime. ;
[04:58.75]As a student of foreign trade,I feel that my future job is ;
[05:03.44]just as significant and necessary as many other occupations ;
[05:07.16]like the geologists' conquering the deserts, ;
[05:09.70]the scientists' tapping the ocean, ;
[05:11.79]and the astronauts' exploring the outer space. ;
[05:14.60]Instead of going abroad,I may be asked to sit at my desk all my life, ;
[05:19.56]collecting data, translating or interpreting.Then, "Am I a lucky dog?" ;
[05:25.93]Yes.I am lucky that I've become a student of foreign trade. ;
[05:30.18]Lucky that I'm conscious of the responsibility of ;
[05:32.88]a business woman of New China. ;
[05:34.75]Lucky that I have acquired an initial ability to serve my country ;
[05:38.94]and my people heart and soul. ;
[05:41.58] Text B ;
[05:44.09]MATTHEW:Chris,why is it that there are so many different languages, ;
[05:48.12]and that in Europe certainly if you travel more than a hundred miles, ;
[05:51.21]you're likely to find people speaking ;
[05:52.74]a completely different language to your own? ;
[05:55.17]CHRIS:Well,it's true to say that there are er... ;
[05:58.22]hundreds and hundreds of different languages. ;
[06:00.58]It's perhaps um... however,more interesting and more ;
[06:04.80]informative to say that there are several ifferent groups of languages er... ;
[06:08.47]Most European languages,with the exception of I think Finnish and er... ;
[06:12.74]Basque and... Hungarian I believe, ;
[06:15.43]belong to the Indo-European group of languages,um... ;
[06:19.31]I'm got very sure myself of the... ;
[06:21.19]the actual details of the history of these languages, ;
[06:23.73]but you can be very sure that er... most of these languages, ;
[06:27.43]say Latin and Greek and our own language and er...German and er... ;
[06:32.36]French and... all the others,are connected. ;
[06:35.53]The reason why you can travel from one village to another in Switzerland and ;
[06:39.56]er... from one area to another in England and find different dialects, ;
[06:42.78]if not different languages spoken, is that um... ;
[06:45.31]several hundred years ago communication was by word of mouth. ;
[06:48.56]Word of mouth meant that people had to move; ;
[06:51.36]if people were to move they needed roads and there were no roads. ;
[06:54.84]MATTHEW:Do you see any chance for a universal language like Esperanto? ;
[06:58.90]CHRIS:Not for an artificial er... language, ;
[07:02.27]no... I suppose the Roman Catholic Church used Latin, but Latin had a ... ;
[07:07.09]a particular religious asis and this is probably why it was therefore chosen ;
[07:11.10]I don't see very much chance for Esperanto; ;
[07:13.64]I think it's an awfully good idea ;
[07:15.26]but I don't believe that language works like that. ;
[07:17.45]I think people will probably er... ;
[07:19.38]work towards the most convenient language to use. ;
[07:22.21]They will not set out to learn a new language. ;
[07:24.79]It seems to me that er...either English, Russian or Chinese, perhaps Japanese, ;
[07:30.84]will be the language of the future er... My bet's on English. ;
[07:34.58]MATTHEW:Maggie,why do you think it is that ;
[07:36.99]so few English people speak a second language? ;
[07:39.83]MAGGIE:I think when you learn a language at school... ;
[07:42.79]it tends to be rather a dead occupation, ;
[07:45.65]and it's very difficult to stimulate ny interest among school children. ;
[07:49.96]But when you actually go to the country and spend say a month in... ;
[07:54.26]in an exchange visit when you're a schoolgirl,or a schoolboy um... ;
[07:58.70]then you suddenly become more interested because you... ;
[08:02.04]you want to communicate with people when you're actually abroad, ;
[08:05.59]and it's not safe to rely on the fact that most people speak English ;
[08:09.06]when um... in foreign countries. ;
[08:12.24]Mm ... I think English people traditionally thought that... ;
[08:16.21]that foreigners always spoke English,and a lot of foreigners do, ;
[08:20.21]but there are people that you meet in the street ;
[08:22.46]or you want to take a bus somewhere, ;
[08:24.23]then you find that you need to speak the language ;
[08:26.68]and it's very unnerving to be in a situation ;
[08:28.95]where you can't communicate with people ;
