Listening exercise
BBC News World Edition
Wednesday, 11 December, 2002, 08:00 GMT
Best friend donates kidney
Direct link to BBC audio file:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/audio/38439000/rm/_38439539_kidneyuse.ram
Local file

For Oral Training II assignment, please see below.
Lab students: You may choose either the first or the second assignment.
And remember to print out all of the Christmas carols here to bring to class!

     Background: 54-year-old Bill Brough's kidneys were damaged by Legionnaire's Disease (­x¹Î¯f); Bill's best friend Derek Marshall agreed to give up one of his kidneys to save Bill.

Vocabulary:

region
UK
sadly
compatible
age group
allowed
Derek
describe
emotional
to bear with
to offer
kidney
illness
serious
as...as it was
basically
alternative
considerable length of time
cadaveric		 to get oneself tested
tests and such
to check out
to go through with
to mean s.t.
to be a match
extraordinary
one by one (by one)
remarkable
to be put off by
risk
involved
coordinator
at great length
minimal
procedures
advancements
particularly
to put up with

healthy
to spare one
to take the news
to be worried for s.o.
concern
exactly
at any stage
to persuade
honest
excellent counseling
consulting physician
Middlesbrough
Dr. Cardash
transplant coordinator
Teesside
to take s.t. lightly
to be walked through s.t.
every step
of what would be incurred

Listening comprehension questions:
1. What is the function of the kidneys, and what is the usual treatment for someone with damaged kidneys? (you must look up the answers to these questions if you don't know them offhand; they are not in the sound file)
2. How many similar situations like this have there been in this area of the UK?
3. Why didn't someone from Bill's family offer to donate a kidney?
4. How does Bill feel about Derek's offer?
5. How does Derek feel about what he is doing?
6. What is a 'cadaveric kidney'?
7. How long did it take before it was established that the transplant from Derek to Bill would be possible?
8. How does Derek feel about the loss of a kidney?
9. How does Derek's wife feel about Derek's decision?
10. Did Bill try to dissuade Derek from the decision?
11. Why do they both feel relatively comfortable about the decision?
12. Would you be willing donate a kidney to another person? If so, who would you be willing to donate it to, and who would you not be willing to donate it to?


Listening assignment for Oral Training II students:
     First listen to the BBC interview above as background for the topic. Next listen to the following interview broadcast over CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) on June 8, 2001. You will hear different viewpoints regarding the issue of whether the sale of human organs, kidneys in particular, should be legal. Take notes on the arguments presented, both pros and cons, and organize them into a short essay that covers the main points of the overall situation. Conclude with a paragraph on what your own viewpoint on this issue is, and why you think the way you do.

CBC: The Organ Trade: Should the sale of kidneys be legalized?
Broadcast June 8, 2001
Web page:
http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/thismorning/sites/health/organs_010608.html
RealOne audio file:
http://media.cbc.ca:8080/ramgen/radio/programs/thismorning/audio/tm_organs010608.rm
(if this link doesn't work, try linking from the Web page)

If you're interested in another similar report:
Related story: Man donates kidney to complete stranger (with link to QuickTime video)
http://www.komotv.com/news/story.asp?ID=15584

Here are some Yahoo Links to further reports on kidney transplants:
http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Procedures_and_Therapies/Surgeries/Organ_Transplants/Kidney_Transplants/
Here are more audio files from Canada on organ transplants:
http://ca.fullcoverage.yahoo.com/fc/Canada/Organ_Transplants/audio_1.html
Here's the site of a hospital in Pakistan advertising kidney transplants on the Internet:
http://www.kidneytransplants.biz/


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