读者文摘:我从死亡事故中学到了什么(1)

The day I died was the perfect New England fall morning.

我去世的这天是个完美的新英格兰的秋日的早晨。

It was 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 8, 2011, when I set out on the 12-mile bike ride home from work along the Connecticut shoreline.

这天是2011年10月8日，周六上午十一点，当时我正我沿着康涅狄格的海岸线骑车12英里回家。

The sun was brilliant against the blue sky, and the leaves were starting to change colors. It was an exciting time for me.

天空蔚蓝，阳光灿烂。树叶也开始变色。这是个令我激动的时刻。

I loved my job as a program manager at PeaceJam, an organization that educates kids about leaders in the peace movement.

我喜欢自己在PeaceJam公司的项目管理工作，PeaceJam是一家教育孩子关于和平运动领袖的组织。

At home, my husband of one year, Sean, and I were trying to have a baby.

我和丈夫肖恩结婚一年，正试图怀上一个宝宝。

Sean, a mail carrier, was working, so I'd made plans with a friend for a long ride later that afternoon.

肖恩是一个邮递员，当时他正在工作。所以那天下午晚些时候我约了朋友一块长途骑行。

But I would never get to meet up with her. As I settled into the right-hand lane of a busy avenue, a freight¹ truck turned in my direction from a side street.

但是，我再也不能和她碰面。当我在一条繁忙大街的右车道上停下来时，一辆货车从一条小街向我驶来。

He slowed at the corner. We made eye contact. Then, for reasons I'll never know, he accelerated. There was nothing I could do but scream.

他在角落处慢了下来。我们目光对视。然后，出于我永远也不会知道的原因，他加速了。除了尖叫我什么事情也做不了。

The giant truck knocked me down onto my left side; my legs got tangled² up with my bike.

大卡车把我撞到了左边；我的腿和自行车缠在了一起。

I heard snapping³ and grinding⁴ as his front tires drove over me. I felt my insides cracking when his back tires did the same.

我听到他的前轮从我身上碾过时发出噼啪声和刺耳的声音。当他的后轮同样碾过时，我感到我的内脏在裂开。

People came rushing from all directions as the truck rumbled⁵ away. "Oh my God!" I heard. "She's alive."

卡车隆隆开走时，人们从四面八方涌来。“哦，我的上帝！”我听到。“她还活着。”

I raised my head just enough to see something bright white and yellow protruding⁶ from my leg: bone, tendons, and fatty cells.

我抬起头，刚好看到我腿上有个亮白色和黄色的东西：骨头、肌腱和脂肪细胞。

The skin had peeled right off most of the lower half of my body, along with my clothing.

我下半身的皮肤和衣服都剥落了。

There wasn't any normal flesh to see. My abdomen⁷ was opened up, and I was bleeding out.

我整个身体都没有一块正常的地方。我的腹部开了一个口子，血流不止。

A woman with blond⁸ hair appeared and sat in the road with me, holding my head. One man stopped the fleeing truck.

一个金发女人出现在了路上，她坐在了我边上，按着我的头。一个男人把疾驰的卡车停了下来。

Another ran over carrying an emergency heat blanket from a kit⁹ he had in his car.

另外一个人从自己车里的工具箱里拿了一个紧急热毯，跑了过来。

He began screaming out orders: "YOU, STOP TRAFFIC. YOU, HOLD HER HEAD STILL. YOU, COVER HER ABDOMEN WITH THIS. Holy... God.

他开始尖叫着发号施令：“你，让交通停下来。你，按住她的头。你，用这个盖住她的腹部。我的天啊。

Hang in there, girl. Hang in there." The paramedics arrived—a team of three women.

坚持住，姑娘。坚持下去。”一个由三个女人组成的医务小组赶到了。

They began by rolling my body onto a backboard. Later I'd learn that for one of them, it was her first day on the job. In fact, I was her very first call.

他们先把我的身体移到板子上。后来我才知道，对其中一个来说，这是她第一天上班。事实上，我的受伤电话是她接到的第一个电话。

1 freight   

n.货物，货运；vt.运送（货物）看，装货于

参考例句：

• Tons of freight were flown into this airport every day.每天有许多吨货物被空运到这个机场。
• There is ten yuan in the bill for freight.发票中包括运费十元。

2 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

3 snapping   

adv.显著地，强烈地，非常地v.猛地咬住( snap的现在分词 )；（使某物）发出尖厉声音地突然断裂[打开，关闭]；厉声地说；拍照

参考例句：

• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away. 细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fire is snapping. 火劈劈啪啪地响。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 grinding   

adj.磨的，磨擦的，碾的v.磨碎，嚼碎( grind的现在分词 )；旋转开动；压迫，折磨

参考例句：

• The powerful lords were guilty of grinding the villagers under their heels. 那些大领主的罪过是以权势欺压村民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This old mill has been grinding away for over 50 years. 50多年来，这间老磨坊一直在磨粮食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 rumbled   

发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋）

参考例句：

• The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
• Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了，然而，在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声，持续不断。

6 protruding   

v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸

参考例句：

• He hung his coat on a nail protruding from the wall. 他把上衣挂在凸出墙面的一根钉子上。
• There is a protruding shelf over a fireplace. 壁炉上方有个突出的架子。 来自辞典例句

7 abdomen   

n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)

参考例句：

• How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫？
• He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。

8 blond   

adj.金发的；n.白肤碧眼金发的人

参考例句：

• Her long blond hair spilled down over her shoulders.她那淡黄色的长发披垂在双肩。
• This blond man delivers newspaper every morning.这个白肤金发碧眼的男人每天早晨送报纸。

9 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。