CNN 2010-08-13

Well, we are going to take a look at some astonishing video of a tornado¹. Let's take a listen. This is in Minnesota as it just splinters a farmhouse².

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no.

That looks like a bomb exploded. As you can see, pieces of it flying everywhere. Believe or not, nobody was hurt. The man behind the camera can't believe what he was seeing through that view finder, it's one of those times when a storm chaser caught what he was chasing. And you can see the result.

Pretty amazing pictures.

We're learning more about the 10 kind-hearted volunteers who were part of the medical aid team murdered last week in Afghanistan's remote province. Six of the victims were Americans. One being Dr. Thomas Grams, a dentist from Durango, Colorado, who among his many benevolent³ efforts, is being remembered for hiking halfway⁴ up Mount Everest to deliver dental care for Buddhist⁵ monks⁶. We're told the good Dr. Grams worked a third of the year, free of charge as a volunteer dentist helping⁷ those who needed so much and could only pay with their gratitude⁸. Laurie Matthews, group director and co-founder of Global Dental Relief, joins us by phone from Denver with more on the charitable works and contributions of the late Dr. Tom Gram. Laurie, good to have you with us.

Thank you.

Why don't you tell us more about Tom. I mean, just talking about his hike up Mount Everest to help these Buddhist monks, about 100 other people, I understand, also, is just the, the tip of, of what this, this gentleman did.

That's right. Tom was our very first volunteer in 2001. He immediately dedicated⁹ himself to the work. He gave 4 months a year. He led our groups of volunteers. He was the intake¹⁰ dentist. He was the face that every child saw as they entered the clinic. He's just a remarkable¹¹ and someone who knew he could make a difference and that mattered to him.

And tell us some more stories. I understand, 10 years ago, it started with he wanted to fix the teeth of Muslim torture victims. How did that start?

You know, actually, that was before I knew Tom. What I can tell you is that by making that connection with people in that kind of need, I think it really opened Tom to wanting to go international and to help people in remote areas. He was always thinking about how he could go further remote. Within label a dock that after 20 hours of flying, we'd run a clinic there, helping 500 kids and when it was over, Tom would want to go over the next 18,000-foot pass and reached a school even more remote.

And, and I want to talk more about the kids that he helped, but one thing that also caught my attention, he was very sensitive towards the women in the Middle East. From what I understand, women with burkas, the men didn't want them removing the burkas to get any kind of dental care, but he was able to explain to husbands and to women how important it was to get that care. And he worked within the burka.

1 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

2 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

3 benevolent   

adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的

参考例句：

• His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him.他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。
• He was a benevolent old man and he wouldn't hurt a fly.他是一个仁慈的老人，连只苍蝇都不愿伤害。

4 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

5 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

6 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

9 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

10 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

11 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。