奇迹是什么?
奇迹是“极难做到的,却做到了”,奇迹是“不太可能发生的,却发生了”,奇迹是“绝处逢生”,奇迹是“起死回生”。而创造一个个奇迹的是人类坚忍不拔的毅力、顽强不屈的生命力、沉着果断的决断力以及艰苦探索的勇气。让我们一起来看看下面这些救援奇迹吧,从中体会救援带来的生命奇迹。
China’s Mining Miracle1)中国矿难史上的奇迹
On the eighth day they were delivered. On March 28, 2010, miners digging a new tunnel accidentally cracked an old one filled with water. The ensuing2) flood trapped 153 workers underground. After hopes faded fast as rescue crews worked around the clock, they were buoyed3) by tapping sounds coming from the depths of the shaft4) on April 2. Rescue workers immediately sent milk, glucose5) and words of support down the tunnel; three days later they dropped in rafts6) and pulled out 115 survivors, most in stable condition. The joy flowed freely in China.
到了第八天,他们终于获救了。2010年3月28日,矿工们在开挖一条新矿道时,不慎将一条注满水的旧矿道凿穿,喷涌而出的水随即将153名矿工困在了地下。救援人员夜以继日地展开救援,然而,希望很快变得渺茫起来。4月2日,矿井深处传来了敲击声,救援人员遂又抖擞起了精神。他们立即往矿道里送去了牛奶、葡萄糖,并不断喊话鼓励遇险人员。三天过后,救援人员乘坐救生筏下井,救出了115名幸存者,其中大多数幸存者状况稳定。中国上下为此一片欢腾。
Miracle on the Hudson哈德逊河上的奇迹
On Jan. 15, 2009, television viewers were glued to their sets. Yes, yes, there was the rare sight of a passenger jet bobbing7) in New York City’s Hudson River on a frigid8) winter afternoon. But equally mesmerizing9) were images of passengers and crew members of US Airways Flight 1549 safely and quickly exiting the stalled10) aircraft. The culprit11)? A flock of geese that had gotten stuck in both of the plane’s engines as it departed LaGuardia Airport. The plane’s captain Chesley Sullenberger and first officer Jeffrey Skiles pulled off what is now regarded as the most successful ditching12) of a plane in aviation history.
2009年1月15日,电视观众们目不转睛地盯着电视机。是的,没错,那一幕实属罕见:在寒冬的一个下午,一架喷气式客机在纽约哈德逊河的水面上起伏荡漾。不过,同样吸引眼球的是机上乘客和机组人员安然无恙撤离的画面——他们从这架失速的美航1549班机上迅速撤出。那么,谁是“罪魁祸首”呢?原来是一群大雁:在飞机离开拉瓜迪亚机场时,它们卡住了飞机的双侧引擎。而机长切斯利·萨伦伯格和副驾驶杰弗里·斯基尔斯则被认为实现了航空史上最成功的水上迫降。
Baby Jessica营救宝宝杰茜卡
Before Midland, Texas became known as George W. Bush’s childhood home, it was at the center of one of the biggest media events in US history—Baby Jessica’s 2½ days trapped in a well. On Oct. 14, 1987, 18-month-old Jessica McClure—left alone for moments in her aunt’s backyard—fell into an 8-in.-wide, 22-ft.-deep abandoned well. It was 58 hours before she was finally rescued. One of the images of Jessica’s bandaged face as she was being pulled from the well won a Pulitzer Prize13).
In the rare interviews she has granted since becoming old enough to talk, McClure has revealed that she remembers nothing of the event and views her scars with “pride” because she “survived”. The 24-year-old is now married with a young son and has a little less than a year to go before she will gain access to a trust fund worth $1 million—money donated in her name by well-wishers for the toddler who got through nearly three days of terror by singing Winnie the Pooh songs.
人们知道得克萨斯州的米德兰市是因为这里是乔治·W·布什的儿时居住地,其实这座城市在以此闻名之前,就早已经是人们关注的焦点,这里曾发生了美国历史上最为轰动的新闻事件 —— 一个名叫杰茜卡的婴儿在一口井里被困了整整两天半的时间。1987年10月14日,由于一时疏于照看,18个月大的杰茜卡·麦克卢尔在其姑妈的后院里掉进了一口8英寸宽、22英尺深的废井中。58个小时过后,她才被救出来。杰茜卡从井里被救出时脸缠绷带的一张照片获得了普利策奖。
等麦克卢尔渐渐长大并会说话后,她接受过为数不多的几次采访。其间她直言不讳地透露,她一点也不记得当时发生的事了,但她为自己身上的伤疤而“自豪”,因为她“死里逃生”了。如今24岁的她已经结婚生子。再过不到一年的时间,她就能拿到一笔价值一百万美元的信托基金。这笔钱是由善心人捐赠在她名下的,为了褒奖那时尚在蹒跚学步的她能够靠着哼唱《小熊维尼》里的歌熬过近三天的恐惧日子。
NASA Saves the Hubble抢修哈勃望远镜
Nineteen years is a long time for a machine. The Hubble Space Telescope14) began its outer-space adventures in April 1990, but by the early 2000s its batteries were drained and its sensors weren’t sensing. NASA had repaired the telescope four times before, for mostly minor fixes. This time, the Hubble needed a complete makeover15). After scrapping16) a 2004 repair mission, NASA changed its mind, and in 2009 a team of astronauts from the space shuttle Atlantis made their way out to the failing telescope. They used a giant armlike device to yank the Hubble out of its orbit and place it in the Atlantis’ cargo bay. Five spacewalks later, the Hubble was released back into space. It will continue to operate through at least 2014. When the telescope finally gives out17), it will likely be taken out of service.
