Let paralyzed patients walk again讓癱瘓的病人重新行走

薛俊剛

三名癱瘓多年的病人又能夠重新走路了，這要歸功于植入他們脊柱的神奇的電子裝置。

1 A motorcycle accident several years ago left Michel Roccati paralyzed from the waist down. Now， years after his injury， he has regained the ability to walk thanks to electrodes （電極） implanted on his spine. “I am free，” Roccati says. “I can walk wherever I want to.”

2? To perform an action like walking， the brain sends a message to our muscles in the form of electricity that tells the legs to move. But after a complete spinal cord （脊髓） injury， the brain s signals cant reach the nerves， resulting in paralysis. By using electrical stimulation from electrodes， doctors are able to send similar electrical signals to the body that the brain would normally do， like “sit”， “stand”， or “walk”.

3 The flexible electrodes are controlled by the touch of a tablet screen. The patient or doctor can then control pulses that activate muscles in the legs. Depending on the electrode stimulation pattern， the signals translate to specific muscle activities， like getting up from a chair or riding a bike.

4 Roccati is one of three men who participated in the study. The three participants were ages 29， 32， and 41， and each was injured in motorcycle accidents several years ago. All three men had six centimeters of healthy spinal cord below their injury and had no movement or sense in their legs before the operation. All three patients were able to stand， walk， swim and control their movements just one day after their implants were activated.

5 After the devices were implanted， the three study participants were given training in how to use the devices， which took a while to get used to. They could take as many as 300 steps independently， with some support， within days of receiving their implants. After getting comfortable with the devices in the lab， the patients progressed to using the devices in their daily lives.

6 Next， researchers will test the stimulation devices in a larger trial with different patients with more recent injuries. There is some evidence in animal studies that early electrical stimulation may help the spinal cord heal after injuries， which could help patients regain more sense. The next step is to start earlier， just after the injury， when the potential for recovery is much larger.

Choose the best answers according to the text

Detail? ? ? 1. What was Michel s life like before implanting electrodes？

A. He couldn t move at all.

B. He had no sense below his waist.

C. He had his spine completely ruined.

D. He got injured by an electric shock.

Detail? ? 2. What s the decisive factor to ensure people s movements？

A. The control on pulses.

B. The power of the brain.

C. The touch of a tablet screen.

D. The electrode stimulation pattern.

Inference? 3. Why are the three participants in paragraph 4 mentioned？

A. To tell the popularity of the tech.

B. To make comparisons among patients.

C. To show the success of the experiment.

D. To give examples of different movements.

Gist ? 4. What is the text mainly about？

A. A unique treatment. B. A disabled patient.

C. A scientific report. D. A medical achievement.

Ⅰ. Analyze the difficult sentence in the text

Depending on the electrode stimulation pattern， the signals translate to specific muscle activities， like getting up from a chair or riding a bike. 根據電極刺激模式的不同，信號會轉化為特定的肌肉活動，比如從椅子上站起來或騎自行車。

【點石成金】本句中，Depending on the electrode stimulation pattern為方式狀語，和邏輯主語the signals之間構成邏輯上的主謂關系;like getting up from a chair or riding a bike為介詞短語作狀語。

Ⅱ. Memorize some text？鄄centered chunks

thanks to 多虧了;由于

in the form of 以……的形式

result in 導致;結果是

get used to 習慣于

in a larger trial 在一個更大的試驗中