【慢速听力 3 篇 as】More Americans Dying at Home than in Hospitals
No.1
AS IT IS
More Americans Dying at Home than in Hospitals
December 22, 2019
For the first time since the early 1900s, more Americans are dying at home than in hospitals in the United States. A new report says this shows that more people are receiving the kind of end to their lives that most Americans say they want. The report notes that deaths in nursing homes also have decreased.
The findings were published earlier this month in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Haider Warraich is a doctor with the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System. He was the lead writer of the report. Warraich said the fact that more Americans dying at home is “a good thing. Death has become overly medicalized over the last century” and this shows a turn away from that, he said.
Betsy McNair is a tour guide who now lives in Mexico. She told The Associated Press she is pleased with the ending she helped give her father, Robert McNair. He died at home in Belle Haven, Virginia in 2009, just six weeks after learning he had lung cancer. He was 83 years old.
Betsy McNair remembers, “I made him exactly what he wanted to eat, whenever he wanted it. He had a scotch every night, he had a very high quality of life. If he woke up at 2 o’clock in the morning and wanted to have coffee and pie, that’s what we did.”
Warraich and Duke University graduate student Sarah Cross used U.S. government health information on deaths from natural causes. They studied records for the period from 2003 through 2017. They found that deaths in hospitals fell from 40% to 30% over that period and in nursing homes from 24% to 21%.
Deaths in homes rose from 24% to 31%. Researchers said they had no way to tell if some assisted living centers may have been counted as homes.
Cancer patients were more likely to die at home than in a hospital. People suffering from memory loss, lung diseases or who lived in a nursing home were more likely to die in a hospital.
Betsy McNair noted that the kind of disease matters. She helped care for a brother who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in his 50s. ALS causes the death of neurons controlling voluntary muscles in the body. She also helped care for her mother, who died at age 92 in a nursing home after her health worsened.
McNair said “they were all completely different experiences.” She added that sometimes it is not possible to effectively care for a family member at home.
Warraich said the rise of home hospice services has helped more people spend their last days at home. Hospice care is set up to help those who are very sick.
Warraich said, “I have met many patients who just want to spend one day at home, around their dog, in their bed, able to eat home food.”
He added, “Ideally we’d like to see people live longer and with fewer disabilities. We have work to do there.”
I’m Jonathan Evans.
Marilynn Marchinone reported this story for the Associated Press. Jonathan Evans adapted her story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
graduate – adj. of, relating to, or engaged in studies beyond the first or bachelor's degree
matter – v. to be important
nursing home – n. a place where people who are old or who are unable to take care of themselves can live and be taken care of
pie – n. a food consisting of a pastry crust and a filling, as of fruit or meat
scotch – n. a kind of whiskey that is made in Scotland
tour guide – n. a person who takes people on trips through an area and explains the interesting details about it
No.2
AS IT IS
An Ethiopian ‘Hero’ Works to Rebuild Girls’ Dignity
December 22, 2019
Girls attend school in Ethiopia. (Photo: Courtesy of Joni Kabana with Dignity Period)
Freweini Mebrahtu remembers when she returned to her home village in northern Ethiopia. She saw women bending down and sitting over holes in the ground. Without any cotton padding to use during their monthly period, the women had to stay in this position.
“How is that possible? And they were telling me that they don’t even use underwear,” Freweini told VOA. “And that was the turning point for me… And that’s when I said, ‘You know, I’ve gotta do something. Why is this thing bothering me over and over again?’ So that was it.”
The more she thought about the problem, the bigger it appeared. Two out of every five girls have been forced to miss school during their periods, with many eventually leaving school. Older women were using old cloth or grass because they had no padding. Women and girls, she found, were being shamed by their community during their menstruation.
“We’re talking about …equality and all that stuff. But when the basic necessity of a young girl is not fulfilled, how is that possible?” she said.
In 2009, Freweini founded the Mariam Seba Products Factory in the city of Mekelle in northern Ethiopia. The factory makes reusable pads that can last up to 18 months. They cost 90 percent less than pads that are thrown away each month. Freweini joined up with an aid group called Dignity Period, and together they have given away more than 150,000 free menstrual kits made by the factory.
The work is having an effect. Dignity Period has recorded a 24 percent increase in attendance by girls in schools where they offer services.
This month, the American broadcaster CNN recognized Freweini as its Hero of the Year. The CNN award includes a prize of $100,000 to support her work. She said the award was an affirmation of a decision she made many years ago to move from the United States back to Ethiopia to make the pads.
“People thought that I was crying because of the whole event. But it’s the whole timing issue,” Freweini told VOA. “It must have been God’s willing it to happen, the way it happened.”
Her work, she says, is not done. She noted that there are 30 million women who menstruate in Ethiopia and most cannot get cotton pads. Additionally, there is a 15 percent value added tax on many menstrual health products.
“It’s not just Ethiopia…even in the U.S. there is a tax issue… we hope that everyone will make a sensible solution and a sensible change in making this a reality for all,” she said.
