First Self-contained Heart Implanted
　　A patient on the brink of death1 has received the world’s first self-contained artificial heart — a battery-powered device about the size of a softball that runs without the need for wires, tubes or hoses sticking out of the chest.
　　Two surgeons from the University of Louisville implanted the titanium and plastic pump during a seven-hour operation at Jewish Hospital Monday. The hospital said the patient was “awake and responsive” Tuesday and resting comfortably. It refused to release personal details.
　　The patient had been expected to die within a month without the operation, and doctors said they expected the artificial heart to extend the person’s life by only a month. But the device is considered a major step toward improving the patient’s quality of life.
　　The new pump, called AbioCor, is also a technological leap from the mechanical hearts used in the 1980s, which were attached by wires and tubes to bulky machinery outside the body. The most famous of those, the Jarvic–7, used air as a pumping device and was attached to an apparatus about the size of a washing machine.
　　“I think it’s potentially a major step forward in the artificial heart development,” said Dr. David Faxon, president of the American Heart Association. However, he said the dream of an implantable, permanent artificial heart is not yet a reality：“This is obviously an experimental device whose long-term success has to be demonstrated.” Only about half of the 4,200 Americans on a waiting list for donor hearts received them last year, and most of the rest died.
　　Some doctors, including Robert Higgins, chairman of cardiology at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, said artificial hearts are unlikely to replace donor hearts.
　　“A donor heart in a good transplant can last 15 to 30 years,” he said. “It’s going to be hard to replace that with a machine.”
　　The AbioCor has a 2–pound pumping unit, and electronic controls that adjust the pumping speed based on the body’s needs. It is powered by a small battery pack worn outside the body that transmits current through the skin.2
　　词汇：
　　self-contained 整套装在一起(并带有动力设备)的
　　battery-powered 以电池作为动力的
　　hose (= hosepipe)(胶皮、帆布等)软管
　　softball .垒球 implant 植入;n.植物人
　　titanium .钛 responsive 反应灵敏的
　　bulky 庞大的，笨重的 implantable 可植入的
　　注释：
　　1.on the brink of death (war, ruin...)：处于死亡(战争、毁灭……)的边缘 brink n.边缘
　　2.It is powered... through the skin.它(指AbioCor)以佩戴在体外的一组小电池作为动力，通过皮肤来传递电流。
　　worn是wear的过去分词，作pack的定语;that引起的从句也是pack的定语。
　　练习：
　　1.The pump of the first implanted self-contained heart was made of titanium and plastic.
　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned
　　2.The patient’s life was expected to last several years longer by implanting the artificial heart.
　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned
　　3.There is no difference in structure between the self-contained heart and the mechanical heart.
　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned
　　4.The American Heart Association recommended widely using the self-contained heart.
　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned
　　5.Dr. David Faxon believed that the implantable, permanent artificial, heart will certainly be developed in the future.
　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned
　　6.Approximately two thousand one hundred patients received heart implantation in America last year.
　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned
　　7.Some doctors doubt the possibility of donor hearts being replaced by artificial ones.
　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned
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