Interrogacion aporetica

BBC Learning English
6 Minute English
Dentist’s drill
NB: This is not a word for word transcript
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2011
Alice: Hello, I'm Alice…
Stephen: And I'mStephen.…
Alice: And this is 6 Minute English! This week we’re talking about a very common
phobia – a fear of the dentist – and a possible new treatment. But first of all,
Stephen, how does this soundmake you feel?
Insert 1: Sound of a dentist’s drill
Stephen: Ouch! Oh, that sounds very painful.
Alice: Oh, are you scared of going to the dentist?
Stephen: Yeah, absolutely terrified.
Alice: Oh -you poor thing. Well, as usual I’m going to ask you a question related to
today’s topic. Which of these is NOT a real phobia – a word that describes a
persistent and sometimes irrational fear? Areyou ready?
Stephen: Yes.
Alice: OK…
a) agoraphobia, b) arachnophobia, c) televiphobia
Stephen: I’m going to take a guess on c, televiphobia.
Alice: Well, I won’t tell you the answer now - but we’llfind out at the end of the
programme. Now let’s find out about this new gadget which might help people
who are scared of visiting the dentist – that’s dentaphobia by the way.
Stephen: A fear ofgoing to the dentist.
Alice: Here’s Dentist Dr Andrew Parkman, describing how some patients feel when
they come to sit in his consulting chair:
Insert 2: Dr Andrew Parkman
We kind of notice peopleas soon as the drill starts up. They can tense up, they might
tense their shoulders, they might tense their fingers. Certainly, you can see a tension
come over them with that sound - thathigh-pitched noise.
Alice: Dr Parkman says his patients tense up – the dentist can see a tension come
over them with that high-pitched sound of the drill. It puts them off going to
the dentist.
Stephen: Itputs them off – it discourages them from doing something.
Alice: So let’s look at this new gadget which blocks out the sound of the drill. It’s
just a prototype at the moment.
Stephen: A prototype...