مکالمه ی فعالانه قسمت الف

Active Speaking - Part A

Even though it is a morbid topic, the concept of death is something that people can’t help but think about.

Is death a morbid topic? Yes, of course death is a morbid topic. Do people think about death?

Yes, death is something that people can’t help but think about. Do you ever think about death?

Everyone on this earth will die at some point in time, no matter what they do to try and prolong their life.

Will everyone die? Yes, everyone will die. No one will escape death. Do you make an effort to stay healthy to prolong your life?

Since death is permanent though, no one can actually describe what it feels like to die.

What do you think it feels like to die?

There’s an exception to that, however. Many people on this earth have had what is known as a Near Death Experience, or NDE.

What does NDE mean? An NDE is a Near Death Experience. Is an NDE rare? No, it’s not that rare. Many people have had Near Death Experiences.

An NDE is a phenomenon experienced by people who have come very close to dying. Usually, they will experience things they can’t explain, or that seem to be scientifically impossible.

Is an NDE easily explained? No, an NDE isn’t easily explained. Does it seem scientifically impossible? Yes, it seems scientifically impossible.

Some scientists are very interested in the NDE phenomenon, although studying it has proven difficult.

Is it easy or difficult to study NDEs? It’s difficult to study NDEs.

Any evidence that can be presented is anecdotal at best from the people who experienced the NDE.

Are NDEs anecdotal? Yes, NDEs are anecdotal. Do you believe in anecdotal evidence for NDEs?

Because of this, none of their claims can be scientifically confirmed.

Have their claims been scientifically confirmed? No, their claims haven’t been scientifically confirmed.

Still, their experiences are enough for scientists to create theories about what might be going on.

Who has created theories about NDEs? Scientists have created theories about NDEs.

Take Pam, for example. Pam was a singer and songwriter from Atlanta, who one day started feeling off.

What did Pam do for a living? Pam was a singer and songwriter. Where was she from? She was from Atlanta. How was she feeling? She was feeling off.

She was dizzy, couldn’t speak, and had difficulty moving her body.

What was she having difficulty with? She was having difficulty moving her body. Was she dizzy? Yes, she was dizzy. Could she speak? No, she couldn’t speak.

pam went to the hospital for a cat scan and it turned out she had a giant artery aneurysm.

What kind of scan did she get at the hospital?

she got a cat scan at the hospital.

What did they find?

They found she had a giant artery aneurysm.

It was a swollen blood vessel near her brain stem.

What was swollen?

A blood vessel near her brain was swollen.

The blood vessel could burst any time at the drop of a hat.

Could it burst suddenly?

Yes it could burst any time at the drop of a hat.

If it burst Pam would die, the surgery that could remove it though also might kill her.

Pam felt completely out of options.

What would happen if it burst?

If it burst she would die.

What could happen if she had the surgery?

If she had the surgery, she could also die.

Did she have other options?

No, she felt completely out of options.

What option would you choose?

In desperation she chose a treatment from neurosurgeon, Robert Spetzler.

Who was her doctor?

Her doctor was Robert Spetzler.

It was a new and daring procedure.

He called operation standstill.

What was the procedure called?

The procedure was called operation Standstill

Spetzler would bring Pam’s body temperature down low enough so she would be technically dead.

Would she be technically dead? Yes, she would be technically dead.

Her heart would stop and her brain wouldn’t function, but at this lower temperature it could survive longer without oxygen.

What would happen to her heart and brain? He heart would stop and her brain wouldn’t function.

In addition to lowering her temperature they would also drain all the blood from her body during the procedure.

How much blood would they drain from her body? They would drain all the blood from her body.

Pam agreed to die under the doctor’s supervision to save her life. What she wasn’t expecting is that she would be able to observe the whole procedure, as if she were watching from the corner of the room.

Was she expecting to observe the operation? No, she wasn’t expecting to observe the operation. .