[08:31.18]when you do want to travel around. ;
[08:33.54]MATTHEW:Have you ever been abroad and learnt er... ;
[08:35.94]a language in the country? ;
[08:38.13]MAGGIE:Yes,well then I was a secretary I er... ;
[08:41.36]went and lived in Geneva for two years, ;
[08:43.80]and I learnt French at school but I... I really didn't speak it at all. ;
[08:48.25]I knew it theoreti- cally but I wasn't able to communicate with people. ;
[08:52.57]But I was in a situation where if I didn't speak French, ;
[08:56.53]then I would not have been able to do my shopping and buy food, ;
[08:59.89]and so I picked the language up and I made friends with French people... ;
[09:03.58]Swiss French people, and I found that if I wanted to communi- cate with all... ;
[09:08.32]all the people that I met,then I had to learn French, ;
[09:11.95]and I think it's the best method of lear- ning because you're in the situation. ;
[09:16.39]It's very hard at times-- ;
[09:18.61]you can sit through dinner parties and not understand what... ;
[09:22.41]what's going on and you think everybody thinks you're stupid ;
[09:26.24]because you can't communicate with them,but it's... ;
[09:29.36]it's the hard way but I think it's the best way to learn. ;
[09:33.36]MATTHEW:Elfriede,you come from Austria and yet ;
[09:36.47]you've been living in England now for the last three years. ;
[09:39.54]Has having to learn and speak another language created great problems? ;
[09:43.13]ELFRIEDE:Um... At the beginning,yes, ;
[09:45.27]it was rather difficult for me to get the right job... um. ;
[09:49.34]After you're lived here for one or two years ;
[09:52.08]you get to know the system and then that's quite good. ;
[09:55.41]You know how to use libraries and oh... you get to know where to um... ;
[10:01.72]call in emergencies; um... you get to know...er... ;
[10:07.16]trying to get a radio and understand the radio and all the... ;
[10:12.23]programmes they have...um and when they're on and the little stories. ;
[10:17.51]MATTHEW:What about English humour on the radio? ;
[10:20.27]ELFRIEDE:Um... I think that takes a very very long time to understand ;
[10:25.89]and I'm sorry to say that I haven't managed et to understand it completely, ;
[10:31.27]but er...I find it very interesting to speak other languages um... ;
[10:36.84]because English people have different er... ;
[10:40.05]have a different mentality, ;
[10:42.42]and have a very different character and a different temperament ;
[10:45.73]and it is fascinating for me to talk to them um... ;
[10:49.44]and also for myself to be able to express myself in a different language ;
[10:53.80]and so communicate with them. ;
[10:56.87] Additional Information ;
[11:00.62]Sometimes,I can't help thinking how magic languages are. ;
[11:05.39]They are like bridges joining islands--connecting people's minds. ;
[11:09.89]Now,whenever I am in the classroom. ;
[11:13.20]at lectures or practising English or French, ;
[11:15.61]I often think of my experiences at the llth Asian Games ;
[11:18.95]held in Beijing last autumn.I was assigned interpreter ;
[11:22.70]to the sports delegation from The Maldives, ;
[11:25.13]a small island country in the Indian Ocean. ;
[11:27.95]When I met the delegation at the Beijing Airport ;
[11:30.81]I was greatly surprised to find they all spoke English fluently. ;
[11:34.33]We were so excited when we realized that we were talking ;
[11:37.12]to each other in a language that was not native to any of us. ;
[11:40.52]During the Games,one of "My" delegation,Shijiao, ;
[11:44.99]developed some eye trouble. ;
[11:46.64]The Games Village doctor thought it was infectious ;
[11:49.55]and said he should go to the infectious diseasses hospital, ;
[11:52.06]and I was asked to take him. ;
[11:53.89]A Sikh from the Indian delegation went with us. ;
[11:56.55]He was suspected of having hepatitis. ;
[11:58.87]At the hospital I helped the doctor and nurse get Shijiao settled down. ;
[12:03.31]The next day,the hospital called to say that Shijiao's ;
[12:06.45]eye trouble was not serious ;
[12:07.90]and there was no need for him to stay in hospital. ;
[12:09.88]So I immediately went to fetch him out. ;
[12:12.33]We were about to leave the hospital when a nurse hurried over to me. ;
[12:16.31]"Are you the interpreter?" she asked. ;
