Let paralyzed patients walk again让瘫痪的病人重新行走

薛俊刚

三名癱痪多年的病人又能够重新走路了，这要归功于植入他们脊柱的神奇的电子装置。

1 A motorcycle accident several years ago left Michel Roccati paralyzed from the waist down. Now， years after his injury， he has regained the ability to walk thanks to electrodes （电极） implanted on his spine. “I am free，” Roccati says. “I can walk wherever I want to.”

2  To perform an action like walking， the brain sends a message to our muscles in the form of electricity that tells the legs to move. But after a complete spinal cord （脊髓） injury， the brain s signals cant reach the nerves， resulting in paralysis. By using electrical stimulation from electrodes， doctors are able to send similar electrical signals to the body that the brain would normally do， like “sit”， “stand”， or “walk”.

3 The flexible electrodes are controlled by the touch of a tablet screen. The patient or doctor can then control pulses that activate muscles in the legs. Depending on the electrode stimulation pattern， the signals translate to specific muscle activities， like getting up from a chair or riding a bike.

4 Roccati is one of three men who participated in the study. The three participants were ages 29， 32， and 41， and each was injured in motorcycle accidents several years ago. All three men had six centimeters of healthy spinal cord below their injury and had no movement or sense in their legs before the operation. All three patients were able to stand， walk， swim and control their movements just one day after their implants were activated.

5 After the devices were implanted， the three study participants were given training in how to use the devices， which took a while to get used to. They could take as many as 300 steps independently， with some support， within days of receiving their implants. After getting comfortable with the devices in the lab， the patients progressed to using the devices in their daily lives.

6 Next， researchers will test the stimulation devices in a larger trial with different patients with more recent injuries. There is some evidence in animal studies that early electrical stimulation may help the spinal cord heal after injuries， which could help patients regain more sense. The next step is to start earlier， just after the injury， when the potential for recovery is much larger.

Choose the best answers according to the text

Detail      1. What was Michel s life like before implanting electrodes？

A. He couldn t move at all.

B. He had no sense below his waist.

C. He had his spine completely ruined.

D. He got injured by an electric shock.

Detail    2. What s the decisive factor to ensure people s movements？

A. The control on pulses.

B. The power of the brain.

C. The touch of a tablet screen.

D. The electrode stimulation pattern.

Inference  3. Why are the three participants in paragraph 4 mentioned？

A. To tell the popularity of the tech.

B. To make comparisons among patients.

C. To show the success of the experiment.

D. To give examples of different movements.

Gist   4. What is the text mainly about？

A. A unique treatment. B. A disabled patient.

C. A scientific report. D. A medical achievement.

Ⅰ. Analyze the difficult sentence in the text

Depending on the electrode stimulation pattern， the signals translate to specific muscle activities， like getting up from a chair or riding a bike. 根據电极刺激模式的不同，信号会转化为特定的肌肉活动，比如从椅子上站起来或骑自行车。

【点石成金】本句中，Depending on the electrode stimulation pattern为方式状语，和逻辑主语the signals之间构成逻辑上的主谓关系;like getting up from a chair or riding a bike为介词短语作状语。

Ⅱ. Memorize some text？鄄centered chunks

thanks to 多亏了;由于

in the form of 以……的形式

result in 导致;结果是

get used to 习惯于

in a larger trial 在一个更大的试验中