1 . When someone damages their backbone, the injury can leave them paralyzed (瘫痪). Now, scientists have given three paralyzed men the ability to walk again, thanks to an implanted device.

The human backbone, or spine, doesn’t just help us stand up straight. Inside is the spinal cord, which carries important information between the head and the lower part of the body. This information moves around as bursts of electricity traveling between the brain and the other parts of the body. When the spinal cord is hurt, this pathway gets damaged and they can’t move their legs.

Now scientists in Switzerland have given three paralyzed men the ability to walk again. To help them walk again, the men had surgery. A special device was placed directly on the lower part of their spinal cord, below their injury. This “implant” contained sixteen electrodes, which are small objects that electricity can pass through. The researchers made sure the electrodes were lined up with nerves that control the leg muscles. The scientists controlled the implants from a tablet computer.

The patient’s brains aren’t sending “walking” messages to their legs. Instead, the tablet tells the implant to send the walking messages. The researchers used computers to generate patterns of movement, like taking a step. The patient then uses the tablet to choose the pattern and the muscles move in the chosen way. Over time, the men were able to walk using a special walker with buttons to control each leg.

The solution isn’t perfect. It’s very expensive, it requires difficult surgery, and the patients can’t walk without the system. But the scientists are hopeful that in the future, this sort of technology will allow many paralyzed people to begin to walk again in just hours.

In ancient China which was far away from modern medical technology, Chinese people    1    (cure) themselves by a wide range of traditional Chinese medical practices,    2     (include) herbal medicine, acupuncture, cupping, Qigong and so on.

According    3    research, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was very popular during the Qin and Han dynasties and many books on TCM    4     (write), which are lost today. In the following dynasties, more medical writings came out gradually, among    5    the “Sheng Nong’s Herbal Classic” and the “Compendium of Materia Medica” are the most famous ones.

Nowadays, TCM is still very popular among Chinese people even if the western medical technology produces effect    6     (fast). The most important reason for that is Chinese people believe that TCM makes less side-effects. For a long time, TCM makes    7     deep influence on Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese medical science. Today, TCM is classified as alternative medicine. In China,     8    (course) of both western medicine and TCM are    9     (common) provided in medical colleges, and students can even choose a college of traditional Chinese medicine where they have a chance    10    (study) more about TCM.

4 . Staying in hospital can be difficult for patients, often causing fear and anxiety, especially in younger individuals. These emotions can easily take over, but hospitals in Richmond, Virginia, have programs to relieve some of the stress and create moments of joy.

Due to a program called Dogs On Call provided by the non-profit organization Center for Human-Animal Interaction, at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond, the sound of dogs coming down the hallway creates an atmosphere of excitement among child patients. For 21 years, the volunteer-run program has been connecting dogs with those in need of an inspiring moment.

With the necessary registration steps, dogs and handlers can participate in weekly visits to the hospital. Besides the scheduled visits, parents or children can request a specific team to visit their rooms.

“When a patient interacts with a dog, it can decrease blood pressure and reduce pain,” says Nancy R. Gee, executive director of the center. Their faces change just for a moment. They’re not thinking about their health situation or their pain. Just for that moment, they’re just kids with a dog.

Instead of Dogs On Call, Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital of Richmond provides Happy Wheels, a program in which a cart full of treats and other items rolling through the halls of the hospital. The volunteer-run program visits four times a week. They go from room to room to hand out toys, coffee, snacks, and other comfort items. All of the items found in the cart are donated to the program and handed out to families in all children’s care units.

“It’s an opportunity for the children to be children and to get excited about a new toy coming in their rooms, ”says Laura Gepford, child life specialist at St. Mary’s Hospital. “Besides the fevers, the medicine and all the difficult things that occur in the hospital, they have the shining of happy moments. That’s what people hold onto. ”

Prihardinni, from the Indonesian city of Surabaya, is amazed at how traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)     1    (continue) to develop since she began studying it a year ago.

The 20-year-old arrived in China in 2019 and initially studied Chinese in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi. She is     2     (current) a freshman at the Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, the only university in Northwest China permitted to grant a doctoral degree in TCM,     3     is a medical system with thousands of years of history and widespread international     4     (popular).

When Prihardinni was 10 years old, she suffered     5     continuous headaches. So, her mother took her to see a TCM doctor near their home. The doctor checked her pulse, examined her face and tongue, and wrote down a prescription (处方). After several     6     (week)of consuming the bitter herbal medicine, her symptoms were relieved, and she found comfort.

“His medical skills were like magic.” Prihardinni recalls. The memory of being cured by TCM was remembered in Prihardinni’s heart and it encouraged her     7    (pursue) TCM study majoring in the clinical science of Chinese and Western medicines.

“People in my country are becoming increasingly interested in TCM.     8     (vary) social media vloggers are documenting their experiences with Chinese medicine.” Prihardinni says,     9     (add) that she plans to return to her hometown after graduation and open a TCM clinic. “I want to tell my friends and relatives that Chinese medicine is also     10     good and trustworthy choice.”