VOA慢速英语2011--Student Binge Drinking Linked to Brain D

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Student Binge Drinking Linked to Brain Damage, Injuries

MARIO RITTER: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.
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I'm Mario Ritter. This week on our show, we play music from new albums by Kelly Rowland and Colbie Caillat.
We also read some of your comments.
But, first, we have a report on the effects of binge drinking on the brains of young adults.
Binge Drinking and the Brain
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YOUNG ADULTS: “I’ve been drinking since I was eighteen.” “I drank about ten drinks, I’d say.”
MARIO RITTER: New studies are looking at the damage that heavy use of alcohol can cause in young people. Christopher Cruise has our story.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: The National Institute on Drug Abuse says forty-two percent of young adults in America have taken part in what is known as binge drinking. The experts define that as drinking four to five drinks within about two hours.
Tim McQueeny is a researcher in the Psychology² Department at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. He is studying how binge drinking affects the brains of young people.
TIM MCQUEENY: “The peak years of alcohol use are during the years when the brains are still developing, especially eighteen to twenty-five when substance use, such as binge drinking, is most prevalent.”
Assistant professor Krista Lisdahl Medina is researching the subject with him.
KRISTA LISDAHL MEDINA: “We looked at a very high resolution picture of the brain, where we can actually measure what’s called cortical thickness. So this is a measure of basically how thick their brain matter is.”
The researchers say binge drinking is linked to a loss of thickness in the pre-frontal cortex. They explain the many jobs of this part of the brain.
TIM MCQUEENY: “Regulating somebody’s emotions and controlling behaviors.”
KRISTA LISDAHL MEDINA: “Decision making.”
TIM MCQUEENY: “Controlling attention.”
KRISTA LISDAHL MEDINA: "The ability to inhibit³ responses.”
TIM MCQUEENY: “Considering consequences.”
KRISTA LISDAHL MEDINA: “Monitoring your environment.”
TIM MCQUEENY: “Acting appropriately.”
KRISTA LISDAHL MEDINA: “And, again, that very important ability to inhibit your impulses to do things.”
A team of American and Canadian scientists is also trying to measure the health effects of binge drinking by students. Dr. Michael Fleming is a researcher at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. He says they studied cases of alcohol-related injuries and blackouts.
MICHAEL FLEMING: “A blackout is a true period of amnesia⁴. It’s a transient acute memory loss that can last from a couple of hours to longer, depending on how much you drank. So we wanted to know whether that put students -- in particular, college students -- at higher risk for injury.”
The research showed that as blackouts increased, so did the rate of physical injuries. Dr. Fleming says one in four students harmed themselves while drinking.
Many colleges and universities around the United States try to educate students about the dangers especially of binge drinking. Amanda Long works with campus alcohol programs at the University of Maryland. She says the programs there begin even before students arrive at the university.
AMANDA LONG: “We start off by asking them to complete a national three-hour long educational program. It is really just a look at alcohol, how it affects students, how it can be a detriment⁵ to their progression as a student.”
At some schools around the country, students are required to use online resources like a program called eCHECKUP TO GO. San Diego State University in California administers that program. Doug Van Sickle⁶ is the project director.
DOUG VAN SICKLE: “The program gives the student a personalized feedback about their use of alcohol and how it affects goals and aspirations⁷ that are important to them. Career and life, relationships, self-esteem, health and fitness, those kinds of things.
The program does not try to scare students with numbers about alcohol-related injuries or deaths. Instead, the students learn things like how much weight they can gain from alcohol and how much money a night of drinking can cost. Doug Van Sickle says this method really works with college students.
Comments
MARIO RITTER: This week, instead of answering a question, we are going to read some of your comments posted at voaspecialenglish.com.
Last week we did a story about chopsticks made in America and sold in China. Orhan Fazhoglu from Istanbul, Turkey, wrote: Most Americans prefer purchasing Chinese goods as they are far cheaper. However, Chinese people are crazy for American brands.
Orhan says it seems Chinese are willing to spend more because of their fast-growing economy. On the other hand: Americans are getting more and more thrifty⁸ these days thanks to the economic recession.
Anh Vuong wrote to us from Vietnam about our recent interview with Michael Johnston. He talked about his experience serving in the military in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Anh writes: Thanks to VOA, I have much experience about the private life of a soldier after returning home. They always get ready to sacrifice themselves to protect their homeland. Wishing the best for them and their family.
We also told you about young Navajo Indians leaving their reservation in search of jobs. Jose Reyes from Mexico wrote that he understood their situation well. I was born in a town with less than five hundred people, so there is not a chance to succeed there. We have to move into larger cities and leave behind our roots for new goals, get your degree and seek a better life. In addition, we try to go farther than our ancestors and parents did.
Merce from Catalonia, Spain, also commented on the story of the young Navajos. I think that the young people of the Navajo reservation, after they graduate, should return home in order to help their community with health and other knowledge, but never leave their culture and language.
And, finally, Joruji from Japan commented on our story about the Goodwill⁹ organization’s job training program for immigrants.
There is a similar organization in Japan. It's called "Hello Work," and it helps people seeking jobs, including immigrants. It gives job training and advice on how to write a good resume and have a good job interview. But there are some differences. For instance, it tells immigrants that interviewers are used to bowing, not shaking hands the way Americans do.
You can find all of these stories and post your own comments about our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Put "American Mosaic" in the search box at the top of the page.
Kelly Rowland and Colbie Caillat
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MARIO RITTER: Two popular singers released albums earlier this month. Kelly Rowland, formerly¹⁰ of Destiny’s Child, came out this week with “Here I Am.” And, Colbie Caillat released “All of You” on July twelfth. Katherine Cole tells about both women and plays some of their music.
KATHERINE COLE: Kelly Rowland is not as well known as a solo artist as is another former member of Destiny’s Child – Beyonce. But, Rowland has won two Grammys and several other major awards since she went on her own in two thousand two.
“Here I Am” is the thirty-year-old recording¹¹ artist’s third solo album. The single “Commander” was released last year and became a hit. David Guetta produced the song and also performed on it.
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Lil Wayne is another featured performer. Here he is with Kelly Rowland singing, “Motivation.”
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“All of You” is Colbie Caillat’s third album. Some critics praise her voice and light-hearted style. Others say her music lacks depth. Most seem to agree, however, that she makes good choices about the artists she works with. Here she performs, “Favorite Song,” with the rapper Common.
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We leave you Colbie Caillat performing “Dream Life, Life” from her new album “All of You.”
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MARIO RITTER: I’m Mario Ritter. Our program was written and produced by Caty Weaver¹², with reporting by Dione Rossiter. If you have a question about American life, write to [email protected].
Join us again next week for music and more on AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

