大学英语四六级经典阅读：A Story of Hope 一个关于希望的故事

 

Emma was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 33 years old. The cancer was in one of her lymph glands, which resulted in a very radical mastectomy. "There was no chemotherapy back then, only the knife," she said. Talking about her cancer is not something that comes easily for her. 

 

艾玛在33岁的时候被诊断患有乳腺癌。癌症在她的一个淋巴腺体中，因此只能将乳房彻底切除。她说："那时还没有什么化学疗法，只能动手术。"谈起那次癌症，对她来说还真不是一件简单的事情。 

 

"A long time ago people were ashamed," she said, "I can remember when I went into surgery, there were so many young doctors there to watch the operation." The doctors told her that she was cut so terribly that she was in the hospital for six weeks. 

 

"那时候的人还挺害羞的，"她说道，"我很清楚地记得我动手术时，有很多年轻的医生在观察手术过程。"医生告诉她，她的乳房切除的很彻底，得住院六个星期。 

 

After she had the surgery, there were no follow-up treatments, only a few x-rays. "I didn't heal for eight months and I finally had to go to New Orleans. I could not do anything with my arm. I had it strapped down to my side but it didn't bother me," she says. Emma would not believe the doctors when they told her she would not be able to use her arm again, so she began to exercise the arm herself. 

 

手术结束后，没有进行后续治疗，只是例行做了X光检查。她说："八个月后，我还有没有痊愈，就不得不去新奥尔良。我的手臂什么事情都做不了。只得用绷带把它挂在一边，但这难不倒我。"艾玛不相信医生所说的，她的胳膊再也不能使用，她开始自己锻炼使用手臂。 

 

Her husband helped her to raise her arm every day and she eventually regained use of it. After Emma had the first cancer, another cancer was found in her remaining breast, and she had to have a second mastectomy. So then she had to go through all the fears of cancer again. Some years later her husband died and she was left to raise their sons all alone. Emma has done a little bit of everything from working in the fields, helping run the dairy farm that they owned and finally teaching 4th grade for 40 years. Cancer never got in her way. "I know science will find a cure someday." she has said. 

 

她的丈夫也每天帮她锻炼抬手。最后她的手臂恢复了。艾玛第一次癌症之后，另一边的乳房也被发现患有癌症，她不得不做第二次切除手术。因此她又得经历一次癌症带来的恐惧。多年以后，她的丈夫去世了，她得单独抚养自己的儿子。每件事情艾玛都要亲力亲为，不管是种田还是经营他们的牧场，抑或教授四年级的课程长达40年之久，癌症从没有成为她人生路上的障碍。她说过："我知道，随着科学的发展，会找到癌症的治疗方法的。" 

 

The best part of the story for Emma was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 33 in 1928 and today in 2001; Emma is 106 years of age and a 73-year Breast Cancer Survivor. 

 

艾玛的故事最精彩的地方在于，她在1928年33岁时和在2001年的今天被诊断出患有癌症；艾玛现在已经106岁了，而且是一个被诊断患有乳腺癌后还可以活73年的奇人。 

 

A story of hope? Yes, I would say so, wouldn't you? 

 

这难道不是一个关于希望的故事吗？我觉得是，你们认为呢？ 

 

词汇注释 

 

diagnose vt. 诊断 

 

cancer n. 癌 

 

lymph n. 淋巴 

 

mastectomy n. 乳房切除术 

 

chemotherapy n. 化学疗法 

 

survivor n. 幸存者