09 Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish (E)求知若饥，虚心若愚 (E)

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for“prepare to die.” It means to try and tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and, thankfully, I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It's Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it's quite true.

一年前，我被诊断出癌症。早上七点半我做了一个检查，扫描结果清楚地显示我的胰脏处出现一个肿瘤。我连胰脏是什么都不知道。医生告诉我，那几乎可以确定是一种不治之症，我大概活不到三到六个月了。医生建议我回家，把诸事安排妥当，这是医生对临终病人的标准建议。那意味你得试着在几个月内把你将来十年想跟子女讲的话讲完；那意味着你得把一切事情安排妥当，尽可能减轻家人的负担；那意味着你告别时刻的来临。

我整天想着诊断结果，那天晚上做了一次切片，从喉咙伸入一个内视镜，从胃进肠子，将针探进胰脏，取了一些肿瘤细胞出来。我打了镇静剂，但是我的太太在场。她后来跟我说，当医生们用显微镜看过那些细胞后，他们都哭了，因为那是非常少见的一种可以用手术治好的胰脏癌。所以我接受了手术，现在已经康复了。

这是我最接近死亡的时候，我希望那依然是未来几十年内最接近的一次。经历此事后，死亡对我来说只是一项有效的判断工具，并且只是一个纯粹的理性概念。我可以更肯定地告诉你们以下事实：没有人想死。即使那些想上天堂的人，也想活着上天堂。但是死亡是我们的人生终点站，没有人逃得过。这是注定的，因为死亡简直就是生命中最棒的发明，是生命更迭的媒介，送走老人们，给新生代留下空间。现在你们是新生代，但是不久的将来，你们也会逐渐变老，被送出人生的舞台。抱歉讲得这么戏剧化，但生命就是如此。

单词解析 Word Analysis

diagnose ['daɪəgnəʊz] v． 判断；诊断（疾病）

例 What more will you want to know to diagnose this problem?

要弄清这个问题，你还需要知道些什么？

scan [skæn] v． 扫描；浏览；审视；细看 n． 扫描；浏览；细看

例 Could you teach me how to scan an image?

你可以教我如何扫描一个影像吗？

tumor ['tjuːmə] n． 肿瘤；肿块

例 The doctors decided to operate on him for the tumor.

医生们决定为他开刀切除肿瘤。

pancreas ['pæŋkriəs] n． 胰脏

例 Metastasis of renal cell carcinoma to the pancreas is uncommon.

肾细胞癌很少转移到胰脏。

incurable [ɪn'kjʊərəbl] adj． 不能医治的；不能矫正的；无救的 n． 不治的病人；无救的人

例 He was found in incurable disease.

他被查出得了不治之症。

affair [ə'feə(r)] n． 事件；事务；事情；私通

例 Their love affair is an open secret.

他们的风流韵事是公开的秘密。

biopsy ['baɪɒpsi] n． 活组织检查

例 The biopsy was taken from left forearm.

活组织检查的组织取自左前臂。

endoscope ['endəskəʊp] n． 内窥镜；内诊镜

例 But the operation was not going smoothly. Schwarz's endoscope kept bumping into ice crystals that blurred the camera lens.

但是整个操作进行得并不顺畅，施瓦茨的内诊镜总是碰撞进冰晶里面，弄糊摄影机镜片。

intestine [ɪn'testɪn] n． 肠

例 Vitamin K is not absorbed from the upper intestine.

维生素K不是从肠的上部吸收的。

sedate[sɪ'deɪt] adj．安静的；镇静的 v．使安静；使镇静

例 A sedate color scheme calls for an obvious place for the eye to rest.

一个安静的配色方案需要为眼睛提供一个显著的休息的地方。

语法知识点 Grammar Points

① About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer.

这个句子中有一个结构“be diagnosed with”，表示“被诊断为……病”。

例 Older patients are twice as likely to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer as younger patients.

老年患者被诊断为甲状腺癌的风险是年轻患者的两倍。

② My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order...

这个句子中有一个结构“get sth. in order”，表示“把……整理好，摆放整齐”。

例 They want to get affairs in order more for the benefit of those they love.

为了所爱的人，他们想让事情变得更井井有条。

The report is all buttoned up.

报告全部圆满完成了。

经典名句 Famous Classics

1. The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.

今天世上的问题，无法由造成这些问题的思维所解决。

2. It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog.

狗打斗胜负不是取决于体型的大小，而是志气的大小。

3. The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.

比赛的胜利者，是犯倒数第二个错误的人。

4. Encouragement is the oxygen of the soul.

鼓励是灵魂的氧气。

5. Honor is self-esteem made visible in action.

高尚就是行动中展现自尊。

读书笔记

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