Dressed in a white gown with pens in his pocket, 53-year-old Diarra Boubacar was welcomed by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in the Xindu district of Chengdu, Sichuan, as a specially invited expert.
Boubacar grew up in a small town in south-central Mali, a country in West Africa, which finds it challenging to provide affordable healthcare to its 19 million people.
Boubacar first came to China in 1984 on a student exchange program majoring in Chinese language and culture at Beijing Language and Culture University. After the two-year course, he decided to study traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) at Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine.
Since TCM is also related to Chinese history and culture, students have to study ancient Chinese literature as most of the medical texts were written in ancient Chinese characters. “That’s a subject even the Chinese find difficult; so think of me, a foreigner!” he said.
What inspired him to continue were the similarities between TCM and traditional African medicine, such as using certain herbs to treat the same diseases and letting out blood.
However, the greatest challenge for him was to convince people that even though he was a foreigner, he could still treat them effectively with TCM.
In 1997, he became the first foreigner to receive a doctoral (博士的) degree in acupuncture (针灸) from Chengdu University of TCM.
Besides his work in a private hospital, Boubacar has also been helping patients in remote villages in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. A major part of his work was treating leprosy (麻风病) patients.
Due to his work in the community, Boubacar is also known as the “African Norman
Bethune”. Bethune was a Canadian frontline doctor who ran mobile hospitals in north China in the 1930s.
“I want to build not only a hospital but also an educational center where people can come and learn about Chinese medicine,” he said. After 10 years, his dream is becoming a reality.
“If they learn TCM, they will be able to treat people in Africa in a very cheap and effective way,” said Boubacar.
1. What was Boubacar’s hometown in Mali like? (no more than 10 words)2. What is the main idea of Paragraph 4? (no more than 10 words)
3. What made Boubacar continue his study of TCM? (no more than 10 words)
4. Why does Boubacar want African people to learn TCM? (no more than 8 words)
5. What do you think of Boubacar’s work in China? And give your reasons. (no more than 20 words)
2 . Jenny was driving her six-year-old son, Tony, to his piano lesson. They were late, and Jenny was beginning to think she should have given it up. There was always so much to do, and Jenny recently helped with an operation. She was tired. The storm and ice roads added to her tension. Maybe she should turn the car around.
“Mom!” Tony cried. “Look!” Just ahead a car had lost control on the patch of ice. As Jenny tapped the brakes, the other car wildly rolled over; then crashed sideways into a telephone pole.
Jenny pulled over, stopped and threw open her door. Thank goodness she knew her job well—she might be able to help these unfortunate passengers. Then she paused. What about Tony? She couldn’t take him with her. Little boys shouldn’t see scenes like that. But was it safe to leave him alone? What if their car were hit from behind? For a brief moment Jenny considered going on her way.
She asked Tony to stay in the car and ran, slipping and sliding, toward the crash site. It was worse than she’s feared. Two girls of high school age in the car. One was killed. The driver, however, was still breathing. Jenny quickly applied pressure to the wound in the teenager’s head while her practiced eye checked the other injuries. A broken leg, maybe two, along with probable internal bleeding. But if help came soon, the girl would live.
A trucker had pulled up and was calling for help on his cellphone. Soon ambulance and rescue workers came. “Good job,” one said while examining the wounds. “You probably saved her life!” Later the families of the victims came to meet Jenny, expressing their gratitude for the help she had offered.
1. What was Jenny doing when the accident happened?| A．She was helping with an operation. |
| B．She was driving for her son’s lesson. |
| C．She was driving home with her son. |
| D．She was making a telephone for help. |
| A．A taxi-driver. | B．A firefighter. |
| C．A nurse. | D．A teacher. |
| A．the tiredness of the driver |
| B．the truck who was telephoning while driving |
| C．the students’ careless driving |
| D．the bad weather and terrible road conditions |
| A．her poor skills of saving people |
| B．her little son’s safety in the car |
| C．her little son’s piano lesson |
| D．the students killed in the accident |
| A．the driver was saved thanks to Jenny’s timely help |
| B．there were at least two deaths in the car accident |
| C．Jenny was to blame for the terrible car accident |
| D．Jenny was late for his piano lessons for this accident |
