勇氣可以是當一個人面對困難、面對死亡所表現(xiàn)出來的一種毫不畏懼、視死如歸的氣概,它來自于一個人的某種信仰或信念,或者,就如本文的主人公——一個五歲的小男孩,他的勇氣是來自于對親人、對朋友無私的愛……
"So you think I'm courageous?" she asked. "Yes, I do." "Perhaps I am. But that's because I've had some inspiring teachers. I'll tell you about one of them. Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liza who was suffering from a rare and serious disease.
Volunteer:“志愿者、義勇軍”等,在這里是第一個意思。比如,This work costs nothing; it's all done by volunteers(這工作是由自愿人員做的,不花我們一分錢)。還有老師在上課提問時就常附帶著問:"Is there any volunteers?"“有自愿回答的嗎?”
"Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her five-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed tocombat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, 'Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liza.'
Blood transfusion:“輸血”的意思,我們都知道,醫(yī)院里經(jīng)常有缺血的病人,就要進行blood tansfusion了,輸血要有donator(獻血者),我們許多人都當過donator。
Antibody:從字面上看,anti是“對抗”的意思,body表示“身體”,那antibody就是“抗體”的意思了。到此為止,不可以再往下推理了,否則就該成“對抗身體”了。大家都知道antibody是對疾病有抵抗作用的物質(zhì),是因得過某種病而獲得的。
Combat:“戰(zhàn)斗”、“格斗”的意思,combat the illness(對抗疾病)。如果你對antibody有足夠的理解,你就可以猜出combat的意思了。
"As the transfusion progressed, he lay in a bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away?'
Progress:是“進步、進展”的意思。在本文中是“隨著輸血的進行”的意思。
Fade:表示“枯萎、褪色”等意思,如:Cut flowers soon fade(剪下來的花朵容易枯萎)。在本文中fade則表示“由于失血而漸漸變得蒼白”。
"Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give her all his blood." "Yes, I've learned courage," she added, "because I've had inspiring teachers."