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Wipe the Slate Clean: Retrograde Amnesia 意外的人生

課文朗讀

課文中英文講解

繁體中文譯本

Have you ever wanted to “wipe the slate clean” and start life over again as a completely different person? Well, don’t wish too hard. It can and does happen when a rare memory disorder called retrograde amnesia strikes.

你曾经想过「让过去一笔勾消」然后重新做人，让人生从来一遍吗?嗯，别想过头了!当你得了一种叫做「逆行性失忆」的罕见记忆异常时，这是可能、也的确会发生的。

Retrograde amnesia is a cruel and fickle condition. It leaves people’s language and reasoning skills intact, but sufferers literally lose their sense of identity. In other words, they can still speak and do math in their heads, but they can’t tell you where they live or work, who their family members are or even their own name!

逆行性失忆是一种残酷又不稳定的情况。它不会损坏人的语言和思考能力，但病患却会失去认知能力。换句话说，他们还能说话、在脑子里运算数学，但无法告诉你他们住哪里、在哪儿工作、家人是谁，甚至自己的名字。

Consider the case of Doug Bruce, a wealthy stockbroker and photographer who recently was the subject of a documentary titled Unknown White Male. By all accounts, Doug was pleased with his life, and had everything to live for. But one day in 2003, the 35-year-old woke up on a train in New York City without a single memory of his past.

看看道格布鲁斯的例子吧，他是个富有的股票经纪人兼摄影家，近来成了一部名为「无名白人男子(暂译)」纪录片的题材。据说，道格很满意他的生活，也有明确的生活目标。但2003年某一天，这个35岁男人在纽约的火车上醒来，脑中没有任何关于过去的记忆。

Though mystery novels and action movies make it seem as if what happened to Doug is all too frequent an occurrence, retrograde amnesia is in fact extremely rare. Doctors speculate it is triggered by extreme psychological distress, or perhaps brain damage. Or, maybe something else causes it. The medical community really doesn’t know for sure, and unfortunately this ignorance means that patients like Doug receive very little help.

虽然悬疑小说和武打电影让发生在道格身上的事变成似乎是再频繁不过的事，但其实逆行性失忆症是极罕见的。医生们推测逆行性失忆症是因强烈的心理忧郁而起，或者也可能是由于脑部受损所致，又或许是其他事情造成的。医界并不知道确切的原因，不幸的是，这样的一无所知意谓着像道格这样的病患所能获得的帮助是少之又少。

Vocabulary

fickle [ˋfɪk!] adj. 易变的，无常的

intact [ɪnˋtækt] adj. 完整无缺的

identity [aɪˋdɛntətɪ] n. 身分

distress [dɪˋstrɛs] n. 悲痛，苦恼

ignorance [ˋɪgnərəns] n. 无知

More Information

retrograde [ˋrɛtrə͵gred] adj. 逆行的；退化的

amnesia [æmˋniʒɪə] n. 记忆缺失；健忘（症）

stockbroker [ˋstɑk͵brokɚ] n. 股票（或证券）经纪人

documentary [͵dɑkjəˋmɛntərɪ] n. 记录像片

by all accounts: 大家一致认为, 根据各方面所说, 据说 from all the reports [that are available]; according to what everyone is saying

frequent [ˋfrikwənt] adj. 时常发生的，频繁的

occurrence [əˋkɝəns] n. 事件；事变

Reading Questions

1. What’s the author’s view of memory in this article?

A. It is next to impossible to start life over again as long as you remember who you are.

B. While it seems it would be nice to forget everything and start over, it’s not worth it.

C. Even with fond memories of old friends, sometimes they still may seem like strangers.

D. When you have everything to live for, it’s easy to forget where you have come from.

2. Which of the following is NOT a symptom of retrograde amnesia?

A. The sufferer cannot recognize his family and close friends.

B. The sufferer can speak but forgets his own name.

C. The sufferer wakes up on a city train and cannot recognize where he is.

D. The sufferer’s basic math and reasoning abilities are not affected.

3. What can we infer from the article about Doug’s life before amnesia?

A. Doug may have been suffering from some psychological stress.

B. Doug never felt satisfied, as he had very little in his life to make him happy.

C. Doug never had much money and was always worried.

D. Doug Bruce was a failed photographer and hated himself.

next to impossible: 几乎不可能 almost impossible

課文中英文講解

Like most amnesiacs, Doug felt a great need to rediscover himself. But identity ___1___ cannot be remedied with medication. To retrieve at least a portion of his past, Doug had to be carefully reintroduced to his family and friends. He had to re-learn the ___2___ of foods. And, sadly, he had to have people relate the important events in his life, such as the death of his mother from cancer.

像大部份的失忆症患者一样，道格渴望重新找回自己。但认知能力的丧失是无法以药物治疗的。为了找回至少部分的过去，道格得小心地让自己重新再进入家人和朋友的世界里。他得重新学习食物的味道。令人难过的是，他还得请别人告诉他自己生命中最重要的事情，像是他母亲死于癌症的事情。

None of these steps actually gave Doug access ___3___ his forgotten memories. Before he flew to England to reacquaint himself with his three best friends, for example, Doug ___4___ much about them – and yet, when he saw his old comrades, they still struck him as complete strangers. Later, when the friends began to rehash the past, Doug was touched by the extent of these men’s affection for him. He felt furthermore that their wit and decency made them ___5___ the type of people he would like to have as friends – if only the emotional connection was still there.

这些方法都没能让道格重拾被遗忘的记忆。比方说，在道格飞往英国重新认识三个好友之前，就已经听了许多关于他们的事，但当他在见到同袍老友时，他们对他来说还是全然陌生。后来，当朋友们开始重提往事时，道格被这些老友对他的强烈情感打动。他甚至觉得他们的风趣和度量使他们成为他会想拥有的那种朋友—但愿那份情感还维系着就好了。

Sad to say, but some of Doug’s friends felt as he did. ___6___ memories of the times they had shared, Doug was just not the friend they had known and loved.

说来令人感伤，但是道格的一些朋友也和他有同样的感受。少了那些他们共享时光的记忆，道格就不再是那个他们熟悉且挚爱的朋友了。

The one positive for Doug in all this may be ___7___ he has been able to re-experience life with complete freshness. But, what a price to pay.

这整件事带给道格的一项好处可能是他可以全新地重新体验生活。但，付出的代价实在是太高了!

－By Laara Hinnegan & Robert Kelly

Vocabulary

remedy [ˋrɛmədɪ] n. 治疗；治疗法

retrieve [rɪˋtriv] v. 追忆，回忆

comrade [ˋkɑmræd] n. 伙伴，同事

extent [ɪkˋstɛnt] n. 程度

affection [əˋfɛkʃən] n. 感情

decency [ˋdisnsɪ] n. 合宜，得体

More Information

amnesiac [æmˋnizɪæk] n. 遗忘症患者

relate [rɪˋlet] v. 讲，叙述

reacquaint [rɪəˋkwent] v. 重新了解，重新熟悉

rehash [riˋhæʃ] v. 重讲

Answer

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