20101227 Putting Ability Back Into Disability (1)

Putting Ability Back Into Disability

Dr. Kellie Lim's life is a lesson in overcoming disabilities

"We don't think you'll be able to do the things you need to do in medical school," a premier medical school admissions counselor told Kellie Lim. This was obviously upsetting seeing as Kellie had just scored in the 90th percentile on the MCAT – the notoriously difficult medical school entrance exam. This valedictorian of her Michigan high school class had received a biology degree from prestigious Northwestern University and hardly needed to prove her academic ability. What the counselor doubted were her physical abilities.

Society's word for Dr, Lim is "disabled," but her story suggests otherwise. She only faintly remembers being 8 years old and having bacterial meningitis, an often life-treating infection. To save her life, doctors amputated both legs below the knee, her righ arm at the elbow, and three fingertips on her left hand. During Kellie's 4-month hospital recovery, her monther, Sandy Lim, said to her,

"Wouldn't it be great to be a pediatrician? They're so nice and so smart, and they saved you!" Little di Kellie's mother know that she was planting a seed that would grow into a big dream.

dis- 否定

disability n. 殘障/障礙

=> a certain kind of inability

=> blind is a kind of disability

eg: The boy suffers from a learning disability.

=> 這個男孩有著學習上的障礙。

eg: The girl with multiple disabilities writes with a sound-activated computer.

=> 這個犯有多重障礙的女生用聲控電腦來書寫。

eg: Even though Cindy is deaf, she hasn't let her disability stop her from pursuing her dreams.

=> 即使Cindy是聽障，可是她從來沒有讓這個障礙阻止她追求夢想

eg: Children wtih learning disabilities need visual aids to help them absorb what they're learned.

=> 有學習障礙的孩童需要視覺的輔助來幫助他們吸收所學的內容

percentile n. 百分位數之一

the + _th percentile 表示在...百分位數

eg: Her test score put her in the 72nd percentile.

=> 她的考試成績讓她居於百分之七十二的百分位

percentage n. 百分比/百分率

eg: A large percentage of our employees commute to work.

=> 我們的員工中很高的百分比都通勤上班

amputate v. 截肢/切斷

=> cut off the body in order to save another part of body

eg: Because the patient suffere from a serious infection, the doctor was forced to amputate his left arm.

=> 由於這個病患有嚴重的感染，醫生被迫要切除他的左手臂

amputation n. 截肢/切斷

eg: After the amputation, he went through a long period of physical therapy.

=> 截肢之後，他經歷很長階段的復健valedictorian

valedictorian n. 【美】(畢業典禮時)致告別辭的學生代表

=> a person who has the highest academic rank in the class after a period of four years

faintly adv. 僅僅

=> barely

meningitis n. 腦膜炎

=> an infection in the spine

pediatrician n. 兒科醫師

//== Chat room ==//

politically correct 政治正確

=> 每過這幾年流行politically correct的辭彙，

=> 字義上這些詞彙和政治沒有關係

=> 而是指對社會中的不同族群或是團體必須加以尊重

the handicapped n. 殘障者(帶有殘廢的涵義)

the disabled n. 殘疾/殘障

=> 現在最被接受的用法為the disabled

the physically challenged 肢體受挑戰的

=> 較有禮貌的方式稱呼殘障者

mentally challenged n. 智障

technology challenged 對科技不擅長

-> had hard time understanding technology

//== Grammer on the go ==//

This was obviously upsetting seeing as Kellie had just scored in the 90th percentile on the MCAT – the notoriously difficult medical school entrance exam.

=> This was obviously upsetting since Kellie had scored in the 90th percentile on the MACT ...

seeing as

=> considering the fact

eg: Seeing as it's going to rain, why don't we postpone the hike and go watch a movie instead?

eg: I decided not to have the partym seeing as everything's busy.

seeing that

eg: Seeing that none of the students were prepared, the teacher gave them one more day to study for the test.

seeing how

eg: Seeing how our guests are all vegetariants, I don't think we should take them to the steak house for dinner.