2007年VOA标准英语-White House Spokesman Faces New Cancer Battle

By Paula Wolfson
White House
27 March 2007

White House Spokesman Tony Snow is facing yet another battle with cancer. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports the news has shaken members of the president's staff.

Tony Snow

Tony Snow has always pointed² with pride to his victory against colon³ cancer in 2005.

Now, the disease is back.

Snow underwent surgery Monday for a small growth in his lower abdomen⁴. Before the operation, he appeared upbeat, saying preliminary tests were good.

"Blood tests are negative, PET scans are negative," he said. "But out of an aggressive sense of caution, I am going to go in for surgery on Monday and have it removed."

But the results of the surgery were startling. Snow personally called President Bush and his deputy, Dana Perino, with the news. The growth was cancerous and the disease had spread to his liver.

It was a visibly shaken Perino who revealed the diagnosis⁵ to the White House press corps⁶ Tuesday.

A short time later, the president spoke¹ in the White House Rose Garden about Tony Snow.

"His attitude is, one, that he is not going to let this whip him, and he's upbeat," said President Bush. "My attitude is, is that we need to pray for him, and for his family."

The president said he looks forward to the day that Snow can return to the White House. But no one knows when that will be.

Perino told reporters Snow will undergo aggressive chemotherapy for a second time. The first came after his cancerous colon was removed in 2005.

His health was a consideration when Snow was offered the White House post last year. He took it after his doctors said he was healthy enough to take the job.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

4 abdomen   

n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)

参考例句：

• How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫？
• He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。

5 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

6 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。