(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Healthy Children Not Growing Properly May Lack This
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
Most healthy children between the ages of four and 10 grow about five centimeters a year. Parents often notice this growth by how quickly their children grow out of their clothes and shoes.
However, when a child does not reach usual growth markers, it could be a sign of a health problem.
One American family knew something might be wrong when their son was able to fit into the same clothes, season after season.
Spencer Baehman is a boy who loves to play baseball.
"My goal is to play college baseball."
But at age 11, he was much shorter than everyone on his team. Although his small size did not stop Spencer from playing the sport he loves, it did make him feel different.
"I want to be as tall as these kids."
At first, Spencer's parents thought their son was just small. But over time, they began to worry that something was wrong.
When springtime came around and baseball season started, Spencer tried on his old cleats – a type of sports shoe. They still easily fit on his feet.
That is when his mom called the doctor.
"It really set in one year coming out of winter into spring when he got out his cleats for spring baseball and he put them on, and they fit. And they never should have fit. Those were from the spring prior."
Spencer's parents went to see Dr. Bert Bachrach. He is the chief of pediatric endocrinology at University of Missouri Health Care. After much measuring and testing, Dr. Bachrach found the cause of Spencer's growth failure: a growth hormone deficiency. In other words, Spencer's body was not making enough growth hormone.
Hormones are chemicals in the body. They send messages from one cell to another. Growth hormones are necessary for physical growth in children. The levels of growth hormone rise throughout childhood. The levels are highest during puberty.
This hormone helps to control many functions in the body. Dr. Bachrach explains.
"Growth hormone just doesn't affect your growth, it affects your muscle mass and fat distribution. So that affects your cholesterol. It also affects your overall sense of well-being."
Growth hormone deficiency is a disorder involving the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is small – about the size of a pea. It is located at the base of the brain. This gland produces many hormones, not just the growth hormone.
Several things can affect the pituitary gland's ability to produce growth hormones.
Growth hormone deficiency is mainly the result of damage to the pituitary gland, or hypothalamus, while the fetus is growing in the mother's womb. It can also happen as a result of a genetic mutation.
And in some cases, children who severely lack emotional and social experiences do not produce enough growth hormone and stop growing. These children often start growing again when they begin receiving the care and human interaction they need.
In Spencer's case, he needed daily hormone injections. His mother has been giving him the injection every day for the past two years. In that time, Spencer has grown about 15 centimeters.
But just in case he does not grow as tall as he would like, he has a reminder to himself written into each of his baseball hats.
"It says HDMH — which means ‘height doesn't measure heart'."
When used this way, "heart" means bravery, determination and emotional strength — all things that Spencer is not in short supply of.
And that's the Health & Lifestyle report. I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
重点讲解:
1. at first 最初;起初;开始时;
I didn't like the job much at first.
起初我并不很喜欢这个工作 。
2. try on 试穿;试戴;
Try on clothing and shoes to make sure they fit.
试穿一下衣服和鞋子,看看是否合适 。
3. in other words 换句话说;也就是说;换言之;
They asked him to leave─in other words he was fired.
他们请他走人,也就是说,他被解雇了 。
4. just in case 以防万一;
I guess we've already talked about this but I'll ask you again just in case.
我想我们已经谈过这个问题了,不过为了以防万一,我再问你一次 。
参考译文
健康但身高不正常的孩子可能缺乏生长激素
这里是VOA慢速英语健康生活报道 。
大多数4至10岁的健康儿童每年身高约增长5厘米 。父母通常会因为孩子的衣服和鞋子穿不下而注意到他们的孩子长得有多快 。
但是,当孩子没有达到正常的身高指标时,这可能是出现健康问题的一个信号 。
一个美国家庭发现事情有些不太对劲,因为一年又一年过去了,但他们的儿子还是能穿下同样尺寸的衣服 。
斯宾塞·贝曼是个喜欢打棒球的男孩 。
“我的目标是加入大学棒球队 。”
但是在11岁时,他的身高比棒球队里其他孩子矮了很多 。虽然身材矮小没有阻止斯宾塞继续他喜欢的棒球运动,但是这却使他感觉到了不同 。
“我想和这些孩子一样高 。”
一开始,斯宾塞的父母以为他们的儿子只是矮一些 。但是随着时间的流逝,他们开始担心出了什么问题 。
春天到来以后,棒球赛季随之开始,斯宾塞试穿了下他的旧棒球钉鞋——这是一种运动鞋 。这些旧鞋依然很合适 。
随后他的妈妈给医生打了电话 。
“过了一年,冬去春来,他拿出他的春季棒球钉鞋试穿时,发现鞋很合脚 。可是鞋不应该合脚才对 。这些还是去年春天的鞋呢 。”
斯宾塞的父母去见了伯特·巴克哈克医生 。他是密苏里大学卫生保健部的儿科主任 。在进行了大量测量和测试之后,巴克哈克医生发现了导致斯宾塞生长障碍的原因:生长激素缺乏症 。换句话说,斯宾塞的身体不能分泌足够的生长激素 。
激素是人体内的化学物质 。这些物质在细胞间传递信息 。生长激素是儿童身体成长所必需的物质 。生长激素的水平在整个儿童成长时期都在增长 。其水平在青春期达到最高值 。
这种激素帮助控制人体内的多项功能 。巴克哈克医生解释道 。
“生长激素不会影响你的成长,它影响的是你的肌肉量和脂肪分布 。因此,生长激素会影响你的胆固醇 。也会影响你的整体健康 。”
生长激素缺乏症是一种与脑垂体有关的病症 。脑垂体很小,大小和豌豆差不多 。脑垂体位于大脑下部 。脑垂体会分泌出很多种激素,不只是生长激素 。
很多因素会影响脑垂体分泌生长激素的能力 。
生长激素缺乏症主要是胎儿在母亲子宫里时脑垂体或下丘脑受损造成的结果 。这种疾病也可能由遗传突变引发 。
在某些情况下,严重缺乏情感和社交经验的儿童不能分泌足够的生长激素并会停止生长 。这些儿童通常会在开始接受他们所需要的护理和人际互动之后再次生长发育 。
斯宾塞的情况是,他需要每日注射生长激素 。过去两年来,他的母亲每天都会给他注射生长激素 。斯宾塞在这段时间长了约15厘米 。
但是为了防止他不能长到他所希望的身高,他在每个棒球帽里都写上了一句话以提醒自已 。
“帽子上写着HDMH——意思是‘身高不能衡量心 。’”
在这种情况下,heart指勇气、决心和情感的力量,即斯宾塞所拥有的一切力量 。
以上是健康生活报道 。我是安娜·马迪奥 。
译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!