Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. injury (n.) [in-juh-ree] – damage or harm suffered by a person
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. injury (n.) [in-juh-ree] – damage or harm suffered by a person
Example: The doctor treated the injuries of the player who broke his
wrist.
2. proportion (n.) [pruh-pawr-shuhn, -pohr-] – a
part of a whole
Example: The highest proportion of the family’s budget goes to educational expenses.
3. vigilant (adj.) [vij-uh-luhnt] – watchful
for any danger
Example: Doctors must always be vigilant against new diseases.
4. concussion (n.) [kuhn-kuhsh-uhn] – an
injury in the brain that is caused by a strong impact in the head
Example: Players who hit each other’s head may
suffer concussions.
5. syndrome (n.) [sin-drohm, -druhm] – a sickness
characterized by proven signs and symptoms
Example: Loss of appetite may indicate
malabsorption syndrome, or the
inability to absorb food.
Article
Read the text below.
A study in US shows that football may
not be the only sport that causes head injuries
among high school athletes.
The research that came out in the
American Journal of Sports Medicine says that almost half of reported concussions occurred in girls’
soccer and basketball, boy’s wrestling, ice hockey and lacrosse. Unlike
football, these sports do not involve full body contact.
Girls’ soccer accounts for 8% of the
total cases, while girls’ basketball and boys’ wrestling takes 6% each. Boys’
ice hockey, on the other hand, caused fewer head injuries, but 22% of all ice
hockey injuries are concussions, the highest proportion among all other sports.
Another significant finding reveals that
girls have 70% more cases of head injuries than boys. This may be attributed
to weaker neck strength in girls, says Christy Collins, a senior research
associate at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
Lead researcher Natalie McIlvain added
that head injuries also happen even in non-contact sports, such as softball, gymnastics,
cheerleading and swimming.
In recent years, cases of concussion in
US have increased as more people get involved in contact sports and more athletes
train at a young age. In addition, doctors are becoming more vigilant in diagnosing such injuries.
To ensure the safety of students, doctors
are advised to withhold patients from playing until they are completely healed.
This prevents the risk of "second-impact syndrome” in which
patients suffering another head blow, experience much severe damages, such as
bleeding inside the skull.
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Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
·
Do
you think that injuries are a natural part of sports? Why or why not?
·
Can
you think of ways to prevent or lessen the number of sports-related injuries?
Discussion B
·
Why
do you think some people play risky sports despite the dangers?
·
On
the other hand, what hinders others from playing sports?
