TED演讲:大爱无疆 爱本无条件(7)

 In the time since that Atlantic Monthly story ran, 自从大西洋月刊刊载了那片文章以来，

the life expectancy¹ for people with Down syndrome² has tripled. 唐氏综合征患者的寿命增加了两倍。

The experience of Down syndrome people includes those who are actors, 唐氏综合征的人有些是演员，

those who are writers, some who are able to live fully³ independently in adulthood⁴. 作家，有些在成年后能完全独立生活。

The Robards had a lot to do with that. 罗巴兹夫妇的贡献很大。

And I said, Do you regret it? 我问他们：你们会遗憾吗？

Do you wish your child didn't have Down syndrome? 你们希望自己的孩子没有唐氏综合征吗？

Do you wish you'd never heard of it? 是否希望从未听说过这种病症?

And interestingly his father said, 有趣的是这位父亲说，

Well, for David, our son, I regret it, 嗯，从我们的儿子大卫角度来看，我感到遗憾，

because for David, it's a difficult way to be in the world, 因为对于大卫来说，这个世界里唐氏患儿的路走得非常艰辛，

and I'd like to give David an easier life. 我想要给大卫更轻松的生活。

But I think if we lost everyone with Down syndrome, it would be a catastrophic loss. 但我认为，如果世界上不再有唐氏症患儿，会是很大的损失。

And Karen Robards said to me, I'm with Tom. 凯伦罗巴兹说：我同意汤姆的看法。

For David, I would cure it in an instant to give him an easier life. 为了让大卫活得更自在，我会想瞬间治愈他的唐氏综合症。

But speaking for myself-well, I would never have believed 23 years ago when he was born that I could come to such a point speaking for myself, it's made me so much better and so much kinder and so much more purposeful in my whole life, 但对我来说，23年前他刚出生时，我绝不相信-我能走到今天这一步，对我来说，他的病让我成为更好，更善良的人，让我的人生更有意义，

that speaking for myself, I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world. 对我来说，这样的经验是世界上任何其他东西都换不来的。

We live at a point when social acceptance for these and many other conditions is on the up and up. 现代社会对这样那样的病症的接受程度越来越高。

And yet we also live at the moment when our ability to eliminate those conditions has reached a height we never imagined before. 然而，此时此刻我们治愈这些病症的能力，也已经达到一个前所未有的高度。

Most deaf infants born in the United States now will receive Cochlear implants⁵, 现在美国新生的耳聋婴儿都会接受人工耳蜗植入手术，

which are put into the brain and connected to a receiver, 将人工耳蜗植入大脑并连上接收器，

and which allow them to acquire a facsimile of hearing and to use oral speech. 通过接收信号，这让他们具有听说的能力。

1 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

2 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

5 implants   

n.（植入身体中的）移植物( implant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters. 激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Perhaps the most far-reaching project is an initiative called Living Implants From Engineering (LIFE). 也许最具深远意义的项目，是刚刚启动的建造活体移植工程 (LIFE)。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命