[12:18.83]"Yes," "Could you please help us. ;
[12:21.20]The Indian patient you brought in with you yesterday,you know, ;
[12:24.40]we can't communicate with him.Nobody in the hospital speaks English." ;
[12:28.28]"All right.Let's see if I can be of help." ;
[12:31.22]Shijiao and I followed her to the Sikh's ward. ;
[12:34.25]Three doctors and nurses were around his bed, ;
[12:36.86]trying to get through to him with gestures and a few English words. ;
[12:40.22]They were very relieved to see me. I asked the Indian, "Can I help you?" ;
[12:44.74]But he replied in a language I had never heard before. "English!English! ;
[12:49.77]Don't you speak English?"I asked. ;
[12:51.89]It seemed he knew the word 'English', for he shook his head. ;
[12:55.42]I didn't know what to do now.It was beyond me. ;
[12:58.55]Then Shijiao started speaking in a strange language. ;
[13:01.60]It was so funny.How come?The native tongue in The Maldives is Devehi, ;
[13:06.56]certainly not a language in India. ;
[13:08.61]Shijiao turned to me and said,"My parents came from India. ;
[13:12.43]I speak a little Hindi."That was great.The examination started ;
[13:17.22]The doctors told me in Chinese what they wanted to know. ;
[13:19.87]I translated it into English.Shijiao told the patient in Hindi ;
[13:23.35]Then Sikh answered in Hindi.Shijiao told me in English, ;
[13:26.05]and I put it into Chinese for the doctors. ;
[13:28.43]The examination took a full hour. ;
[13:31.44]The doctors and the patient were very happy, ;
[13:33.61]for at last they could communicate with each other. ;
[13:35.88]When all the questioning was over, ;
[13:37.89]the doctor who seemed to be in charge ook my hand and ;
[13:40.16]Shijiao's hand and said in Chinese. ;
[13:42.07]"Thank you very much."Then the patient smiled at me and said."Tan Kiu." ;
[13:46.53](Thank you)It was such an exciting and stimulating experience. ;
[13:51.96]I felt how good it was to be an interpreter. ;
[13:56.15] Lesson 35 ;
[14:36.10] Never Give up the Hope of Living Text A ;
[14:42.11]In this recorded conversation with a friend, ;
[14:45.21]Alison Willson described her reactions ;
[14:47.58]to the news that she was going to die of cancer. ;
[14:50.45]The conversation took place five months before her death. ;
[14:56.02]Firstly,I told myself,"The thing has happened. ;
[15:02.04]However much you fuss,and scream,and yell,it's not going to change." ;
[15:06.78]I realised I'd got to discipline myself. ;
[15:09.78]Another thing was, I remembered the vicar of a church I used to go to ;
[15:14.20]saying that this kind of thing was often ;
[15:16.00]much harder for the relatives than for the patient. ;
[15:18.81]So here was scope for me to do something positive. ;
[15:22.87]Thirdly,just before I left the hospital, ;
[15:26.27]I came across two young women in their thirties, ;
[15:29.07]both with small children and both with cancer. ;
[15:31.78]I thought,well,what am I worrying about, ;
[15:35.23]because my children are grown up and independent. ;
[15:38.04]If I can get this right for myself and make some sort of peace with it, ;
[15:41.99]then the people who love me will also accept it ;
[15:44.18]and this needn't be too bad a time.Of course,it wasn't as simple as that. ;
[15:50.15]When I came out of hospital I found I was getting it wrong with ;
[15:53.07]quite a lot of people, ;
[15:54.23]because they didn't look at it the same way as I did. ;
[15:56.71]And again,I think if you're going to die around the age of 50, ;
[16:00.59]far more people are involved than if you're dying when you're really old. ;
[16:04.25]You know,it's fairly threatening to people of your own age, ;
[16:07.69]they see you in the middle of a fairly busy life suddenly stopping- ;
[16:11.25]and they find it unacceptable. ;
[16:13.38]This business again of getting them to give me permission to die... ;
[16:18.36]Several of my friends still feel very angry and bitter about it and ;
[16:22.98]just won't accept it. ;
[16:24.34]In consequence they tell me I shouldn't accept it. ;
[16:27.34]I get all these stories about these heroic people ;
[16:29.82]who have organ after organ removed and say,I'm not going to die; ;
[16:34.32]I'm going to live; and they go on,year after year. ;
[16:39.07]It makes me feel I'm being terribly feeble. ;
