英语单词大师：US Hospitals, Courts Struggle

 AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble and this week on WORDMASTER: we look at the growing need for interpreters in American hospitals and courts ...

RS: And how technology is addressing shortages.

AA: We start with health care. Faith Lapidus has our report.

FL: For more than a quarter of a century, Language Line Services -- LLS -- has provided trained interpreters to help doctors and caregivers communicate with non-English speaking patients. Company president Louis Provenzano says the demand for interpreting services is on the rise.

LOUIS PROVENZANO: "A typical urban hospital, they may treat patients who speak forty to sixty different language. So it's almost impossible to staff internally. Some hospitals provide professional interpreters. Others rely on family members or even janitorial¹ staff. But because their knowledge of medical terminology² has not been verified by any regulating authority, the quality of communication can differ dramatically. And in the case of diagnosis³ and treatment decisions, it could have a tragic⁴ consequences."FL: LLS recently launched the International Registry of Certified⁵ Medical Interpreters.

LOUIS PROVENZANO: "It's the first industry resource of its kind to give health care organizations a free online resource for identifying those professionals, medical interpreters, and reviewing their language skills and credentials⁶."SUSAN AVILA: "This is Susan, Spanish interpreter four-nine-two-one."FL: Certified Spanish interpreter Susan Avila provides over-the-phone medical translations.

SUSAN AVILA: "It could be anywhere from a little child getting his shots updated, to something very elaborate as the explanation of a surgery. Perhaps a mother is having contractions⁷ and we have to calm her down and give her the instructions on how she is supposed to breath."FL: According to LLS President Louis Provenzano, regulating medical interpreting services is essential to improving the health care system and ensuring equal opportunity for all patients.

LOUIS PROVENZANO: "I think a number of interpreter associations, a number of different organizations like Language Line Services are really pushing Congress and legislators to put various, different regulations on a national basis."FL: Provenzano says he hopes that will allow health care professionals to focus on the medical services, without worrying about important bits of information getting lost in translation. I'm Faith Lapidus.

AA: Now, we shift from the emergency room to the courtroom, where many U.S. states are also facing interpreter shortages.

RS: Reporter Steve Mort has that story.

SM: A Spanish-speaking defendant⁸, who understands no English, appears before an Orlando, Florida, judge. Ody Arias⁹-Luciano interprets. She leads the court interpreting program for this part of Florida.

ODY ARIAS LUCIANO: "We do have a need for Creole interpreters, for Portuguese¹⁰, for Russian, for Vietnamese, for every language."SM: The government says U.S. federal courtrooms needed interpreters in a hundred and fifteen languages in two thousand seven. In District courts, there were nearly a quarter of a million cases that required interpreters. In both cases, the numbers are up.

Jessy Castillo uses her skills in Haitian Creole to guide this defendant through the legal process. Castillo is one of only three Creole interpreters in Orlando. She runs an agency which provides interpreters to courts, and can cite cases where she has struggled to find an interpreter demanded by a court.

JESSY CASTILLO: "They were looking for Burmese and that was quite difficult. We could not retain anyone here that spoke¹¹ this language".

SM: Some officials in Orlando hope technology could ease the interpreter shortage. This system allows an interpreter in another city or state to use monitors to see the activity in court. An interpreter could translate courtroom discussion from anyplace with this specially¹² adapted phone.

Agustin de la Mora trains court interpreters. He helped develop the remote technology used here.

AGUSTIN DE LA MORA: "It's silly to believe that you're going to find a good interpreter that is trained for every language in every corner of the United States. So more and more, I'm advocating the use of interpreters that are trained that can do a good job at a distance, using technology."SM: But Pubic Defender¹³ Robert Wesley, whose staff represent defendants¹⁴ in court, is skeptical¹⁵. He does not feel comfortable using an interpreter who is in a different location.

ROBERT WESLEY: "Because we don't know if that interpreter is also cooking a pot of beans or knitting a sweater or doing something different while she is working to interpret on the phone."SM: Nevertheless, outside the courtroom, Wesley says he often communicates with his clients through a telephone interpreting service.

The federal courts offer an online list of certified interpreters. And around the country, many of the states are working individually and collectively to ease the shortage, so that defendants who speak no English can have their day in court.

RS: That was Steve Mort, reporting for VOA. And that's WORDMASTER for this week. AA: With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

1 janitorial   

adj.管理的(janitor的变形)

参考例句：

• Besides attending class, you will help our janitorial staff after school. 除了正常上课以外，下课后你得帮助学校的工人做做义工。 来自电影对白
• The accommodation will be cleaned 2-3 times every week by janitorial staff. 宿舍每星期更换2~3次备品，并有清洁人员清扫宿舍环境。 来自互联网

2 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

3 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

4 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

5 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

6 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

7 contractions   

n.收缩( contraction的名词复数 )；缩减；缩略词；（分娩时）子宫收缩

参考例句：

• Contractions are much more common in speech than in writing. 缩略词在口语里比在书写中常见得多。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Muscle contractions are powered by the chemical adenosine triphosphate(ATP ). 肌肉收缩是由化学物质三磷酸腺苷(ATP)提供动力的。 来自辞典例句

8 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

9 arias   

n.咏叹调( aria的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Can you pick out the operatic arias quoted in this orchestral passage? 你能听出这段管弦乐曲里有歌剧式的咏叹调吗？ 来自辞典例句
• The actions are large and colour, there are arias and recitatives. 动作夸张而华美，有唱段也有宣叙部。 来自辞典例句

10 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

13 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

14 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

15 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。