有声英文阅读-激光手术，大饱“眼福”

For many of us, walking in the rain can be a pleasant and even soothing¹ experience. For those of us who wear glasses, though, drops of water on the lenses and obscured vision can have us running for cover. Interested in returning to your days before glasses? Good news! Wearing contact lenses is no longer your only option.

Recently, Lasik eye surgery has become the most widely used surgical² procedure for vision correction. Myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism³ are all caused by an imperfectly shaped eyeball, cornea, or lens. Because of the imperfection, light entering the eye is not clearly focused on the retina.
 
During the Lasik procedure, a thin piece of the cornea is cut and folded back. Then, a laser is used to reshape the lower layer of corneal tissue. After the corneal flap is lowered back into place, it quickly adheres to the eyeball.

The procedure immediately improves the focus of light on the retina. After only one day of recovery, patients already notice a significant difference, and about 70 percent regain⁴ 20/20 vision. However, Laser eye surgery is not without its risks, so Lasik is not for everyone.

If you are considering Lasik surgery, you should first consult an ophthalmologist and a refractive surgeon to see what is best for your particular situation. After all, you have only got two eyes---and they need to last a lifetime.

1. obscured a. 不清楚的
2. cornea n. 眼角膜
3. retina n. 视网膜
4. flap n. 垂下物，盖

对许多人来说，雨中漫步可能是一种愉快甚至舒服的体验。但是对我们这些戴眼镜的人来说，镜片上的水滴和模糊了的视线，就会让我们跑去避雨。想回到戴眼镜之前的日子吗？好消息！隐形眼镜不再是你唯一的选择。

近来，激光眼科手术成了运用最广泛的矫正视力的外科手术。近视、远视及散光都是由于眼球、角膜或水晶体变形引起的。由于这种变形，进入眼睛的光线无法清楚地聚焦在视网膜上。
在进行激光眼科手术的过程中，眼角膜的一层薄膜被割开并折叠起来。然后，用激光修整下层角膜组织的形状。割开的角膜复位以后，就会迅速地附着在眼球上。

这种手术能立即矫正光线在视网膜上的焦点。只需要休养一天，病人就能发现明显的不同，而且其中百分之七十左右能恢复正常视力。然而，激光眼科手术并不是一点风险都没有的，因此也并不是每个人都适用。

如果你正在考虑是否要进行激光手术，你应该先请教眼科医生和视力矫正外科医生，针对你的个别情况找到最好的治疗手段。毕竟，你只有两只眼睛，而它们是要用一辈子的。

1 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

2 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

3 astigmatism   

n.散光，乱视眼

参考例句：

• Maybe you fall asleep in class because of uncorrected astigmatism.也许你在课堂上睡觉是因为你的眼睛散光。
• Astigmatism can occur in addition to nearsightedness and farsightedness.散光可同时发生在近视和远视。

4 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。