Вы услышите интервью. В следующих заданиях выберите правильный ответ.
1. About her current job, Laura says …
1) she’s been doing it for fifteen years.
2) she misses certain aspects of her previous job.
3) she had to do additional studying.
2. Why does Laura find TCM interesting?
1) It’s a new trend in her field.
2) It’s a part of her personal life.
3) There are multiple reasons for her interest.
3. To answer whether TCM works better than western medicine, Laura says …
1) people who have taken it say different things.
2) there are many studies to prove it does.
3) it works better as long as you take the right amount.
4. What is or would be proof to Laura that TCM works?
1) The thousands of years of usage.
2) The opinion of some doctors.
3) Successful clinical trials.
5. Regarding the goji berry, Laura believes …
1) it doesn’t help with immune system disorders.
2) a part of it might be effective.
3) a similar berry probably has a similar effect.
6. Why is it difficult to get acceptance for TCM?
1) Western institutions are a bit sceptical about it.
2) The Chinese government keeps it from happening.
3) Western officials think it will harm drug sales.
7. Laura’s personal opinion about TCM is that …
1) she’d really like to know more about it.
2) she’d like to see it offered in hospitals.
3) medical professionals should have more faith in it.
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2 — 3
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Presenter: Hi everyone and welcome to our programme, Health Today. With us is medical professional Laura Jones, who is here to talk about traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, as it’s often called. Thanks for joining us today, Laura.
Speaker: Thanks for having me.
Presenter: Can you tell us a bit about what you do?
Speaker: Certainly. I work as a hospital administrator and I manage the day-to-day workings of the hospital. I’m also a trained general practitioner with about 15 years of practice behind me, which I started as soon as possible after medical school. I’ve been a hospital administrator for 2 years now, and I love it, although I do miss seeing my old patients now and again.
Presenter: And how did you become interested in TCM?
Speaker: Well as a hospital administrator, part of my job is to make sure I know about all the trends in medicine. TCM is a hot topic in the medical community because more and more people are becoming interested in alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs. My husband also happens to be Chinese, so I suppose you could say I also have a personal interest in TCM.
Presenter: What do you think of these remedies? Do they work better than traditional medicine?
Speaker: That’s a very good question. It’s a huge debate in the field of medicine. No one is quite sure of the answer because there haven’t been enough studies about TCM. We don’t know how it affects the body, what amounts are appropriate to prescribe, or how often it should be used. And the personal testimonies by people who have used it vary widely.
Presenter: So some people say it works for them, and others say it doesn’t, correct?
Speaker: Exactly. And we cant accept that as a basis of proof. We need proper clinical trials using TCM, and we need to monitor things like heart rate and blood pressure. We need to study its lasting effects as well. TCM has been in use for thousands of years, so there is probably some benefit from taking it. But to be distributed in a hospital, well, there are regulations, and we have to follow those.
Presenter: So it’s not really good enough that some doctors say it works. You need the data.
Speaker: Yes, and furthermore, we want to know what part of the specific TCM remedy works. For example, with herbal medicine, we’d like to know what element of the plant creates the cure. They say the goji berry is good for the immune system. What part of this plant works for that? Why can’t we just eat any type of berry? We’d like to know why the goji berry apparently works. That takes scientific study.
Presenter: Is anything being done to further those studies?
Speaker: One positive development is the Chinese government has been working to get Western institutions to accept TCM. They’ve been making the industry a bit more modern, so hopefully it gains acceptance. There is still a belief in the west that TCM is not a serious remedy.
Presenter: What’s your personal opinion about this?
Speaker: Well, personally I’d like there to be more studies on TCM. As a medical professional, I could never just say; ‘Well, I think it works’ because I really don’t know. I drink ginseng tea, for example, and I feel energised from it, but why? What’s in it that causes that? And because it works for me, should we start prescribing it at the chemist’s? So we need more answers to its mystical nature…