[16:42.33]I feel rather guilty,as if what they're saying is, well, ;
[16:46.91]you're not trying hard enough.I can't really see what else I could be doing. ;
[16:51.97]I'm very confused about all this. ;
[16:54.32]I don't quite understand what I ought to do. ;
[16:57.08]Well,I suppose one could be a Chichester ;
[16:59.70]and rush across the Atlantic in a boat. ;
[17:01.81]But you know,really, I'm too tired for that. ;
[17:04.92]I think what I want to say to people is that ;
[17:07.60]if you're in this situation it isn't nearly as bad as people who ;
[17:10.70]try and put themselves in your position think it is. ;
[17:13.13]For one thing,other people come to it cold, ;
[17:16.76]whereas I've been doing my homework on it for the last two years. ;
[17:20.28]I've got used to the idea and have ;
[17:22.22]come to the point of acceptance gradually. ;
[17:24.47]The other thing is that they're feeling well and vigorous, ;
[17:27.53]with lots of things they're in the middle of doing. ;
[17:29.78]But I am actually getting very tired and don't feel very well. ;
[17:33.60]The fact that I can't drive my car ;
[17:36.13]and am generally having to cut down my activities ;
[17:38.98]isn't as bad for me as they think it is. I try to get his through to people, ;
[17:43.25]and it seems to release their anxiety a bit. ;
[17:45.70]My friends are beginning to accept what is happening ;
[17:48.21]and come along with me.It's been a time for thinking about relationships ;
[17:53.82]and sorting out those which weren't very satisfactory. ;
[17:56.87]Also,to a large extent,the pressure is off and you're going to die, ;
[18:01.59]you don't really have to do much. ;
[18:03.43]It's rather a relief if you're not feeling well. ;
[18:06.09]I've been very happy these last six months. ;
[18:09.10]I used to think that if you knew you were dying ;
[18:12.55]there would be a great black pall over everything, ;
[18:14.82]and nothing could be of any value.But it isn't like that. ;
[18:18.81]In some ways,even, you get increased appreciation of things. ;
[18:23.10]Colours are brighter and little pleasures mean more. ;
[18:26.36]You almost get another dimension. ;
[18:28.87]I feel that if I hadn't understood what was happening, and ;
[18:33.46]come to terms with it,this would have been lost. ;
[18:36.58]So if you asked me whether I would rather have a coronary or ;
[18:40.52]what I've got,I would rather have this because I've had all this good time. ;
[18:45.64]And I feel sad because other people might have it,but miss it- ;
[18:50.10]because they aren't allowed to come to terms with what's going to happen, ;
[18:54.18]or don't feel able to,and this is such a waste. ;
[18:58.91] Text B ;
[19:01.96]Wang Jinghui is a lecturer in China Textile University in Shanghai. ;
[19:07.54]Now,at the age of fifty-three,he is about to leave this world. ;
[19:12.67]In July last year, ;
[19:15.18]he was diagnosed as to be suffering from cancer in the esophagus. ;
[19:18.64]The doctor told him that there might still be a slight chance for him ;
[19:22.82]if he got operated on at once,as the cancer was already in an advanced stage ;
[19:27.56]The news greatly alarmed Wang ;
[19:29.36]and his daughter who had accompanied him to the hospital. ;
[19:31.79]Naturally they wanted to have an operation at once as ;
[19:34.42]there was not a moment to be lost. ;
[19:36.29]"But all our wards are full at the moment," the doctor told them. ;
[19:40.32]"How long do we have to wait then?"the daughter asked. ;
[19:43.72]"At least two months.We have a long waiting list." ;
[19:47.82]Back at home,the daughter was at her wit's end. ;
[19:51.06]Five years earlier, her mother had died of cancer. ;
[19:53.93]It was her father then who had looked after everything- ;
[19:56.79]her mother's operation,then the funeral. ;
[19:59.35]And after her mother's death,it was her father who looked after ;
[20:02.56]her and her younger sister, ;
[20:04.45]and had seen them through school, and then college for her. ;
[20:07.30]She had just graduated and her younger sister was still at school. ;
[20:11.00]How could they do without their father? ;
[20:13.51]No,their father must not die. ;
[20:16.52]She lost no time and spared no efforts in finding a hospital for her father. ;
