Robin Coupland

BBC Learning English

 People and places

Robin¹ Coupland

Dima: Hello, I'm Dima, and today we are seeing … a

doctor. But not an ordinary

doctor. Robin Coupland is the adviser² on armed violence for

the International Committee of the Red Cross who has spent

many years as a field surgeon treating victims of

landmines⁴.

Landmines are bombs that are placed on or under the ground

and explode when someone steps on them. Just over ten years

ago, countries began to sign the Ottawa Convention banning

landmines, and today 156 countries have made it a law. But

although most countries no longer produce or use them,

landmines left over from the past conflicts continue to

affect many people across the world. In a moment we'll hear

Robin Coupland's account of his work as a surgeon in

Afghanistan. It's a shocking account that contains some of

the language you may hear in news reports about war and

conflict. Listen out for these words:
'limbs', meaning arms or legs of a person; 'mine injury',

that's a wound caused by the explosion of a landmine³; and

'amputee', meaning a person whose arm or leg had to be cut

off:

Coupland 0'30'

I remember my first day in the hospital on the Afghan

border of Pakistan in Peshawar - when

I walked in, there were just lots of young people, mostly

men, without limbs. And then after a few weeks you realize

you dread⁵ the radio call that says, 'Another mine injury

coming', because those two words, 'mine injury', meant a

very specific kind of wound, a specific disability that

you're going to be leaving, another amputee... More blood

loss, longer in the
operating theatre…
 
Dima: Dr Coupland says, whenever there was a radio call

saying, 'Another mine injury coming', he knew it meant

another amputee, in other words another person whose limb

was damaged in a landmine explosion so badly that it would

have to be cut off. Listen to Robin Coupland again and this

time try to answer this question: which verb does he use to

describe his reaction to the news of a new injury?

Coupland 0'30'

I remember my first day in the hospital on the Afghan

border of Pakistan in Peshawar - when

I walked in, there were just lots of young people, mostly

men, without limbs. And then after a few weeks you realize

you dread the radio call that says, 'Another mine injury

coming', because those two words, 'mine injury', meant a

very specific kind of wound, a specific disability that

you're going to be leaving, another amputee... More blood

loss, longer in the operating theatre…

Dima: Did you hear the verb Dr Coupland used to describe

his reaction to a new injury? It was 'dread'. 'To dread',

meaning to feel extremely frightened or anxious about

something that is going to happen.

Sting

Dima: Today we're talking to Robin Coupland, a surgeon

who has for many years treated victims of landmines in many

countries. Now, it's true that since 1997, when the Ottawa

Convention was first opened for signature, a lot has been

done to get rid of landmines. Over forty-million mines have

been destroyed and thousands of square kilometres of land

have been cleared. But while it's good news for the future,

Dr Coupland says it's not much comfort to victims. As

you're listening to him, look out for this language:

'disabled people' - that's people who lack one or more of

the physical or mental abilities that most people have; in

this case, victims of landmines; 'prostheses' - artificial

body parts, such as an arm, foot or tooth, which replace a

missing part; and 'human
 
impact', meaning a powerful effect that something has on a

person. Here's

Robin Coupland:

Coupland 0'21'

There are certainly fewer landmine injuries, but of course

a... an amputation⁶ is an amputation for life, and so that

does not mean that the number of services that have to be

provided to disabled people will certainly have to be...

have to be less. Those people will need new prostheses

every three or four years and so the human impact

continues.

Dima: Here are those words and word combinations again:

'disabled people',

'prostheses' and 'human impact'. Let's listen to Robin

Coupland again, and as you're listening, see if you can

answer this question: Does he think the number of services

for the disabled will go down in the near future? Listen:

Coupland 0'21'

There are certainly fewer landmine injuries, but of course

a... an amputation is an amputation for life, and so that

does not mean that the number of services that have to be

provided to disabled people will certainly have to be...

have to be less. Those people will need new prostheses

every three or four years and so the human impact

continues.

Dima: Dr Coupland says the number of services will not go

down because landmine victims will continue to need regular

treatment for the rest of their lives.
That's all we have time for today. Let's finish by

reminding ourselves of some of the language we've heard in

this programme:
'limb'

'mine injury'

'amputee'

'to dread'

'disabled people'

'prosthesis' and

'human impact'.

Join us again next time for more People and places, but for

now goodbye!

1 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 landmine   

n.地雷

参考例句：

• A landmine is a kind of weapon used in war.地雷是一种运用于战争的武器。
• The treaty bans the use,production and trade of landmine.那条约禁止使用生产和交易雷。

4 landmines   

潜在的冲突； 地雷，投伞水雷( landmine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The treaty bans the use production and trade of landmines. 该条约规定，禁止使用地雷相关产品及贸易。
• One of the weapon's of special concern was landmines. 在引起人们特别关注的武器中就有地雷。

5 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

6 amputation   

n.截肢

参考例句：

• In ancient India,adultery was punished by amputation of the nose.在古代印度，通奸要受到剖鼻的处罚。
• He lived only hours after the amputation.截肢后，他只活了几个小时。