Questões de Inglês

Life of a Nantucket Surgeon

By Tara Parker-Pope July 27, 2012 

 

In her new book, “Island Practice”, the New York Times reporter Pam Belluck tells the story of Dr. Timothy Lepore, a quirky 67-year-old physician who for the past 30 years has been the only surgeon working on the island of Nantucket. But Dr. Lepore is no ordinary surgeon. Life on an island, even one that has become a summer playground to the rich and famous, requires a certain amount of resourcefulness and flexibility. Over the years Dr. Lepore has taken it upon himself to deliver whatever type of medical care his island inhabitants need, often challenging conventional notions of medicine and redefining what it means to be a healer. While his surgical skills have been used for minor repairs and lifesaving procedures, he often works as a general practitioner, treating everyday ailments. Distraught island residents also call on him for counseling and comfort, and he even steps into the role of veterinarian when needed. I recently spoke with Ms. Belluck about the time she spent with Dr. Lepore. Here’s part of our conversation. 

 

• I think of Nantucket as a posh summer tourist destination. Were you surprised to find such a quirky character there?

I thought of it as this rich summer haven, but there is this whole year-round population that is really interesting and diverse and has to scrabble for a living. Even the hardship was surprising. You think any place is accessible, but there  are a lot of times where you cannot get on or off the island, and you can’t get what you need. Even though they have fast ferries and airplanes now, you’re still at the mercy of the elements, and that creates a lot of drama. 

 

• What kinds of challenges has Dr. Lepore faced?

Part of it is the fact that as the only surgeon, you kind of need to do everything, and you may not know how to do something. There was a guy who came home and had forgotten to pick up potatoes, and his wife stabbed him in the heart. It’s the kind of stab wound that only 10 percent of patients make it to the hospital alive, and 1 percent will survive. Dr. Lepore had never seen anything like this before, but there was no time to get the guy off the island. So he had to reach in and get the heart started. There wasn’t the right equipment to sew him up, and they had only six units of blood, which is not that much. But he’s an encyclopedia of arcane facts, and he remembered that in the 1800s they used black silk thread for this kind of injury. They found some black silk thread, and he managed to close this guy’s heart and get it beating again. The guy survived and became a marathon runner. There is a field hospital-type feeling to it. You’re not under fire, but there is making do with what you have and flying by the seat of your pants. Often the weather is bad, and he has never done it before, but he just has to do it. 

 

• Does he make a good living? Does he take insurance?

He takes insurance, but he also takes people who can’t pay at all. He will even allow people to pay him in kind. One of the undercurrents of the book is that his hospital on Nantucket is now run by Partners Health Care, the big health care corporation that runs Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. They have instituted some new systems, but he flouts many of them. He says, “Nobody is going to manage my time. Nobody is going to tell me what to do.” They can’t really complain because they need him. 

(www.nytimes.com. Adaptado.)

O primeiro parágrafo indica que a ilha de Nantucket

A fala do personagem no cartum indica que a empresa

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JOBS THAT WILL DISAPPEAR

Encyclopedia Writer 

 

Britannica, watch out.

Wikipedia's got your number. This 21st-century encyclopedia is free, online and edited by readers.

 

Grocery Store Cashier 

 

Britannica, watch out. Wikipedia's got your number. This 21st-century encyclopedia is free, online and edited by readers. Handling cash is oh-so-20thcentury. In fact, all jobs dealing with paper money, including bank tellers and toll booth operators, could be obsolete in two decades, as we rely more on credit and digital money.

 

Film Processor 

 

If you want to stick with oldfashioned photography, better build your own darkroom. Your neighborhood photo store will be going digital, or going out of business.

 

© Shutterstock Disponível em: <http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/20/cx_hc_06work_disappear_jobs_slide_5.html?

thisSpeed=35000>. Acesso em: 31 de maio de 2012. [Adaptado]

No que se refere ao século XXI, o autor do texto

That big print set will pass into history, but the future it gives way to will be bright.

For 244 years, the thick volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica have stood on the shelves of

homes, libraries, and businesses everywhere, a source of enlightenment as well as comfort to

[3]  their owners and users  around the world.

They‘ve always been there. Year after year. Since 1768. Every. Singl e. Day.

But not forever.

[6]   Today we‘ve announced that we will discontinue the 32-volume printed edition of the

Encyclopaedia Britannica when our current inventory is gone.

A momentous event? In some ways, yes; the set is, after all, nearly a quarter of a mil lennium

[9]   old. But in a larger sense this is just another historical data point in the evolution of human

knowledge.

For one thing, the encyclopedia will live on—in bigger, more numerous, and more vibrant

[12]   digital forms. And just as important, we the publishers are poised, in the digital era, to serve

knowledge and learning in new ways that go way beyond reference works. In fact, we already

do.

[15]   We don‘t usually talk about ourselves on this blog, but today‘s news calls for some

amplification. For that we turn t o a few of our company‘s leaders, who will explain that today‘s

announcement represents as much a beginning as an end.

[18]   While you‘re reading, check out Britannica Online, which is entirely free for a full week

beginning today.

Disponível em:<http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2012/03/change>. Acesso em: 31 maio 2012. [Adaptado]

 

 

O blog informa que a Encyclopaedia Britannica contará com líderes da empresa para

That big print set will pass into history, but the future it gives way to will be bright.

For 244 years, the thick volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica have stood on the shelves of

homes, libraries, and businesses everywhere, a source of enlightenment as well as comfort to

[3]  their owners and users  around the world.

They‘ve always been there. Year after year. Since 1768. Every. Singl e. Day.

But not forever.

[6]   Today we‘ve announced that we will discontinue the 32-volume printed edition of the

Encyclopaedia Britannica when our current inventory is gone.

A momentous event? In some ways, yes; the set is, after all, nearly a quarter of a mil lennium

[9]   old. But in a larger sense this is just another historical data point in the evolution of human

knowledge.

For one thing, the encyclopedia will live on—in bigger, more numerous, and more vibrant

[12]   digital forms. And just as important, we the publishers are poised, in the digital era, to serve

knowledge and learning in new ways that go way beyond reference works. In fact, we already

do.

[15]   We don‘t usually talk about ourselves on this blog, but today‘s news calls for some

amplification. For that we turn t o a few of our company‘s leaders, who will explain that today‘s

announcement represents as much a beginning as an end.

[18]   While you‘re reading, check out Britannica Online, which is entirely free for a full week

beginning today.

Disponível em:<http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2012/03/change>. Acesso em: 31 maio 2012. [Adaptado]

 

 

Em relação ao que ocorrerá com a Encyclopaedia Britannica na era digital, os autores