[20:20.74]She went everywhere and asked everybody -friends,relatives, acquaintances ;
[20:24.74]anyone who might know of a way to, ;
[20:26.45]or have connections with a hospital. ;
[20:28.56]A few days later one of her former schoolmates came with the heartening news ;
[20:32.31]that one of her friends had a relative ;
[20:34.20]who could pull strings with a certain big hospital. ;
[20:36.84]And to this friend's friend's relative made his appearance. ;
[20:41.08]He proved to be very helpful and enthusiastic, ;
[20:44.05]and promised to see the whole thing through. ;
[20:46.34]But he constantly dropped hints to Wang's daughter about the ;
[20:49.53]"going price" for "road-paving" to a hospital. ;
[20:52.62]At the hospital things went as smoothly as he had promised. ;
[20:56.47]Wang's daughter had handed him three hundred yuan, ;
[20:59.09]and soon he had everything arranged- ;
[21:01.06]consultation for Wang and registration for living in. ;
[21:03.97]He informed them that there would be a vacant bed the following Monday. ;
[21:07.37]They went home full of hope. ;
[21:09.79]He,the man who had arranged everything for them,began to lay down his cards. ;
[21:15.56]"The going price is two thousand and five hundred yuan. But don't worry," ;
[21:20.59]he hastened to add when he saw the alarm in father and daughter's faces. ;
[21:24.06]"I've managed to bring it down to the bottom line- ;
[21:26.26]one thousand two hundred.But you have to get it ready soon. ;
[21:29.76]I have to satisfy the registration office,the surgeon- in-charge, ;
[21:33.93]the operating doctor and his assistant, ;
[21:35.97]the two anaesthetists- not a single one could be left out." ;
[21:40.15]What else could they do?In order to cure her father, ;
[21:43.59]the daughter went about and managed to scrape together 500 yuan ;
[21:46.78]which she handed to the man just before her father went to live in. ;
[21:50.03]As arranged Wang entered the hospital on Monday,July 16. ;
[21:55.08]But more than a week went by and nobody seemed to bother about him, ;
[21:58.27]and nothing was mentioned about his operation. ;
[22:00.98]Both father and daughter were worried about this endless waiting ;
[22:04.36]and she approached the man again,to see if he could speed things up. ;
[22:07.59]"An operating doctor has yet to be found." ;
[22:10.32]She understood what that meant,and as she was almost worried to death, ;
[22:13.86]she gritted her teeth and produced another four hundred yuan. ;
[22:17.30]Apparently the man meant what he said ;
[22:19.42]when he mentioned one thousand two hundred as the bottom line. ;
[22:22.91]On July 28.Wan finally was wheeled into the operation theatre. ;
[22:27.56]But he was not kept there for long. ;
[22:29.82]The doctor opened up his chest and found that cancer had reached ;
[22:32.54]such a stage as to make an operation impossible. ;
[22:35.44]So merciless was the hand of fate! ;
[22:39.09]When a reporter from Xinmin Evening went to see Wang early this year, ;
[22:43.67]she found an emaciated man lying in bed,obviously nearing his last. ;
[22:48.06]He could hardly produce a coherent sentence,but he kept repeating: ;
[22:51.75]"We've been robbed of one thousand two hundred yuan... Now we are penniless... ;
[22:58.97]what is going to happen to my two girls? ;
[23:03.15]..."The daughter said:"What happened to us was far from unique. ;
[23:09.51]It has become quite a common practice for patients to ;
[23:12.39]pay through their noses in order to live in. ;
[23:14.87]All the same I want our story to be told, ;
[23:17.54]not that I have any illusions about getting our money back". ;
[23:20.47] Additional Information ;
[23:23.17]Not long ago,an unusual wedding was held in Beijing's Yuyuantan Park. ;
[23:28.49]Both the bride and bridegroom suffered from cancer ;
[23:31.58]but had made surprising improvement with the aid of qigong, ;
[23:34.43]a traditional Chinese healing system ;
[23:36.44]that relies heavily on breathing exercises. ;
[23:38.85]It is also through qigong that the young couple met and fell in love. ;
[23:43.33]The 28-year-old Guo Chengpei ;
[23:46.09]was formerly a top player on the Beijing table tennis team. ;
[23:49.05]But after participating in the First Pyongyang ;
[23:51.56]International Table Tennis Invitational Tournament in Sepember 1981, ;
