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Cold as Ice 冷不防，小心冻疮！

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

When Taiwanese mountaineer “Makalu” Gao Ming Ho attempted to reach the summit of Everest in May 1996, he came back a changed man; he had lost his lower arms, feet, and nose to what is the bane of careless mountain climbers — frostbite.

1996年五月，当台湾的登山者「马卡鲁」高铭和企图攻顶圣母峰时，他「变了一个人」回来；他失去两只下臂、双脚和鼻子，肇因是粗心登山人士的致命伤──冻伤 [注]。

When flesh is exposed to prolonged or severe cold, it causes blood vessels to constrict; much needed warm blood is then prevented from flooding the affected area and ice crystals start to set in. The skin and the tissue beneath it literally freeze.

肉体一旦长时间暴露于寒冷，或接触的温度过低，均会造成血管收缩；这时，温暖的血无法流至需之孔急的部位，冰晶体便开始形成。皮肤和其下的组织于是随之结冻。

Areas of the body most susceptible to frostbite are the extremities, particularly the fingers and toes but also the nose and cheeks. Symptoms begin with numbness and yellow-grey skin and increase in severity to hard, white, obviously frozen skin that has been likened to a piece of frozen chicken.

全身上下最容易被冻的部位是四肢，特别是手指与脚趾，但鼻子和脸颊也会。冻伤的症状开始是麻痹、肤色黄灰；情况严重时症状加剧：皮肤变硬、泛白、明显结冻，看来就像一块冷冻鸡块。

Treatment can be painful and involves the gentle rewarming of the frostbitten body part. If the frostbite is only superficial, new skin will form. But if the frostbite penetrates deeply, as happens with many an overadventurous mountaineer, the discolored skin is unlikely to revive. For the most unfortunate, amputation is the price to pay for inadequate preparation or disregarding the conditions that can cause what is mostly a preventable injury.

治疗可能会相当辛苦，不外乎将冻伤的部位和缓地使之回暖。如果冻伤只在表面，新的皮肤会长出来。但如果冻伤深入，就像许多太热中冒险的登山人士所发生的情况，褪色的皮肤就不可能恢复了。对于最不幸的人来说，截肢是必须付出的代价，因为他们不是事先准备不足，就是对于这种大抵上可以预防的伤害，忽视了可能使之发作的条件。

[注] frostbite 与下文提及之 chilblain 均可称为「冻疮」，但前者指低温环境造成之「组织破坏」，情形较为严重；后者仅指「充血、瘙痒、疼痛、肿胀等血管病变」。本课以「冻伤」、「冻疮」区分之。

Vocabulary

单词发音

summit [ˋsʌmɪt] n.（山等）尖峰，峰顶

bane [ben] n. 祸根; 灾星

frostbite [ˋfrɔst͵baɪt] n. 冻伤，冻疮

flesh [flɛʃ] n. 肉，肌肉

constrict [kənˋstrɪkt] v. 使收缩﹐ 使收紧

set in (指雨、坏天气、传染等)开始并可能继续下去 to begin; to become fixed for a period of time

susceptible [səˋsɛptəb!] adj. 易受……影响的; 敏感的

extremity [ɪkˋstrɛmətɪ] n. 手足，四肢

cheek [tʃik] n. 脸颊；腮帮子

numbness [ˋnʌmnɪs] n. 无感觉，麻木；惊呆

severity [səˋvɛrətɪ] n. 严重

liken [ˋlaɪkən] someone or something to someone or something  把...比作 to compare someone or something to someone or something,

rewarming [rɪ'wɔrmɪŋ] n. 复温

overadventurous 太热中冒险的 too willing to take risks or try out new experiences

revive [rɪˋvaɪv] v.（使）苏醒﹐复原

amputation [͵æmpjəˋteʃən] n.【医】截肢（术）；切断；切除

inadequate [ɪnˋædəkwɪt] adj. 不充分的; 〔对某一特定目的而言〕不够好的﹐ 不足的

disregard [͵dɪsrɪˋgɑrd] v. 不理会，不顾

Sentence of the Day

It chills me to the bone.

那使我毛骨悚然。

chill someone to the bone  感到寒气刺骨; to make someone feel very frightened

课文朗读

课文讲解

Sam and Doris are having a chat around the office photocopier:  山姆和桃乐丝在办公室的复印机旁闲聊：

D: Looking forward to your skiing holiday in South Korea?

很期盼去南韩过你的滑雪假期吧？

S: You bet! I can’t wait to get over there and hit those slopes.

没错！我真迫不及待去那儿上那些滑雪道。

D: Got good waterproof boots, have you? You don’t want to get chilblains like I did the first time I went out on the snow.

你有好防水靴吗？你不想跟我一样，第一次到雪地上去就得了冻疮吧？

S: Don’t worry. I experienced it once before, that burning, itching feeling in my toes at the end of a day’s sloshing about in the snow.

别担心。我以前有过一次经验，在雪中荡来荡去一天以后，我的脚趾既烧又痒。

D: Then you probably also experienced the pain when you hit a warm room and the burning and itching become magnified tenfold as your toes swell and turn red.

那你八成也那样痛过：你一走进温暖的房间，那种灼热奇痒的感觉便扩大十倍，脚趾还红肿了起来。

S: Tell me about it! Chilblains are only one stop (step) short of frostbite, you know, and occur in all the same places: fingers, toes, cheeks, ears, nose.

我早知道啦！你知道，冻疮距冻伤只一步之遥，而且它们发生的部位全都一样：手指、脚趾、脸颊、耳朵、鼻子等。

D: It’s the damaged blood vessels that cause that almost intolerable irritation and numbness.

是受损的血管造成难以隐忍的刺激及麻痹。

S: And that’s something best avoided, which is why I’ve bought some woolen socks: they allow air circulation, so sweat won’t get trapped inside my socks and chill my feet.

那是最好避免的，也是为什么我买了一些羊毛袜：它们透气，所以汗不会闷在袜子里让我的脚发冷。

D: That’s a good idea.

挺好的主意。

S: I thought so; I’m ready to graduate to the advanced slopes, now, and the last thing I want is cold feet!

我也这么认为；现在我已经可以晋级到高级滑雪道了，最不希望发生的事就是「软脚」。

－by Colin Gread

Vocabulary

单词发音

photocopier [ˋfotə͵kɑpɪɚ] n. 复印机；复印机

you bet 当然, 肯定, 无疑

chilblain [ˋtʃɪl͵blen] n.〔手指或脚趾上的〕冻疮

slosh [slɑʃ] v. 在泥中荡（或溅）

magnify [ˋmægnə͵faɪ] v. 放大，扩大

short of 少于, 不及

intolerable [ɪnˋtɑlərəb!] adj. 不能忍受的；无法容忍的

irritation [͵ɪrəˋteʃən] n.【医】刺激；过敏；疼痛；发炎

the last thing 最不愿做的事

cold feet 【口】发慌；害怕；胆小；退缩 fear of doing something; cowardice at the moment of action

Sentence of the Day

Don’t be left out in the cold.

别被冷落。

be left out in the cold  吃闭门羹