It's no secret that China's economy is growing at a (rapid pace), but it may surprise you to learn that some Chinese citizens are growing too, taller, that is, (thanks to) the popularity of leg lengthening surgery. That's right. We are talking about a type of surgery that can make you at least 2 to 3 inches taller. The details are pretty gruesome. First, the doctor breaks the tibia and fibula, the bones of the lower leg. Then a device (comprised) of 2 metal rings connected by extendable rods, the fixator is screwed into both ends of the broken bone through the (skin). About a week later, the (stretching) begins. The surgeon lengthens the fixator in small 2 mm increments. This slowly pulls the broken bones apart allowing new bone to grow and fill in the (gap). If all goes well, the 3 months bone lengthening period is (followed) by another 3 to 6 month of bone strengthening. During this (phase), the patient is (confined to) a wheelchair and must undergo physical therapy that’s typically described on leg lengthening websites as extremely (painful). But barring complication such as (infection) where the fixator is attached to the bones and nerve injury. After about a year, you could be back up and walking around on newly lengthened legs. The surgery was (invented) in Russia in the early 1950s to help dwarves and other abnormally (short) people who wanted to attain a more normal height. Recently though, in places like China, leg lengthening surgery has become trendy for people (convinced) that being taller leads to better jobs and more money.
1) gruesome adj. 可怕的，可憎的 2) tibia n. 胫骨 3) fibula n. 腓骨 4) fixator n. 固定器 5) increment n. 增额，增值
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