Watch this surprising ABC News report about a suit that might bring hope to people with spinal cord injuries.
Self-study activity:
Complete the gaps in the transcript below with the missing words. The activity is suitable for Intermediate 2 students.
Now, to what may be a huge medical (1) ... . A bionic suit, a sort of wearable robot that can actually help paralyzed patients, people that never thought they would walk again. Here's ABC's Muhammad Lila.
Gentlemen, we can rebuild him (…) Better than he was before )…) Better, stronger, faster.
For years, we dreamed of the impossible, dreamed of building a bionic man. Today, those big dreams start with these (2) ... steps.
"Mentally, it's a wonderful feeling to be upright and moving."
27-year-old Aaron Bloom was paralyzed after an accident two years ago, yold he’d never walk again. Now, with each step, each grimace, he's (3) ... the odds.
"Right now, I don't really need anybody holding on to me. I can lift my hands up and put weight on the (4) ... and feel pretty comfortable."
It's all thanks to this. The Ekso bionic suit. First designed for soldiers to carry heavy (5) ... , it's now being used in Southern California and elsewhere to help paralyzed patients walk. The company behind it said since they developed the biology, they helped patients take more than 1 million steps, including some down the wedding (6) ... . 47-year-old Lupe Meza was paralyzed (7) ... ... . When she looks at the Ekso all she sees is hope.
"It’ll change my life. It’ll help me feel a lot better."
As for Bloom, learning how to use the suit took him weeks of practice. He knows it's not a perfect (8) ... . But it is one step closer to one.
"I have no doubt that in my lifetime there will be some sort of solution for spinal cord (9) ... . I firmly believe I'll be able to walk in the future, you know. It's just a matter of time."
The suit costs $(10) ... . And there are different versions of it out there. In many cases, health (11) ... doesn't cover that cost, so it is expensive, but the life-changing potential of this is definitely there.
Key:
1 breakthrough 2 tiny 3 defying 4 crutches 5 loads 6 aisle 7 cliff jumping 8 cure 9 injuries 10 150,000 11 insurance
