读者文摘:一次难忘的登山之旅

Colorado's grays peak rises 14,278 feet above sea level, high enough that trees can't grow toward the top,

科罗拉多的格雷斯峰海拔1.4278万英尺，高到树木无法生长到它的山顶。

though there are plenty of shrubs¹, rocks, and boulders².

但是山顶上有大量的灌木、岩石和大圆石。

It was in this unforgiving terrain³ that Bev Wedelstedt was unlucky enough to rupture⁴ the anterior⁵ cruciate ligament and meniscus in her left knee.

正是在这种恶劣的地形下，贝夫·韦德尔施泰特左膝的前交叉韧带和半月板不幸撕裂。

It was August 2018, and Wedelstedt, 56, was on her way back down the trail with three friends.

时间回到2018年的8月，56岁的韦德尔施泰特正和三个朋友一起下山。

A storm was brewing⁶, and they were anxious to get off the mountain.

暴风雨就要来了，他们急着要下山。

When they approached a rocky drop of a couple of feet, Wedelstedt decided⁷ that instead of shimmying down on her butt—the safe way to go—she would leap.

当他们接近几英尺高的岩石落差时，维德斯泰特决定，与其一扭一摆得下去——这是一种安全的方式——不如纵身一跃。

She landed on her left leg. Then she heard the snap. Every step after that was agony.

她左腿着地。然后她听到了喀嚓的断裂声。之后的每一步都是痛苦的。

Before long, she had to stop. As one friend ran down to get help, a number of other hikers, all strangers,

不久，她不得不停下来。当一个朋友跑下来寻求帮助时，许多其他的徒步旅行者，都是陌生人，

attempted to help Wedelstedt down the narrow trail by walking on either side of her to support her weight, but that proved slow and dangerous.

尝试在韦德尔施泰特两边架着她走下狭窄的山路，但是这样既缓慢又危险。

One man "was so close to the ledge⁸ I could see rocks tumbling down from where he stepped on them," Wedelstedt says.

韦德尔施泰特说，“有个人走的离边缘很近，我可以看到他脚下石头在掉落。”

Finally, one hiker, Matt, asked her, "How do you feel about a fireman's carry?" Before she knew it, he had lifted her over his shoulder.

后来，有个登山者马特问她，“你觉得让一个消防员扛着你怎么样？”韦德尔施泰特还没反应过来时，他已经将她举到自己的肩上。

"Now, I'm not tiny," says Wedelstedt, a former college basketball star. Matt clearly couldn't carry her all the way down by himself.

韦德尔施泰特说，我可不苗条。我之前在大学是篮球明星。马特显然不能一直扛着她下山。

So six hikers and one of her friends took turns carrying her while she tried to make light of a difficult situation:

所以6个登山者和她的一个朋友轮流扛着她下山，同时她试图让气氛变得轻松：

"I told them I wanted to meet a lot of guys, but this isn't the way I wanted to do it."

“我想和很多男孩拍拖，但是这不是我想要的方式。”

Three hours and two rock-strewn miles later, this human conveyor belt finally met the medics, who took Wedelstedt to the hospital.

三个小时后，他们走过两英里的遍地岩石的山路后，终于遇到了医护人员，他们把韦德尔施泰特送到了医院。

She has mostly recovered from her ill-fated hike, but Wedelstedt knows she'll never shake one thing from that day:

韦德尔施泰特基本上已经从这次倒霉的徒步旅行中恢复过来了，但是她知道从那天起她将永远无法忘记一件事：

the memory of the band of strangers who came to her rescue. "I'm still in awe⁹."

一群陌生人救了她的记忆。“我仍然心怀敬畏。”

1 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

2 boulders   

n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾

参考例句：

• Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

4 rupture   

n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂

参考例句：

• I can rupture a rule for a friend.我可以为朋友破一次例。
• The rupture of a blood vessel usually cause the mark of a bruise.血管的突然破裂往往会造成外伤的痕迹。

5 anterior   

adj.较早的；在前的

参考例句：

• We've already finished the work anterior to the schedule.我们已经提前完成了工作。
• The anterior part of a fish contains the head and gills.鱼的前部包括头和鳃。

6 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

9 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。