VOA慢速英语20061018a

HEALTH REPORT - Concussions² Are Serious Head Injuries for Children and AdultsBy Caty Weaver³

Broadcast: Wednesday, October 18, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Doctors say the head injury called a concussion¹ is more serious for children and young adults than people might think. They say concussions also may take longer to heal among young people.




A concussion is an injury that happens when the brain is shaken inside the skull⁴. It can result from a hit to the head, a sudden stop in movement or violent shaking. Falling off a bicycle, getting hit while playing a sport, or being involved in a car accident are a few of the common causes of concussion.

People who have concussions often have trouble thinking or remembering. Concussions can also make a person feel very tired or angry. Other signs of concussion are stomach and head pain, muscle weakness and a loss in sharpness of vision.

The National Institutes of Health says there are about one million cases of concussions each year in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of them affect children or young adults involved in sports. Some concussions are more severe than others. But doctors say all of them should be taken seriously. Doctors say children are not necessarily dependable when reporting about their physical condition after a sports injury. Many want to get back in the game, on the bike, or to the playground too soon after a head injury.

The National Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, has a program to help high school sports officials deal with the problem. The CDC provides a video about a high school football player who was permanently⁵ disabled by a second concussion. The CDC also provides a guide for recognizing signs of concussion and measures to help prevent them.

Michael Collins is a brain researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania. The center is a major researcher on the effects and treatments of concussion. He was one of several researchers who helped develop a computer software program that tests for concussion and its level of severity.

Mister Collins says concussion research in the last five years has provided a huge amount of new information. He says young athletes can fully⁶ recover from concussion and continue sports activities. But he says they must be sure to give the brain time to heal before the head takes another hit.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. You can find our reports online at www.unsv.com. I'm Barbara Klein.

1 concussion   

n.脑震荡；震动

参考例句：

• He was carried off the field with slight concussion.他因轻微脑震荡给抬离了现场。
• She suffers from brain concussion.她得了脑震荡。

2 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

3 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

4 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

5 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。