Dentist's Drill

     Alice: Hello, I'm Alice…
    Stephen: And I'm Stephen.…Alice: And this is 6 Minute English! This week we’re talking about a very commonphobia – a fear of the dentist – and a possible new treatment. But first of all,Stephen, how does this sound make you feel?
    Insert 1: Sound of a dentist’s drillStephen: Ouch! Oh, that sounds very painful.
    Alice: Oh, are you scared of going to the dentist?
    Stephen: Yeah, absolutely terrified.
    Alice: Oh - you poor thing. Well, as usual I’m going to ask you a question related totoday’s topic. Which of these is NOT a real phobia – a word that describes apersistent and sometimes irrational¹ fear? Are you ready?
    Stephen: Yes.
    Alice: OK…a) agoraphobia, b) arachnophobia, c) televiphobiaStephen: I’m going to take a guess on c, televiphobia.
    Alice: Well, I won’t tell you the answer now - but we’ll find out at the end of theprogramme. Now let’s find out about this new gadget² which might help peoplewho are scared of visiting the dentist – that’s dentaphobia by the way.
    Stephen: A fear of going to the dentist.
    Alice: Here’s Dentist Dr Andrew Parkman, describing how some patients feel whenthey come to sit in his consulting chair:
    Insert 2: Dr Andrew ParkmanWe kind of notice people as soon as the drill starts up. They can tense up, they mighttense their shoulders, they might tense their fingers. Certainly, you can see a tensioncome over them with that sound - that high-pitched noise.
    Alice: Dr Parkman says his patients tense up – the dentist can see a tension comeover them with that high-pitched sound of the drill. It puts them off going tothe dentist.
    Stephen: It puts them off – it discourages them from doing something.
    Alice: So let’s look at this new gadget which blocks out the sound of the drill. It’sjust a prototype at the moment.
    Stephen: A prototype is the first form of something which may go on to be manufactured.
    In this case, it’s a gadget the size of a mobile phone which can block out thesound of the dentist’s drill.
    Alice: Here’s Professor Brian Millar from King’s College London’s Dental Institute,telling us how the prototype works:
    Insert 2: Dr Andrew ParkmanIt listens to the sound - as it’s happening - of the dentist’s drill inside the patient’smouth, which as everybody knows is a horrible sound. So bad, in fact, that it actuallyputs some patients even off going to the dentist to seek important dental health care. So,we listen to the sound of the drill, we produce a cancelling signal which is reallyeffectively an opposite sound – and then we just knock it out with the filtering system.
    Alice: The gadget produces a cancelling signal, an opposite sound to knock out thesound of the drill. This means the patient can listen to music and can still hearthe voice of the dentist or dental nurse, but they won’t hear the high-pitchedsound of the drill.
    Stephen: It uses a sound filtering system. So are we hoping that these gadgets³ will be inall dentist’s surgeries soon?
    Alice: Well, the team that developed them are still looking for a manufacturerto mass-produce the prototypes. So in the meantime, perhaps we needsome advice from the experts about how to deal with a phobia ofthe dentist. Here’s Dr Kathy Sykes with some advice about how tokeep calm when you’re feeling anxious:
    Insert 4: Dr Kathy SykesIt’s worth trying to work out what your own response is. So for instance, remember thelast time you had an anxiety problem – and think about what your body did. You know,did you feel hot? Did you find your hands beginning to clench⁴? And then the next timeyou find your hands clenching⁵ – or find, you know, whatever symptom it was youspotted, try to do something to calm down. Taking a few moments outside for some freshair to clear your head - or maybe just listening to a bit of music. Whatever you thinkcalms you down. Try to do that.
    Alice: Dr Kathy Sykes says that if you can spot the symptoms when you feel anxious– worried – you can help yourself to try to calm down.
    Stephen: The symptoms are how your body shows the anxiety. Do you feel hot? Do youclench up your hands into little balls?
    Alice: She suggests you listen to music or go outside for some fresh air when you feelthese symptoms. Now, before we go let’s answer our question. We heard acouple of terms used to describe phobias. But I made one of them up, Stephen.
    Did you guess which?
    Stephen: Let me see. You said 'agoraphobia' – I think that’s a real phobia – it’s a fear ofgoing outsideAlice: Correct. And 'arachnophobia'?
    Stephen: Oh, that’s a very common phobia. A fear of spiders, I believe?
    Alice: Well done!
    Stephen: So I’m guessing 'televiphobia' was the odd one out.
    Alice: You’re right. And your prize, Stephen, is to read some of the words andphrases that we’ve used in today’s programme!
    Stephen: phobiapersistent irrational patients tense up it puts them off prototype gadget cancelling signal drillanxious symptomsAlice: Well, we hope you’ve had fun with us today on 6 Minute English - and thatyou’ll join us again next time.
    Both: Bye.

1 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

2 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

3 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

4 clench   

vt.捏紧（拳头等），咬紧（牙齿等），紧紧握住

参考例句：

• I clenched the arms of my chair.我死死抓住椅子扶手。
• Slowly,he released his breath through clenched teeth.他从紧咬的牙缝间慢慢地舒了口气。

5 clenching   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'll never get used to them, she thought, clenching her fists. 我永远也看不惯这些家伙，她握紧双拳，心里想。 来自飘（部分）
• Clenching her lips, she nodded. 她紧闭着嘴唇，点点头。 来自辞典例句