VOA常速英语2019--援助犬让残障人士获得新生

Michael Carrasquillo is an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran. Three years ago, he could not leave the house alone. He felt uncomfortable and anxious in public places, but that all changed after he got his assistance dog Ojai.

迈克尔是伊拉克和阿富汗战争退伍的老兵。3年前的他还不能独自外出。身置于公共场合中的他会感到不适和紧张，但这些症状全都消失了，因为他有了援助犬奥凯。

When my wife wasn’t with me, I was a mess. I couldn’t go out into public. I couldn’t do things. I couldn’t be alone, because I get overwhelmed, and so now I had Ojai with me. I could go out. I don’t have to rely on my wife for everything. I could go out with get on the metro¹. Ojai, under, under, all the way, all the way. And now we’re in public. We’re at a restaurant. He’s completely out of the way.

我妻子不在我身边的时候，我能把事情搞得一团糟。我不能去公共场所。我什么都做不了。我不能独处，因为我会手足无措，但现在我有奥凯了。我能外出了，我不必再事事依靠妻子了，也能乘坐地铁了。奥凯，往下，往下，一直往下，不要停。现在，我和奥凯在公共场所里，这是一家餐厅。不过奥凯完全不会挡路。

Ojai was trained at Canine² Companions for Independence, an organization that provides as sistance dogs to people with disabilities. Like Ojai, the dogs can pick up dropped items. There you go, such a good boy.

奥凯曾在犬伴独立组织接受训练，这家组织为有残障人士提供援助犬。包括奥凯在内的援助圈可以拾起掉落的物体。快接住。好孩子。

Open and close doors, and know over 40 advanced commands. It works with Labrador retriever and golden retrievers. We have found that Labrador retriever and golden retrievers offer the best in adaptability³, being versatile⁴, being big enough to do the commands like turning on a light switch or pulling wheelchair, but also being small enough to be able to fit easily on a plane or train and stay out of the way.

开门关门是基本操作，此外还要知道40多种高级指令。这些都是拉布拉多寻回犬和黄金寻回犬的技能。我们发现拉布拉多寻回犬和黄金寻回犬的适应能力最强，它们多才多艺，体型足够大，可以完成开灯开关、拉动轮椅这样的指令，但体型又没有大到飞机火车装不下的地步，而且也不会挡道。

They begin training as puppies. Volunteers agreed to keep the dogs for 18 months to teach them socialization skills and basic commands. Then, other dogs returned to the main training center for another six months of training with professional instructors⁵. When that’s completed, roughly half of the dogs graduate with marks high enough to be paired with a person who needs its help.

他们从训练小狗开始。志愿者们同意看管狗狗们18个月的时间，教它们社交技巧和基本指令。然后，其他狗狗们会回到训练中心，再进行6个月的训练，这期间有专业的教练指导。这段训练结束后，其中有一半的狗狗会以高分毕业，可以伴随需要援助犬帮助的人。

Candidates stay on campus for two weeks to work with the training team and the dogs. With those dogs, we were able to simulate almost having a in home experience, so we’re able to let the dog off leash⁶ and see how they react and how they respond and what they’re doing in all these different areas.

作为候选援助犬的狗狗们会在校园待2周的时间，跟培训团队还有其他狗狗们待在一起。有了这些援助犬，我们就能模拟在家的场景，就能松开链子，看看狗狗们的反应，看看它们在不同区域里会做什么。

The waiting list for one of these little helpers is long. Finally it’s graduation day. All of this is free from those like Michael Carrasquillo who need an assistance dog but they will never own them. Canine Companions for Independence retains ownership of the dogs throughout their working lives and makes sure they’re always careful.

等候赢取援助犬的名单很长。终于到了毕业这一天。这些对于像迈克尔在内的残障人士来说都是免费的，只要他们需要援助犬就可以提供。但这些援助犬不属于他们。该组织依然有这些援助犬的所有权，在援助犬的工作生涯里都是如此。与此同时，他们也要确保援助犬的细心。

And you know, we’re team so what I do he does, what he does I do and you know we push each other. We push each other out of our boundaries.

而且，我们是一个团队，我做的事情，它会跟着做；它做的事情，我会跟着做，所以我们相当于推动彼此的生活，让彼此走出舒适区。

A loyal helper, a dedicated⁷ friend, the devoted⁸ companion, Ojai is much more to the veteran than is the eye.

援助犬是忠诚的帮手，而奥凯这只尽心尽力的伙伴对于迈克尔这位老兵老说比眼睛更重要。

1 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

2 canine   

adj.犬的，犬科的

参考例句：

• The fox is a canine animal.狐狸是犬科动物。
• Herbivorous animals have very small canine teeth,or none.食草动物的犬牙很小或者没有。

3 adaptability   

n.适应性

参考例句：

• It has a wide range of adaptability.它的应用性广。

4 versatile   

adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的

参考例句：

• A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。
• He had been one of the game's most versatile athletes.他是这项运动中技术最全面的运动员之一。

5 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

6 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。

7 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

8 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。