环球英语 — 335：The Tree Man

　　Voice 1
Hello, I’m Ruby¹ Jones.
Voice 2
And I’m Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight². This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
A small, thin man sits on some wooden steps. On his head he wears a bright blue hat. It protects his face from the warm afternoon sun. But the hat cannot hide the many large, dark marks on the man’s face and neck. The man rests his hands on the wooden steps. But, these are not normal-looking hands - there are no soft, healthy fingers. Instead, they look like a mass of dead roots from a tree! The man’s feet are no better. He lifts them up, slowly. They look like they are made of wood, not flesh and blood. What has happened to this man? What has caused him to look like this?
Voice 2
The man’s name is Dede. He comes from Indonesia. And he lives in a small village south of the capital city, Jakarta. For the first part of his life, Dede was a normal, healthy young man. But when he was fifteen years old, he had an accident. He cut his knee. But his knee did not heal³. It got worse. Then, warts⁵ appeared on his feet. Warts are caused by a virus or infection. They are flesh coloured growths on the skin. Dede remembers:
Voice 3
“First, warts appeared on my feet. But I did not do anything about them. They spread and quickly covered all my body.”
Voice 2
Some of these warts on Dede’s hands and feet grew larger and larger. They were not normal warts. They grew out from his body. They were long and bent⁶ like wooden sticks and branches. In fact, it looked like he was turning into a tree! He was no longer able to use his hands and feet effectively. This painful condition left him unable to work. And so Dede lost his job. He could not support his family financially. And after some time, his wife left him. Dede found it more and more difficult to provide for his two children.
Voice 1
To make things worse, some of the people in his village made fun of Dede. There was nothing wrong with his mind. But the people did not know that. They did not take time to see past his looks. To them, anyone who looked different was a ‘freak’ - someone to laugh at. But underneath⁷ the strange looks, Dede was just a normal person. Local doctors examined Dede. They had never seen anything like it before. But they could find no medicine to cure him.
Voice 2
Dede’s case was so rare that it made international news. A team from the Discovery television channel flew to Indonesia. They made a film about Dede. They called it, “Half Man, Half Tree”. They contacted a famous dermatologist⁸ - a skin expert. Doctor Anthony Gaspari works⁹ at the University of Maryland Medical Centre. He travelled with them to Indonesia to examine Dede. He had never seen anything like it in his life! He examined him from head to foot. He took some of Dede’s blood to test. Then, he cut off very small pieces of wart⁴ from Dede’s body. Doctor Gaspari returned to the United States with the blood and wart samples. He then tested them in his medical laboratory¹⁰.
Voice 1
It took Doctor Gaspari two months to discover the cause of Dede’s terrible condition. And, the results surprised him a little. Dede was suffering from a common infection - the Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV. People who suffer from this virus develop small warts on their body. Doctors can usually remove these warts by a simple operation. So why had Dede’s warts become impossible to remove? Doctor Gaspari explained:
Voice 4
“It was the most extreme case of warts that I have seen in all my years as a doctor! Dede has some kind of severe immune¹¹ deficiency¹². His body’s system for fighting infection has a major problem.”
Voice 1
The doctor is sure that the problem with Dede’s defence system is genetic¹³. That would explain why Dede’s body cannot deal effectively with the warts. The virus takes over Dede’s skin cells. And it makes them produce large amounts of keratin. The keratin forms into the tree-like growths on Dede’s hands and feet. It is a very rare condition.
Voice 2
Happily, Doctor Gaspari believes that he knows the cure - vitamin A! This is surprising to many people. Vitamin A is the healthy substance found naturally in many kinds of food. Everyone needs some every day to stay healthy. However, Dede would need a very high amount of Vitamin A. And it should slow down the growth of warts on his body. So, if Dede receives this treatment, will it cure him completely? Doctor Gaspari says:
Voice 4
“Dede will not have a perfectly¹⁴ normal body. But the warts should reduce in size greatly. He would then be able to use his hands. Over the period of three to six months the warts should become smaller and fewer in number. He could live a normal life.”
Voice 2
But not everyone is pleased with Doctor Gaspari’s behaviour. Siti Fadilah Supari is the Indonesian minister for health. She is concerned that Doctor Gaspari took Dede’s blood and skin samples to the United States for testing. She is worried that powerful drug companies will use these samples to create new kinds of drugs. Then, the companies may sell these drugs back to countries that need them. They could ask a lot of money for them - and make a large profit.
Voice 1
Doctor Gaspari understands the Minister of Health’s concerns. But he has made it clear why he acted as he did:
Voice 4
“I did take samples. And the reason I did was to find out what was wrong with Dede. I did it because he is a human being like me. I did it to help my patient.”
Voice 2
Back in his village, Dede does not worry about being at the centre of a disagreement. Instead, he thinks about the future. Will doctors be able to start treating him soon? Will the treatment work? Dede looks across at his two children. His daughter, Entang, smiles back at him. Love shines from Dede’s dark brown eyes. He knows what he truly wants. He says:
Voice 3
“I want to be able to take care of my children. I hope I live long enough to see my grandchildren.”

1 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 heal   

v.使愈合，治愈，使康复；平息(争吵等)；消除，解决(分支等)

参考例句：

• Time helped heal the old wounds.时间有助于治愈旧创伤。
• This wound will soon heal if yon keep it clean.如果你保持伤口清洁，它很快就会痊愈。

4 wart   

n.疣，肉赘；瑕疵

参考例句：

• What does the medicaments with remedial acuteness wet best wart have?治疗尖锐湿疣最好的药物有什么？
• Flat wart is generally superficial,or sometimes a slight itching.扁平疣一般是不痛不痒的，或偶有轻微痒感。

5 warts   

n.疣( wart的名词复数 )；肉赘；树瘤；缺点

参考例句：

• You agreed to marry me, warts and all! 是你同意和我结婚的，我又没掩饰缺陷。 来自辞典例句
• Talk about trying to cure warts with spunk-water such a blame fool way as that! 用那样糊涂蛋的方法还谈什么仙水治疣子！ 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

6 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

7 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

8 dermatologist   

n.皮肤科医师

参考例句：

• I think you should see a dermatologist first.我想你应当先看皮肤科大夫。
• The general practitioner referred her patient to a dermatologist.家庭医生把她的病人交给了皮肤科医生。

9 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

10 laboratory   

n.实验室，化验室

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a laboratory.她捐款成立了一个实验室。
• Our laboratory equipment isn't perfect,but we must make do.实验室设备是不够理想，但我们只好因陋就简。

11 immune   

adj.免疫的，有免疫力的，不受影响的，免除的

参考例句：

• I am immune from the disease,for I had it once.我对这病有免疫力，因为我已得过一次了。
• Be immune from corruption.拒腐蚀，永不沾。

12 deficiency   

n.缺乏，不足，缺点，缺陷

参考例句：

• During the war children suffered from a deficiency of food.战争期间孩子们遭受缺乏食物之苦。
• Fortunately,color deficiency is not a serious medical problem.幸运的是，色盲并不是一种严重的医学问题。

13 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

14 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。