Something to Smile Abou|爱心不停驶的微笑列车

Something to Smile About爱心不停驶的微笑列车

by Nadia Chung

US$250 can change a child's life forever.

250 元美金就能改变一名孩童的命运。

One of the most shocking deformities a newborn can have is a massive cleft. Clefts occur when certain body structures do not connect during the development of the fetus. This usually leaves a wide gap _(1)_ the lip and the palate. Children born with clefts are oftentimes thought of as retarded, teased and ostracized by society, abandoned, or even killed by their own parents.

A cleft is the primary birth defect in the US and many other nations. _(2)_, there is a simple, 45-minute operation that can change the lives of children with clefts forever. Smile Train, a global cleft charity _(3)_ in 1999 by Brian Mullaney and Charles Wang, provides these procedures in developing countries for free. The mission of Smile Train is to provide cleft surgery for millions of poor children and to train local doctors and medical professionals to _(4)_ this surgery. With training, these doctors learn how to use groundbreaking technology _(5)_ waiting for Western doctors to volunteer their time. This maximizes the efficiency and the number of operations that can be done.

Having sponsored nearly half a million operations over the last decade, Smile Train is definitely _(6)_ a difference. However, they are far from the 4.6 million cases it would take to _(7)_ clefts worldwide. US$250 can sponsor one child and donating to Smile Train is transparent, says Mullaney. He also hopes to continue his work by using the Smile Train model to help the poor with other medical conditions such as club foot or congenital heart defects.

1.  (A) into    (B) among   (C) between (D) within

2.  (A) Previously  (B) Eventually  (C) Recently    (D) Fortunately

3.  (A) found   (B) founded (C) finding (D) to find

4.  (A) apply   (B) perform (C) observe (D) supply

5.  (A) instead of  (B) regardless of   (C) on behalf of    (D) for the sake of

6.  (A) telling (B) counting    (C) making  (D) pushing

7.  (A) delete  (B) exaggerate  (C) benefit (D) eliminate

　　新生儿最令人心惊的畸形之一就是严重的唇颚裂。当胎儿在发育时，身体某些构造没有相连时就会发生唇颚裂。这通常会在嘴唇和上颚处留下一个宽大的缺口。天生就有唇颚裂的孩童往往会被视为智商低弱，在社会上被取笑和排挤，遭遗弃或甚至被亲生父母杀害。

　　在美国和其他许多国家，唇颚裂是新生儿主要的缺陷。幸运的是，有种简单、仅需 45 分钟的手术可以永远改变这些孩童的人生。微笑列车是一个全球性的慈善机构，于 1999 年由布莱恩．马拉尼和王嘉廉共同创办，免费提供开发中国家修复唇颚裂的手术。微笑列车的任务就是为好几百万的贫穷孩童提供唇颚裂手术，并进一步训练当地医师和专业医疗人员进行这项手术。透过训练，这些医师学习如何运用创新的科技，而不是苦苦等候来自西方的医师贡献他们的时间，此举充分发挥了效率以及大大增加了手术的数目。

　　过去 10 年来赞助了近 50 万次的手术，微笑列车的确使情况有所不同。然而，要让唇颚裂在世界上消失，还有多达 4 百 60 万个病例在等待他们。马拉尼表示，250 元美金就可以资助一名孩童，而且捐赠给微笑列车的款项非常透明化。马拉尼希望能以微笑列车作为典范，继续他的工作，帮助贫困的孩童解决其他的疾病，像是内翻足和先天性心脏缺陷等。

标准答案: 1. (C)2. (D)3. (B)4. (B)5. (A)
 6. (C)7. (D)

For Your Information

唇颚裂也就是一般俗称的『兔唇』。根据统计，台湾每年就有 500至 600 位新生儿有这样的问题。

胚胎早期发育时，嘴唇部分是由两侧组织渐渐往身体中线连结起来。如果在连结的过程中有一些差错，而不能按照预定的进度达到链接时，就会产生各种不同的裂缝。若单纯只是上唇的地方有裂缝，称为唇裂；若裂缝延伸至口内硬颚或更内部的软颚部位，称为唇颚裂；有时仅口腔内之上颚或软颚裂开而外表正常，则称为颚裂。大部分致病原因未明，部分则是受到遗传或环境因素的影响。