3 inhibit   

vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制

参考例句：

• Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.不要让自我和贪婪妨碍清晰的思维和刻苦的工作。
• They passed a law to inhibit people from parking in the street.他们通过一项法令以阻止人们在街上停车。

4 amnesia   

n.健忘症，健忘

参考例句：

• People suffering from amnesia don't forget their general knowledge of objects.患健忘症的人不会忘记关于物体的一些基本知识。
• Chinese medicine experts developed a way to treat amnesia using marine materials.中国医学专家研制出用海洋物质治疗遗忘症的方法。

5 detriment   

n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源

参考例句：

• Smoking is a detriment to one's health.吸烟危害健康。
• His lack of education is a serious detriment to his career.他的未受教育对他的事业是一种严重的妨碍。

6 sickle   

n.镰刀

参考例句：

• The gardener was swishing off the tops of weeds with a sickle.园丁正在用镰刀嗖嗖地割掉杂草的顶端。
• There is a picture of the sickle on the flag. 旗帜上有镰刀的图案。

7 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

8 thrifty   

adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的

参考例句：

• Except for smoking and drinking,he is a thrifty man.除了抽烟、喝酒，他是个生活节俭的人。
• She was a thrifty woman and managed to put aside some money every month.她是个很会持家的妇女，每月都设法存些钱。

9 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

10 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

11 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

12 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。