英语听力精选进阶版 14199

BBC Learning English 

Video Words in the News  

17 April 2013 

Lab-grown organ breakthrough 

Transcript: 

In this jar, hope for many who need a transplant. 

In a Boston laboratory, a rat kidney has been stripped of its cells, leaving just 

this white scaffold. 

Then the organ was reseeded with fresh cells and put into another rat. It 

filtered the animal's blood and produced urine.  

The results are promising¹ but human trials are still a long way off. 

Vocabulary: 

transplant 

a new organ put into someone's body when the old organ fails 

kidney 

organ that takes away waste from the blood and produces urine 

stripped of 

had its parts removed 

scaffold 

structure that helps something to keep its shape 

reseeded 

here, had some new cells added, which multiply to fill the whole organ 

Exercise: 

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from 

news reports.  

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence 

correctly. 

transplant / kidney / stripped of / scaffold / reseeded 

1.  Madonna was said to have been angered that she and her entourage were 

__________ their VIP status on their way out of the country, the UK's Daily 

Telegraph reported. They had to line up with other passengers at the airport 

and were frisked by security officials, the report said.  

2.  Scientists have developed a new way of generating stem cells which could 

boost research and drug screening. Edinburgh University has produced 

material that acts as a "tiny __________" to which cells can cling as they 

grow. 

3.  Carrying excess weight around the abdomen² is linked to an increased risk of 

__________ disease, a study suggests. 

4.  George Best is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers to have 

graced the British game. But the Manchester United icon's lifelong battle 

with alcoholism led to drink-driving, bankruptcy³, a liver __________ and 

eventually death, aged⁴ 59, in 2005. 

5.  "Even if the lungs aren't going to be resuscitatable, and you've tried 

everything you can, designer drugs, we aren't going to throw those lungs 

away. We are going to decellularize those lungs in a bioreactor and we are 

going to __________ it with your stem cells which we are already trying to 

do and we are going to grow you new lungs," he said. 

Answers: 

1.   Madonna was said to have been angered that she and her entourage were 

stripped of their VIP status on their way out of the country, the UK's Daily 

Telegraph reported. They had to line up with other passengers at the airport 

and were frisked by security officials, the report said. 

2.  Scientists have developed a new way of generating stem cells which could 

boost research and drug screening. Edinburgh University has produced 

material that acts as a "tiny scaffold" to which cells can cling as they grow. 

3.   Carrying excess weight around the abdomen is linked to an increased risk of 

kidney disease, a study suggests. 

4.   George Best is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers to have 

graced the British game. But the Manchester United icon's lifelong battle 

with alcoholism led to drink-driving, bankruptcy, a liver transplant and 

eventually death, aged 59, in 2005. 

5.   "Even if the lungs aren't going to be resuscitatable, and you've tried 

everything you can, designer drugs, we aren't going to throw those lungs 

away. We are going to decellularize those lungs in a bioreactor and we are 

going to reseed it with your stem cells which we are already trying to do 

and we are going to grow you new lungs," he said. 

1 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

2 abdomen   

n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)

参考例句：

• How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫？
• He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。

3 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

4 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。