On Courage关于勇气


　　勇气可以是当一个人面对困难、面对死亡所表现出来的一种毫不畏惧、视死如归的气概，它来自于一个人的某种信仰或信念，或者，就如本文的主人公——一个五岁的小男孩，他的勇气是来自于对亲人、对朋友无私的爱……　

"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、义勇军”等，在这里是第一个意思。比如，This work costs nothing; it's all done by volunteers（这工作是由自愿人员做的，不花我们一分钱）。还有老师在上课提问时就常附带着问："Is there any volunteers?"“有自愿回答的吗？”

"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 to combat 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：“输血”的意思，我们都知道，医院里经常有缺血的病人，就要进行blood tansfusion了，输血要有donator（献血者），我们许多人都当过donator。
• Antibody：从字面上看，anti是“对抗”的意思，body表示“身体”，那antibody就是“抗体”的意思了。到此为止，不可以再往下推理了，否则就该成“对抗身体”了。大家都知道antibody是对疾病有抵抗作用的物质，是因得过某种病而获得的。
• Combat：“战斗”、“格斗”的意思，combat the illness（对抗疾病）。如果你对antibody有足够的理解，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“进步、进展”的意思。在本文中是“随着输血的进行”的意思。
• Fade：表示“枯萎、褪色”等意思，如：Cut flowers soon fade（剪下来的花朵容易枯萎）。在本文中fade则表示“由于失血而渐渐变得苍白”。 　

"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."