Bbc superhuman
PART 2
Spare parts
Useful expressions:
To enable somebody to do something
A well-oiled machine
To have an advantage
In principle
To overcome a problem
To be tricky
To run very close to something
To reduce the chance of something happening
A warning system
To emerge into the world
To relate something to something
Crude
To report something
Compared to
It’s early days yet
A mismatch between expectations and reality
To go bananas
Feedback
To compete with
Versatile
Sophisticated
To choose something in preference to something
To live on the outskirts
To be familiar with
To be too well aware of
To be involved in something
To wake up to something
Overwhelmed
To be at peace with oneself
To be a hard thing to accept
To be content with something
When it comes to…
Miracle
To be programmed to behave somehow
To be well worth something
To leave somebody with mixed emotions
Immediate reaction
To reconsider something
The risks outweigh the benefits
Inevitable
To come to terms with something
A good start
To look very different
Controversial
To benefit in the race
To be routinely available
Expressions for the topic “Medicine”:
To lose one’s limb in an accident
Artificial leg / arm
To be a science fiction vision of something
Transplanted hand
To match the incredible complexity of a human body
To get a severe hearing loss
Auditory nerve
Cochlea
Bionic replacement
To be accidentally damaged
To be paralysed for the rest of one’s life
To insert an implant
To drill a hole
To treat certain types of deafness
Eyeball
Retina
To replace the damaged cells with an electronic chip
To be routinely available
To have one of the most advanced artificial arms in the world
Carbon fibre
To be attached to the body
Robotic arm
A sense of touch
Nerve receptor
Hand transplant patient
Hyperacute rejection
To make a miraculous recovery
To have serious side effects
To carry out a hand- transplant
Donor hand
To connect arteries, veins, tendons and nerves
Tissue
To do something to a limited degree
To be handicapped
To lose all sensation
To be indicators of something
The risks include +noun
To keep the immune system suppressed
A major supply of human organs
Operating theatre
To volunteer for an experiment
To have something injected into someone’s brain
Foetus
Foetal
To coat something with something
To recognize something as foreign
Questions
What is human body often compared to? What advantage do machines have in comparison with it? What idea seems to be very seductive ? Can it easily be fulfilled?
What normally happens when a sound enters the ear? What can be the solution for deaf people? Why can operations be tricky? What does the brain nerve have to learn after the cochlea implant is switched on? How long does the implant stay in its place?
Is it possible to cure certain types of blindness with the help of bionics? Are the experts optimistic about the problem?
What causes mismatches between the expectations and reality about bionic arms? How does a robotic arm work? What does a person have to do to use the arm? What does the robotic arm have to try to match?
What is hyperacute rejection? Why is it considered to be a very serious problem? What are the ways of suppressing it? Are they absolutely safe for the patient?
What steps does the arm transplant operation involve?
Are all the patients always content with their arm transplants? Why?
What organs can be transplanted?How does a person’s appearance change after a heart transplant operation?
What is one of the most controversial ways of coping with the shortage of human organs?What difficulties does it involve? Have the doctors started transplanting pig parts into humans?
What made Jim Finn volunteer for the operation of injecting pig cells into his brain? What kind of pig cells were used for the operation? What do doctors do to help the pig cells be accepted by the organism?
What race is now on? Who should win it for the people to benefit?