4000 Essential English Words 5 » Unit 27: The First Organ Transplant

Word List
  • adapt [əˈdæpt] v.
    To adapt means to change in order to deal with a new situation or addition.
    → When he went to the new town, he had to adapt to all the weather changes.
  • biological [ˌbaiəˈlɒdʒikəl] adj.
    Biological describes the process of life and living things.
    → In science, we learned about the biological process of bacterial growth.
  • cellular [ˈseljələr] adj.
    When something is cellular, it relates to the cells of animals or plants.
    → She used a microscope to see the activity at a cellular level.
  • dynamic [daiˈnæmik] adj.
    When people are dynamic, they are lively and have creative ideas.
    → The new, dynamic employee came up with a good way to juggle his work load.
  • fantasy [ˈfæntəzi] n.
    A fantasy is a pleasant situation that people think about but is unlikely to happen.
    → Becoming an astronaut is a fantasy shared by many children.
  • heredity [hiˈredəti] n.
    Heredity is the process of passing on features from parents to children.
    → The boy’s face is similar to his father’s because of heredity.
  • internal [inˈtəːrnl] adj.
    When something is internal, it exists or happens inside a person, object, or place.
    → We removed the outer case to reveal the computer’s internal wires.
  • minimal [ˈminəməl] adj.
    When something is minimal, it is very small.
    → My lazy husband does a minimal amount of work around the house.
  • pioneer [paiəˈniər]
    A pioneer is a person who is the first to discover or be involved in something.
    → He was a pioneer of computer programming.
  • prescribe [priˈskraib] v.
    To prescribe medicine means to tell someone to take it.
    → When I was sick, the doctor prescribed me flu medicine.
  • respective [risˈpektiv] adj.
    When things are respective, they relate separately to each person just mentioned.
    → The boxers were told to return to their respective corners.
  • revive [riˈvaiv] v.
    To revive someone or something means to restore health or life to them.
    → She revived the feeling of warmth in her leg by rubbing it softly.
  • rigid [ˈridʒid] adj.
    When rules or systems are rigid, they are severe because they cannot be changed.
    → Societies often have rigid rules about the way that people are supposed to act.
  • sequence [ˈsiːkwəns] n.
    A sequence is a number of events or things that come one after another.
    → The dominos fell in a sequence of one after another.
  • substitute [ˈsʌbstitjuːt] v.
    To substitute something or someone means to have them take the place of another.
    → When I ran out of juice, I had to substitute water to drink in the morning.
  • surgeon [ˈsəːrdʒən] n.
    A surgeon is a doctor who is trained to do surgery.
    → The surgeon operated on the old man’s heart.
  • therapy [ˈθerəpi] n.
    Therapy is treatment for a particular physical or mental illness or condition.
    → After she broke her legs, she used physical therapy to learn how to walk again.
  • transfer [ˈtrænsfə:r] v.
    To transfer something means to move it from one place to another.
    → The family transferred the groceries from the shopping cart to the car.
  • transition [trænˈziʃən] n.
    A transition is a process where there is a change from one form to another.
    → The weather gets colder during the transition from summer to autumn.
  • transplant [trænsˈplænt] n.
    A transplant is an operation in which a damaged part of one’s body is replaced.
    → The sick child needed a heart transplant to live.
Exercise 1

Choose the answer that best fits the question.

  1. What thing is a result of heredity?
    • a. Eye color
    • b. Clothing style
    • c. A haircut
    • d. A job
  2. What process is biological?
    • a. Walking to school
    • b. Taking a test
    • c. Producing tears
    • d. Getting dressed
  3. What is something that is prescribed?
    • a. A car
    • b. A report card
    • c. A cold medicine
    • d. An illness
  4. What might be transplanted?
    • a. A file
    • b. A liver
    • c. A can
    • d. A shoe
  5. What does a surgeon wear?
    • a. Gloves
    • b. Thick boots
    • c. A swimming suit
    • d. Goggles
Exercise 2

Write a word that is similar in meaning to the underlined part.

  1. The child received treatment for his mental condition after he became depressed.
    ____________
  2. The medical students learned which processes were occurring inside living things.
    ____________
  3. Unicorns only exist in a situation people think about but will not happen.
    ____________
  4. When he begins his rule, people will have to change to the new situation.
    ____________
  5. At the relating to cells level, plants and animals are quite similar.
    ____________
  6. We thought his rules were too severe because they cannot be changed.
    ____________
  7. The lively and creative scientist invented a new formula to help stop aging.
    ____________
  8. The creative inventor was a first person to discover the process of electricity.
    ____________
  9. There is a specific number of events that come in an order in which to use the tools.
    ____________
  10. The brilliant doctor brought back to life the dead patient.
    ____________
Exercise 3

Write C if the italicized word is used correctly. Write I if the word is used incorrectly.

