365个英语简短小故事-291. Your Health

Hannah’s daddy was a teacher who barely¹ made enough money to raise his six kids. Hannah wore hand-me-downs from her older sisters. For Christmas she usually got used dolls and books. As a child, she yearned² to have the beautiful clothes, cars, and homes that she often saw on TV and in magazines.

Several years after she graduated from college, she became part-owner of a successful interior³ decorating business in Manhattan. Her life became what she had dreamed about as a little girl. A successful business woman, she had a handsome, wealthy fiancé. She owned her own co-op near Central Park. She took skiing vacations in the winter and exotic⁴ cruises⁵ in the summer. At the age of 30, Hannah was on top of the world.

Then she underwent a routine health checkup, and her perfect world crumbled⁶. Her doctor told her that she had pancreatic cancer. Surgery was necessary to determine how much the cancer had spread. Hannah was operated on a week later. The surgeon suspected that cancer had spread to vital organs. Ten days later, the lab confirmed his suspicions.

Hannah’s doctor said he could treat her with chemotherapy and painkillers⁷, but it was just a matter of time before the cancer killed her. She asked how much time. He guessed that she had less than a year to live. How can this be, Hannah wondered. Doesn’t this always happen to someone else?

A couple of weeks later, she visited another cancer specialist. He examined her and read her medical and lab reports. He said he agreed with her surgeon. “If you have any once-in-a-lifetime plans, do them now,” he advised.

Instead, Hannah spent her last months in her co-op, tended to by hospice workers. Her family and friends visited her regularly. The moment before she died, she opened her eyes and tried to say something to her fiancé. She squeezed his hand weakly.

“She was in constant pain,” her fiancé said. “At the end, she could barely whisper. She weighed 80 pounds when she died. I can’t believe that God allows things like this to happen to people.”

 

1 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

2 yearned   

渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The people yearned for peace. 人民渴望和平。
• She yearned to go back to the south. 她渴望回到南方去。

3 interior   

adj.在内的，内部的，内地的，国内的；n.内部

参考例句：

• There is water in the interior of the cave.在山洞的内部有水。
• They went into the interior room.他们进了内室。

4 exotic   

adj.奇异的，异乎寻常的，外（国）来的，外国产

参考例句：

• There are some exotic words in English language.英语中有一些外来词。
• She likes to wear exotic clothes.她喜欢穿奇装异服。

5 cruises   

v.乘船巡游( cruise的第三人称单数 )；以快而平稳的速度长距离行驶；巡航；轻而易举赢得（或获得）

参考例句：

• Cruises on the Thames in London, have become an annual attraction. 在伦敦泰晤士河上的巡航已成为一年一度的引人注目的事。 来自辞典例句
• Throughout the year traders and recruiters arrive from far, dry cruises. 一年到头，总有商人和募工者经过干渴的长途航行来到这里。 来自辞典例句

6 crumbled   

（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏

参考例句：

• He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
• Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

7 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分