[23:55.69]he felt his health declining and he could hardly talk. ;
[23:59.24]After an examination he was diagnosed as having lung cancer, ;
[24:03.24]which is usually fatal.He had to stop training and undergo treatment. ;
[24:08.07]Because Guo's cancer had spread to his lymph nodes,it was inoperable. ;
[24:12.85]The tradiation treatment he received helped little. ;
[24:15.60]His doctor predicted that despite his youth, ;
[24:18.16]Guo had only three months to live. However, ;
[24:21.23]being trained as a table tennis player for 12 years,he had an unyielding will ;
[24:25.81]and an optimistic attitude,and he did not give up hope. ;
[24:29.47]One of hs friends suggested that he practise qigong, ;
[24:32.97]which is credited with prolonging many cancer patients' lives. ;
[24:36.77]This strengthened his will to surmount the disease. ;
[24:39.68]He took his friend's advice to practise Guo Lin qigong ;
[24:43.37](a combination of moving and breathing)every day. ;
[24:46.15]Getting up at 2:45 a.m.he took the night shuttle bus to Ditan Park ;
[24:51.12]and started his routine at 3:40 a.m. He practised for more than five hours ;
[24:57.06]His father and uncles took turns accompanying him. ;
[24:59.74]With his strong will and indomitable perseverance, ;
[25:03.67]he has kept practising igong for seven and a half years, ;
[25:06.81]in all kinds of weather.A check -up in 1987 ;
[25:11.42]showed that the lung cancer's spread to the lymph nodes had disappeared ;
[25:14.75]and the tumour was reduced in size. ;
[25:16.93]His weight has increased from 60 to 85 kilograms. ;
[25:20.57]He has become fitter and his general health has improved. ;
[25:24.42]His 26-year-old bride,Chen Yamei, ;
[25:28.38]became ill with thymoma in September 1985. ;
[25:32.25]"When I was told that I had cancer, I felt the future looked so dark ;
[25:36.91]and miserable that I was in despair,"she said. ;
[25:39.95]In December that year,she had an operation. ;
[25:43.10]Afterwards she received chemical and radioactive treatments. ;
[25:46.89]but little effect could be seen. ;
[25:48.73]The cancer began to spread to the lymph nodes and bones. ;
[25:52.10]While she was hospitalized she often saw patients around her die. ;
[25:56.22]She was terribly frightened and she felt on the brink of death herself. ;
[26:00.06]In June 1986,she heard that qigong could help cure cancer. ;
[26:05.00]Though she didn't completely believe it, ;
[26:07.46]she saw a glimmer of hope and decided to try it. ;
[26:10.55]She also went to Ditan Park to learn qigong ;
[26:13.82]and was assigned to the class that was instructed by Guo Chengpei. ;
[26:17.29]"Everyone in my qigong class looks vigorous and energetic, ;
[26:20.79]"Chen said."There is no sign that they have had the deadly disease. ;
[26:24.47]It gives me confidence and courage to live on." ;
[26:27.54]She often sought advice from Guo and he always helped her patiently ;
[26:31.78]and enthusiastically They shared experiences ;
[26:35.10]and encouraged each other. ;
[26:36.81]At last love blossomed in the young couple's hearts. ;
[26:40.76]After three years of constant qigong practice,Chen's condition is stable. ;
[26:46.02]Now she says she has a better appetite and sleeps more soundly. ;
[26:49.88]"Curing cancer through qigong had a scientific basis," Guo said. ;
[26:54.37]"The growth of cancer cells is restrained when one breathes ;
[26:57.77]plenty of oxygen. After one properly practises qigong for quite a long time, ;
[27:03.90]he is able to greatly enlarge his respiratory capacity. ;
[27:07.05]This is good for cancer patients." Drawing on his own experience, ;
[27:11.73]Guo thinks that combinations of qigong,Western medicine ;
[27:15.04]and traditional Chinese medicine are the best way to conquer cancer. ;
[27:19.21]And he said a wholesome psychological outlook ;
[27:22.17]is the most important thing. ;
[27:24.40]"Everyone suffering from cancer should think like this: ;
[27:28.54]Even if the survival rate in cancer is only 0.1 percent, ;
[27:34.85]I am the 0.1 per cent,"Guo said. ;
[27:39.45]"Those who can get better the fastest are those who are strong in spirit." ;
[27:45.01]The couple hope that all cancer patients love life ;
[27:49.68]and never lose their hope of living. ;
|