I’m Susan Shand.
VOA’s Salem Solomon reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
padding – n. clothe sewn together to take up liquid
menstruation - n. to have blood flow from your body as part of a process that happens each month
shamed - v. to feel dishonor
fulfilled – adj. feeling satisfaction or happiness
kit – n. a collection of tools or other objects for personal use
affirmation – n. to show a strong belief in something
No.3
AS IT IS
Afghan Woman Fights to Be Successful Tattoo Artist
December 22, 2019
Women tattoo artists are rare in Afghanistan. So Suraya Shaheedi takes on a big risk with every person she serves. But she makes customers happy by creating artwork on their skin.
It has been 18 months since Shaheedi launched her mobile tattoo business in Kabul, the Afghan capital. Since starting, she has received death threats for two reasons. One is that tattoos are seen as unacceptable in Afghan culture. The other reason is that she is an unmarried woman who is willing to work with men.
“I have struggled a lot, even been threatened with death, because people in Afghanistan think doing tattoos is haram,” Shaheedi told The Associated Press. In Arabic, the word ‘haram’ means banned by Islamic law.
Shaheedi was once married, but her marriage ended in divorce. The 26-year-old single mother said she does not care if the people she works with are men or women.
In a dark room, surrounded by his friends, a young man shouted in pain as the needle dug into his skin and injected coloring for a tattoo.
“I can’t leave the profession I love,” Shaheedi said.
Beliefs about tattoos have started to change, leading to more tattoo businesses opening up in Afghanistan. Shaheedi easily gets customers willing to pay for her artwork. It is the kind of small, but important change that she feels a return of Taliban rule could threaten.
After years of war, Afghans want peace. A big concern for many is that United States-led peace talks with the Taliban will provide support to the militant group.
“I am happy if the Taliban return results in peace, but if they disagree with my work and impede the freedom and progress of women, then I will be the first to stand against them,” Shaheedi said.
Women like her have created a space for themselves in a society where tradition heavily restricts the roles and education of women. This year, one survey found that the families of close to 40 percent of Afghanistan’s young girls do not let them go to school. And the families of almost 20 percent of these girls require them to suspend their studies after about six years of schooling. The Asia Foundation development group reported the study’s findings.
Taliban forces now control or hold power over nearly half of the country. In those areas, women are not permitted to leave their homes without a man. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan with an extreme form of Islamic law from 1996 to 2001, when U.S. forces invaded.
Shaheedi divorced her husband eight years ago while she was pregnant. She and her son now live with her parents. Her father supports her work, although Afghan society often bars a woman from touching a man to whom she is not related or married.
Shaheedi’s father, Hussain, believes the traditions controlling women in Afghanistan need to change. “I support my daughter in every way, and she makes me proud,” he said.
Shaheedi uses Instagram and other social media to find and meet people looking to get tattoos. She does not keep a storefront with a set location out of concerns for her safety.
Tattoos were once common in some of Afghanistan’s rural areas, especially among Pashtun and Hazara women. But the artwork was used in small amounts, often as only a few small green marks on the face.
Tattoo artists say demand among the younger generation has risen for more noticeable and personal designs. At the same time, the number of tattoo businesses increased in Kabul.
Omid Noori, age 23, has 16 tattoos all over his body. He wants to add another on his left arm, showing the head of a lion. But Noori only wants new designs on parts of his body that his clothing can hide, because he is tired of hearing people’s criticism.
He also worries what would happen if Islamic militants caught him.
“I’m thinking that if the Taliban return, they’ll cut off my hands and legs,” he said.
He got his last tattoos at a business belonging to a former Afghan army officer, Nazeer Mosawi.
Mosawi fought for seven years in Afghanistan’s civil war with the Islamic militants. He says he is still fighting the war, but this time his battle is against society’s conservatism, with his tattoo machine as his weapon.
Mosawi receives threatening telephone and social media messages almost every day, demanding he close his tattoo business. “They even threaten to beat me, burn my shop,” he said. “I tell them, OK, I can’t flee this country because of these threats. It’s my homeland.”
But for every threat he gets, Mousawi said he gets several messages of support or questions from people who want to learn more.
I’m Anna Matteo.
And I’m Pete Musto.
Tameem Akhgar reported on this story for the Associated Press. Pete Musto adapted this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
We want to hear from you. What restrictive traditions are changing in your country? Write to us in the Comments Section.
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Words in This Story
customer(s) – n. someone who buys goods or services from a business
mobile – adj. able to move from one place to another
divorce – n. the ending of a marriage by a legal process
needle – n. a very thin, pointed steel tube that is pushed through the skin so that something can be put into your body or so that blood or other fluids can be taken from it
profession – n. a type of job that requires special education, training, or skill
impede – v. to slow the movement, progress, or action of (someone or something
role(s) – n. the part that someone has in a family, society, or other group
survey – n. an activity in which many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something
proud – adj. very happy and pleased because of something you have done, something you own, or someone you know or are related to
location – n. a place or position