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— Good evening, dear listeners. Though most people think their home is a safe place, it may be the most dangerous place of all. But if you follow simple rules in the kitchen and in the bathroom, your home can be safe and comfortable. In many homes, the kitchen is the busiest room and one of the most dangerous. Never use a chair, table or pile of boxes if you need to get something from the upper shelf. Use a ladder and ask someone to hold it for you if possible. To prevent cuts, keep kitchen knives in a knife rack. Never pick up broken glass with your bare hands. Use a wet paper towel to pick up anything that is left. Always keep the floors dry, so that nobody falls down. Don't burn or scald yourself or others while cooking. Turn pot handles to the back of the cooker. If a handle sticks out, a child may take it.
Falls are one of the worst dangers in the bathroom. To prevent them, use a rubber mat. Keep soap in a holder. Medicine cabinets have many dangerous things. Keep drugs away from children. When you take a medicine, read the instructions carefully. Electric tools must be used carefully, too.
One of the most important safety activities is good housekeeping. Do not leave toys, shoes and other objects on the floor. Keep everything in its place.
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Reporter. Hello! This is the programme Medicine in Our Lives and our guest today is Dr Johnson. We are going to talk about people with disabilities. Who do we call disabled people, Dr Johnson?
Dr Johnson: Disabled people are people who can't use a part of the body completely or easily because of physical condition, illness or injury. It doesn't let them have a full, happy and productive life.
Reporter: What kinds of disabilities do people have?
Dr Johnson: Some disabilities are physical: people may be blind (they can't see), or deaf (they can't hear) or mute (they can't talk). It may happen that they can't move an arm or a leg, or don't have an arm or a leg. There are also people who have learning disabilities. They can't understand or remember things. People who have disabilities are sometimes called handicapped.
Reporter: Why do some people have disabilities?
Dr Johnson: Some people have disabilities since the time they were born, some —
because of diseases, others — as a result of accidents. Reporter: Can disabilities be cured?
Dr Johnson: Few disabilities can be cured. Surgery can help certain kinds of blindness, deafness and physical defects. Drugs may be used to treat depression. But most disabled people can learn to live with their disability and have a full and happy life. For example, a person who has lost both legs may learn how to drive a special car. Paralyzed people can move around in electric wheelchairs. A blind person may be taught to develop programmes for computers.
Reporter: Thank you, Dr Johnson. Dear audience, we are having a commercial now but will be back in five minutes. Stay with us.
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With motivation and special training, people with disabilities can change their lives. Many famous people have overcome physical disabilities. The English poet John Milton was blind when he wrote his masterpiece Paradise Lost. The great German composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote much of his finest music after he became deaf. The American inventor Thomas Edison, perhaps the greatest inventor in history, was deaf much of his life. Franklin D. Roosevelt, paralyzed in both legs at the age of 39, became President of the United States. Helen Keller became blind, deaf and mute before she was two years old, but she learned to read, write and speak. She devoted her life to helping the deaf and the blind.
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