  1. ______ The surgeon made a small cut into the patient’s skin.
  2. ______ The building materials must be transferred to the new site.
  3. ______ The rigid rules were confusing because they changed all the time.
  4. ______ The baby prescribed his mother to get a piece of candy.
  5. ______ You can observe water’s transition into ice when the temperature gets cold.
  6. ______ Blood flow is a biological process.
  7. ______ I never want to get a new house, so I substitute the one I have.
  8. ______ The dynamic teacher thought of new and exciting teaching methods.
  9. ______ Going to sleep at night is a fantasy.
  10. ______ He needed plenty of rest after his liver transplant.
  11. ______ The pieces must be put on the machine in the correct sequence.
  12. ______ I admired how often he chose to be respective.
  13. ______ My ney school is great. I can’t adapt to my classes.
  14. ______ Hot dogs are one of my favorite surgical foods to revive.
  15. ______ The heredity expert can tell us how traits are passed on from a father.
  16. ______ Please take the big, cellular pieces to the recycling center.
  17. ______ The hours of therapy were worth it when I could move my arm again.
  18. ______ He’s always the last to understand a joke. He’s such a pioneer.
  19. ______ The internal roof got covered in snow after the storm.
  20. ______ I was still hungry because I only ate a minimal amount of food at dinner.
Answer Key
Exercise 1
  1. a
  2. c
  3. c
  4. b
  5. a
Exercise 2
  1. therapy
  2. biological
  3. fantasy
  4. adapt
  5. cellular
  6. rigid
  7. dynamic
  8. pioneer
  9. sequence
  10. revived
Exercise 3
  1. C
  2. C
  3. I
  4. I
  5. C
  6. C
  7. I
  8. C
  9. I
  10. C
  11. C
  12. I
  13. I
  14. I
  15. C
  16. I
  17. C
  18. I
  19. I
  20. C
Answer Key
The First Organ Transplant

In 1954, a man named Richard was dying of kidney disease. He wouldn’t survive for long unless he got a new kidney right away. Richard’s twin brother, Robert, was willing to donate one of his kidneys to his dying brother. At the time, however, no doctor had ever performed a successful internal organ transplant. The idea of taking an organ out of one person and putting it into another was just a fantasy. But the brothers decided to be brave and found a doctor who could make organ transplants a reality.

Since Richard and Robert were twins, their heredity was identical. They had the exact same biological traits. Even their kidneys were identical on the cellular level. Therefore, Robert’s working kidney could be substituted for Richard’s bad one. Richard’s body could adapt to the new organ if the operation was done correctly.

The twins went to Dr. Murray, who was a pioneer of new surgical methods. His dynamic team of surgeons performed the transplant. Dr. Murray made sure his surgeons followed a rigid sequence of directions so that no mistakes were made. First, they made a minimal cut in Richard’s side and removed the bad kidney. Then, they made another small cut in Robert’s side, removed his kidney, and transferred it into Richard’s body. Finally, they sewed up the respective cuts. The entire operation only took about one hour.

After the surgery, it was clear that both brothers were going to be OK. The operation was confirmed a success. Richard’s new kidney worked great! Doctors prescribed medicine for the pain caused by the surgery. Since Richard was still weak, he used physical therapy to revive his strength. At last, Richard’s transition into a healthy, happy person was complete.

Dr. Murray became a hero in the medical world. His success gave other doctors confidence to try organ transplants themselves. Now, doctors perform life-saving transplants and surgeries every day.

Reading Comprehension

Part A: Mark each statement T for true or F for false. Rewrite the false statements to make them true.

  1. _____ Internal organ transplants were a fantasy after 1954.
    • _____________________________________________________
  2. _____ Robert was a pioneer of new surgical procedures.
    • _____________________________________________________
  3. _____ The twins’ kidneys were identical on the cellular level because of their heredity.
    • _____________________________________________________
  4. _____ The dynamic surgeons followed a rigid sequence of directions to avoid mistakes.
    • _____________________________________________________
  5. _____ Richard’s body adapted to the kidney that was transferred from his brother.
    • _____________________________________________________

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. What was substituted in the passage?
    _____________
  2. What was true of the twin’s biological traits?
    _____________
  3. What did the doctors prescribe to revive Richard’s strength?
    _____________
  4. Where did the surgeons make minimal cuts in the respective bodies of each twin?
    _____________
  5. What was the result of Richard’s transition after his therapy?
    _____________
Answer Key
Answer Key
Reading Comprehension
Part A
  1. F / Internal organ transplants were a fantasy before 1954.
  2. F / Dr. Murray was a pioneer of new surgical procedures.
  3. T
  4. T
  5. T
Part B
  1. Robert’s working kidney was substituted for Richard’s bad one.
  2. They had the exact same biological traits and cellular features.
  3. Doctors prescribed physical therapy to revive Richard's strength.
  4. The surgeons made minimal cuts in the twins’ sides.
  5. Richard was a healthy, happy person.
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