读者文摘:奇迹生还的男孩(4)

Xavier slept fitfully. Each time he woke up, he asked, "Is it out yet?" "No, not yet sweetie," Gabrielle would tell him. Xavier cried softly each time he heard this.

泽维尔断断续续地睡了。每次醒来他都会问，“尖杆出来了吗？”加布里埃尔会告诉他，“没有，还没有，亲爱的。”每次听到这个后泽维尔都轻声地哭泣。

Gabrielle, her eyes moist with tears, whispered to her son, "You're the strongest person I know."

眼眶泛泪的加布里埃尔对儿子耳语，“你是我认识的最坚强的人。”

"The biggest problem is that barbed end," Dr. Ebersole told the team assembled at 8:30 a.m. in the angiography suite¹.

团队早上8点半在血管造影室集合后，埃伯索尔说，“最大的问题是杆子的尖端。”

Xavier had been anesthetized and was sound asleep as the doctors began to plot their next moves.

在医生们计划下一步行动时，泽维尔已经被麻醉并且熟睡了。

Dr. Ebersole pointed² to a computer screen; it revealed the skewer³ had a notch⁴ in the shaft⁵ near the point.

埃伯索尔医生指着电脑屏幕说，画面显示在尖杆尖端附近的柄上有一个刻痕。

If they pulled the skewer out the way it went in, the notched⁶ tip could rip an artery⁷ open.

如果他们按照尖杆刺进来的方式把它拔出来，尖端的刻痕可能会将动脉撕开。

They discussed pushing the skewer through the back of Xavier's head to expose the notched end and cut it off before pulling the whole thing out through the front.

他们探讨了将尖杆刺过泽维尔的后脑勺的做法，目的是将有刻痕的一端暴露出来，把它剪掉，然后再把尖杆从前面拔出来。

But the rod was made of thick stainless⁸ steel, and it would take a lot of force to break that end off.

但这根杆是由厚不锈钢制成的，要把这一端折断需要很大的力。

The movement this would create could tear arteries⁹.

这样做引起的活动可能会撕裂动脉。

They'd have to pull it out the way it went in—if that was even possible to do without killing¹⁰ him.

他们不得不以它刺进来的方式把它拔出来-如果在让泽维尔活命的情况下可能做到的话。

Xavier was wheeled to the angiography suite about 10 a.m.

上午10点左右，泽维尔被推到血管造影室

Mean- while, his family and many friends were in the waiting room, and every nearby church had dedicated¹¹ that Sunday to praying for the boy.

与此同时，他的家人和许多朋友都在候诊室，附近的每一个教堂都在那个星期天为这个男孩祈祷。

In the angiography suite, some 20 surgeons, specialists, and nurses wearing blue radiation-protective gear and lead-lined glasses were waiting.

在血管造影术室里，大约20名外科医生、专家和护士穿着蓝色的辐射防护服，戴着铅内衬的眼镜在等待。

Two giant "arms," one attached to the floor and the other hanging from the ceiling, were positioned close to Xavier's head.

两个巨大的“手臂”，一个附在地板上，另一个挂在天花板上，被放置在泽维尔的头部附近。

Each arm held two X-ray devices that moved in wide arcs around his head to create three-dimensional images.

每只手臂上都有两个X光装置，这些装置围绕着他的头部呈宽弧线运动，以产生三维图像。

The images were displayed in real time on a large flat-panel screen hanging from the ceiling at eye level for Dr.Ebersole, just above Xavier.

这些图像实时显示在一个巨大的平板屏幕上，该屏幕悬挂在天花板上，与眼睛齐平。就在泽维尔的正上方。

Dr.Ebersole could now see the one-in-a-million trajectory¹² the skewer had taken: It had missed his spine¹³ by about half an inch.

埃伯索尔现在可以看到尖杆所走的非常罕见的轨迹：它离泽维尔的脊柱只有半英寸。

It had missed the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls things such as balance and speech, by the same margin¹⁴.

离小脑也是同样的半英寸，小脑是大脑中控制平衡和说话等功能的部分。

It had punctured¹⁵ the carotid sheath but didn't appear to have damaged the hypoglossal nerve or the vagus nerve, which control tongue function, the swallow reflex, and the voice box.

它刺穿了颈动脉鞘，但似乎没有损伤舌下神经或迷走神经，它们控制着舌头的功能，吞咽反射和喉部。

Also in the carotid sheath is the jugular¹⁶ vein¹⁷. The skewer had torn the jugular, but it appeared to have sealed itself.

颈动脉鞘中还有颈静脉。尖杆撕裂了颈静脉，但它似乎已经自我修复。

1 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 skewer   

n.（烤肉用的）串肉杆；v.用杆串好

参考例句：

• I used a skewer to make an extra hole in my belt.我用扦子在腰带上又打了一个眼儿。
• He skewered his victim through the neck.他用扦子刺穿了受害人的脖子。

4 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

5 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

6 notched   

a.有凹口的，有缺口的

参考例句：

• Torino notched up a 2-1 win at Lazio. 都灵队以2 比1 赢了拉齐奧队。
• He notched up ten points in the first five minutes of the game. 他在比赛开始后的五分钟里得了十分。

7 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

8 stainless   

adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的

参考例句：

• I have a set of stainless knives and forks.我有一套不锈钢刀叉。
• Before the recent political scandal,her reputation had been stainless.在最近的政治丑闻之前，她的名声是无懈可击的。

9 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 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。

12 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

13 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

14 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

15 punctured   

v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气

参考例句：

• Some glass on the road punctured my new tyre. 路上的玻璃刺破了我的新轮胎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A nail on the road punctured the tyre. 路上的钉子把车胎戳穿了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 jugular   

n.颈静脉

参考例句：

• He always goes for the jugular.他总是直奔要害而去。
• Bilateral internal jugular vein stenting is also a rare procedure.两侧内颈静脉支架置放术也是少见的技术。

17 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。