书城外语英语PARTY——笑对人生
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第1章 挑战(1)

Laughing Matter - Woman Resorts to Comedy to Confront the Trauma of Cancer

笑对人生——她用笑声同癌症病魔抗争

Cancer is no laughing matter, but a woman suffering through chemotherapy is rethinking that.

伴随癌症的从来都不会是欢笑,但是一位正在因患癌症而接受化疗的妇女却重新审视了癌症——这个可怕的病魔。

Bonnie Southcott, of Ferndale, Wash., is teaching people that even though cancer isn,t fun, it can be funny.

美国华盛顿州芬代尔的癌症女患者邦尼·索恩科特正在向人们传播这样的理念:尽管癌症不会是什么乐趣,但是我们可以让它变得充满乐趣。

She was seven months pregnant with her second child Nate when doctors found the tumor.

当她从医生那里得知自己身患癌症这个噩耗的时候,她的第二个孩子纳特即将出世,她当时已经有了七个月的身孕。

“In a flash moment, I went from being a happy expectant mother, to being someone afraid for her life,” she told reporters.

索恩科特告诉记者说:“在那一瞬间,我从一个快乐的准妈妈变成了一个时刻要担心自己生命的人。”

Minutes after doctors delivered Nate by emergency Csection, Southcott went into surgery. The diagnosis was ovarian cancer.

就在索恩科特剖腹产生下纳特短短几分钟后,她又被推进了外科手术室。诊断结果她患的是卵巢癌。

Suddenly tears and chemotherapy overtook her life. But the lowest moment came after she lost all her hair and a free wig arrived.

顷刻之间,泪水和化疗淹没了她的生活。在满头秀发完全脱落并得到了一副免费假发的时候,她感到自己走到了人生的最低谷。

She tried it on as her older son Kyler watched.

在大儿子凯勒的注视下,她试戴了她的假发。

“I thought I can cry about this bad wig and he,ll remember it, or I can laugh about it and he will remember that,” Southcott said.

索恩科特说:“我想如果我因为这顶糟糕的假发痛哭他就能记住这种东西,或者我还可以对着它大笑,这样他也能记住它。”

That was when she started laughing a lot, and found it was the perfect medicine.

于是索恩科特开始哈哈大笑,并且发现这居然是最有效的药物。

“I spent a lot time looking for anything humor based for cancer patients,” she said, “And I,ll tell you what: There isn,t much out there.”

她说:“我花了很多时间在癌症患者身上搜寻各种幽默元素。但是我不得不告诉你:这样的幽默实在太少了。”

Using herself as a bald model, Bonnie started her own line of greeting cards and a calendar. Each pose pokes fun at the tribulations of chemo.

邦尼以自己的秃头形象为模特,开始设计问候卡片,此外还有一种日历。尽管化疗时要经历种种苦痛,但是卡片上她的每个姿势都十分有趣,她用自己的表达方式传播欢笑。

“We desperately need to laugh,” she said, “It,s vital to our joy.”

她说:“我们非常需要欢笑。我们需要欢笑带来的快乐。”

Even though Southcott,s ovarian cancer is in remission, the diagnosis is no laughing matter - a 25percent chance she will live for another twoyears.

虽然索恩科特的卵巢癌病情正在好转,但是目前的诊断结果仍旧不容乐观——她的生命只剩下两年的时间,而且这种几率也只有25%。

She plans to appreciate every moment of motherhood. And she plans to laugh.

索恩科特准备要细细品味作母亲的点滴时刻。此外,她准备要笑对人生。

The Flying Frenchman Set to Smash Round the World Record

法国水手打破单人环球航行纪录

They are calling him the Bob Beamon of sailing. And just like Beamon, who astonished the world with his recordbreaking longjump in 1968, the French sailor Francis Joyon is rewriting the nautical record books in an unprecedented fashion.

他被称为航海界的鲍勃·比蒙。正如鲍勃·比蒙1968年因打破跳远世界记录而震惊世界一样,法国水手弗朗西斯·茹瓦永正在以前所未有的方式刷新航海纪录。

Joyon, 47, is now in the final stages of an incredible voyage and on course to smash the existing nonstop solo roundtheworld record by 20 days. Once he crosses the finish line off the Channel port of Brest on the morning of February 3, he will have completed one of the greatest feats of singlehanded sailing in history.

茹瓦永的惊人之旅已进入最后阶段,47岁的他将刷新世界纪录,把单人不靠岸环球航海记录缩短20天。2月3日早上,当他穿过终点布雷斯特港口时,他就将完成历史上最伟大的单人航海纪录之一。

Just like Beamon, whose leap at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 broke the world record by an almost unbelievable 21inch - which stood unbeaten until 1991 - Joyon,s expected time of 73 days for the 26,000mile global course will have far exceeded what most thought possible for a solo sailor.

1968年墨西哥奥运会上,比蒙的一跳打破了世界纪录,而且惊人地超出21英寸,直到1991年他创造的世界纪录才被打破。茹瓦永就像比蒙一样,他预定73天完成两万六千英里的环球航海,这远远低于大多数人认为的单人环航可能需要的最短时间。

Joyon set sail in November on an adventure some predicted would end in disaster. The father of four from La TrinitésurMer in Brittany was undertaking the voyage in the 90ft trimaran IDEC, a boat of tremendous power with a huge rotating mast that had been built to be raced by a crew of up to ten.

茹瓦永在11月起航开始他的冒险旅程,有人预测这次航行可能以灾难而告终。茹瓦永来自法国布列塔尼地区的La TrinitésurMer,有四个孩子。他驾驶的是90英尺长的三体帆船爱德克。这种船的动力极大,船上安装了巨大的旋转桅杆,是为有十名船员的团体比赛而设计的。

Many were worried that Joyon would end up exhausted and IDEC would simply flip over as she ran out of control in the Southern Ocean.

许多人担心茹瓦永最后会筋疲力尽,爱德克艇也将在南部海洋失控而翻船。

Others predicted that Joyon would be unable to handle IDEC,s enormous sails or that the boat could lose her mast in the rough conditions that any roundtheworld sailor inevitably would face.

还有人预测茹瓦永无法控制爱德克艇上巨大的帆,艇上的桅杆也可能会在恶劣的环境中倒下,这是任何一个环球航行的水手都不可避免会遇到的。

There were also all the usual dangers collision with debris in the water, with ice around Antarctica or the possibility that Joyon would collide with a ship while sleeping.

还有各种常见的危险情况——撞到水中的残骸,南极洲周围的冰块,茹瓦永睡觉的时候也可能撞上其他的船只。

When he set off, the solo record stood at 93 days. Although Joyon was sailing a much faster boat than the previous recordholder, most saw little chance of him getting even close to 80 days.

他出发的时候,单人航海世界记录是93天。尽管茹瓦永驾驶的帆船比前世界记录保持者的快的多,但是大多数人都认为他不太可能在近80天内完成航海。

Joyon had other ideas and over the past 71 days he has enjoyed good fortune with the weather, rarely running out of wind. He has, however, also displayed extraordinary stamina, determination and seamanship in keeping IDEC running close to her full potential.

茹瓦永则不这么认为。在过去的71天中,他运气不错,天气条件很好,差不多一直都有风。尽管如此,他仍旧表现出惊人的毅力、决心和驾驶技术,让帆船始终接近全速前进。

101YearOld Man Parachutes Into Record Book

百岁老人高空跳伞打破世界记录