TED演讲:为什么要留在切尔诺贝利?(3)

 　　Health studies from the region are conflicting and fraught¹. 针对那个地区做的健康研究都很矛盾又漏洞百出。

　　The World Health Organization puts the number of Chernobyl-related deaths at 4,000, eventually. 世界卫生组织估计与切尔诺贝利事件相关的死亡人数有4,000人。

　　Greenpeace and other organizations put that number in the tens of thousands. 绿色和平和其它组织估计有上万人。

　　Now everybody agrees that thyroid cancers are sky high, 现在每个人都同意，甲状腺癌的罹患率奇高，

　　and that Chernobyl evacuees² suffer the trauma³ of relocated peoples everywhere: 在切尔诺贝利事件中的撤离者饱受重新安置的创伤之苦：

　　higher levels of anxiety, depression, alcoholism, unemployment and, importantly, disrupted social networks. 更严重的焦虑、沮丧、酗酒、失业，还有更重要的是，社交圈瓦解。

　　Now, like many of you, I have moved maybe 20, 25 times in my life. 现在，就像在座的你们一样，我这辈子大概搬了 20、25次家，

　　Home is a transient concept.  家是一种短暂的概念。

　　I have a deeper connection to my laptop than any bit of soil. 相较于任何一片土地，我和我的笔电有更深刻的连结。

　　So it's hard for us to understand, but home is the entire cosmos⁴ of the rural babushka, 这对我们来说很难理解，但是家的概念就是这群村妇的全世界，

　　and connection to the land is palpable.  与土地的连结是显而易见的。

　　And perhaps because these Ukrainian women were schooled under the Soviets⁵ 也许是因为这些乌克兰妇女在苏维埃政权下接受教育，

　　and versed⁶ in the Russian poets, aphorisms⁷ about these ideas slip from their mouths all the time. 熟读俄国诗歌和格言，与这些相关的观念随时都能轻易地从她们口中颂出。

　　"If you leave, you die." “如果你离开，就会逝去。”

　　"Those who left are worse off now. They are dying of sadness." “那些离开的人处境每况愈下，他们都悲伤地死去。”

　　"Motherland is motherland. I will never leave." “家乡就是家乡，我永远都不会离开。”

　　What sounds like faith, soft faith, may actually be fact, 那些听起来像是信念，温柔的信念，也许才是事实，

　　because the surprising truth --  因为那些出乎意料之外的真相——

　　I mean, there are no studies,  毕竟没有任何研究证明，

　　but the truth seems to be that these women who returned to their homes 只是真相似乎是，那些回到家乡的妇女

　　and have lived on some of the most radioactive land on Earth for the last 27 years, 至今生活在这片全世界最高放射污染的土地上已长达27年，

　　have actually outlived their counterparts who accepted relocation, by some estimates up to 10 years. 相较于与她们有同样处境，但是接受安置的人们，她们的寿命预估多于十年。

　　How could this be?  这怎么可能？

　　Here's a theory: Could it be that those ties to ancestral soil,  有一个理论是：有没有可能那些与祖先土地的连结，

　　the soft variables reflected in their aphorisms, actually affect longevity⁸? 那些在他们的格言中展现的可变因子，其实也影响了寿命？

　　The power of motherland so fundamental to that part of the world seems palliative. 家乡的力量对那部分的世界来说如此重要，似乎能够带来疗愈。

　　Home and community are forces that rival even radiation. 家与社群是一种力量，即使连辐射都能抵抗。

　　Now radiation or not, these women are at the end of their lives. 不管有没有辐射，这些妇女都走到了她们的生命尽头。

　　In the next decade, the zone's human residents will be gone,  未来十年，禁区的居民都会过世，

　　and it will revert⁹ to a wild, radioactive place,  这片土地会恢复为荒野，有辐射的地方，

　　full only of animals and occasionally daring, flummoxed scientists. 只有满满的动物和偶尔出现胆大又困惑的科学家。

　　But the spirit and existence of the babushkas,  但是这些老奶奶的精神与生活方式

　　whose numbers have been halved¹⁰ in the three years I've known them, 尽管在我认识她们的三年中人数已减少了一半

　　will leave us with powerful new templates to think about and grapple with, 将留给我们强而有力的新模式，让我们得以省思，风险的相对涵义，

　　about the relative nature of risk, about transformative connections to home, 让我们得以攫取，一种变迁中的家的联系，

　　and about the magnificent tonic¹¹ of personal agency and self-determination. 也让我们得以反思，并且获得那滋养个人决心的动力。

　　Thank you. 谢谢！

1 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

2 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

3 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

4 cosmos   

n.宇宙；秩序，和谐

参考例句：

• Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
• Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？

5 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

6 versed   

adj. 精通，熟练

参考例句：

• He is well versed in history.他精通历史。
• He versed himself in European literature. 他精通欧洲文学。

7 aphorisms   

格言，警句( aphorism的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He formulated trenchant aphorisms that caught their attention. 他阐述的鲜明格言引起了人们的注意。
• The aphorisms started following like water as all the old cliches got dusted off. 一些陈词滥调象尘土一样扬起，一些格言警句象洪水一样到处泛滥。

8 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

9 revert   

v.恢复，复归，回到

参考例句：

• Let us revert to the earlier part of the chapter.让我们回到本章的前面部分。
• Shall we revert to the matter we talked about yesterday?我们接着昨天谈过的问题谈，好吗？

10 halved   

v.把…分成两半( halve的过去式和过去分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• The shares have halved in value . 股价已经跌了一半。
• Overall operating profits halved to $24 million. 总的营业利润减少了一半，降至2，400 万元。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 tonic   

n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的

参考例句：

• It will be marketed as a tonic for the elderly.这将作为老年人滋补品在市场上销售。
• Sea air is Nature's best tonic for mind and body.海上的空气是大自然赋予的对人们身心的最佳补品。