对于一台机器而言,运行19年可是够久的了。1990年4月,哈勃太空望远镜开始了它的外太空探险之旅,然而进入2000年后,它的电池逐渐耗尽,传感器也无法自动检测了。之前,美国国家航空航天局也对这台望远镜进行过四次维修,但大多只是小修小补。而这一次,哈勃需要进行彻底的大修了。在放弃2004年的维修行动后,美国国家航空航天局改变了主意。2009年,一组宇航员乘坐“亚特兰蒂斯号”太空飞船,来至这台无法运行的望远镜跟前。他们用一台巨大的臂形装置,用力将哈勃拔出其所在的轨道,并将其放入“亚特兰蒂斯号”的货舱之中。经历五次太空行走后,宇航员最终将哈勃重新送入了太空。这一次它将至少能运行到2014年年底。这台望远镜最后将电耗尽之时,可能就将是它“退休”之日了。
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 乌拉圭空军571航班
On Oct. 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force flight 571 crashed in the Andes mountains. On board were members of the Uruguayan rugby team and their friends and family—45 people in all. Their chance of survival was so grim that the search mission was called off18) after just eight days. Some were killed instantly, while others succumbed to19) injuries and the mountain cold. As the days went by, survivors were left with few options and little hope. Their sparse food supplies—a few chocolate bars and some bottles of wine—did not last long, and eventually they made a group decision to eat flesh from the bodies of their dead friends and teammates. In the end, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa trekked20) for 12 days across the mountains to secure their rescue and that of 14 other passengers on Dec. 23, 1972. They had lived an astonishing 72 days on the snow-covered mountaintop after the crash. The story of their survival inspired the 1993 film Alive.
1972年10月13日,乌拉圭空军571航班在安第斯山脉撞毁,当时机上载有乌拉圭橄榄球队的队员及其朋友和家人,总共45人。由于生还机会微乎其微,因此撞机八天搜索行动即宣告停止。一部分人在撞机后当场丧生,另一部分人则因无法忍受伤痛和山区严寒而死。日子一天一天过去,幸存者渐渐地绝望了,他们几乎没有选择的余地。在仅存的一点点食物——几块巧克力和几瓶葡萄酒——被消耗一空后,他们最终共同作出了一个决定:吃死去的朋友和队友身上的肉。最后,南多·帕拉多和罗伯托·卡内萨翻山越岭地艰难跋涉12天,于1972年12月23日争取到了救援,挽救了自己和其他14名乘客的生命。撞机后,他们在白雪皑皑的山顶度过了72天,太不可思议了。1993年的电影《天劫余生》正是受他们真实的逃生经历启发而创作的。
A Sunken Submarine潜艇沉没
On the morning of May 23, 1939, the USS21) Squalus sunk. The brand-new, state-of-the-art22) submarine was conducting a routine test dive off the coast of New Hampshire when an induction valve23) failed. Water rushed into the submarine’s engine room as well as the crew’s cabin. Twenty-six men immediately drowned. When the Squalus’ sister submarine located the sunken vessel, 33 men were still alive and able to communicate via Morse code24). “Conditions satisfactory but cold,” telegraphed Squalus’ commander, Lieut. Oliver F. Naquin.
Navy divers led by Charles Momsen— inventor of an escape breathing apparatus called the Momsen Lung—used a rescue bell25), a small vessel tethered26) to a ship that could be submerged and attached to the sub’s escape hatch. It took four separate rescue trips, but all 33 men were brought to shore safely. The final survivors reached the surface just after midnight on May 25.
1939年5月23日早晨,美国海军“角鲨号”潜艇沉没。当时,这艘崭新的、代表了世界最先进水平的潜艇正在新罕布什尔州的海岸附近进行一次常规潜水试验,忽然有一处送水阀失灵,海水急速地涌入潜艇的轮机舱和船员舱内,26个人当即溺亡。当“角鲨号”的姊妹潜艇发现沉没的船体时,有33个人还活着,并能通过摩斯电码与外界保持联系。“角鲨号”潜艇最高指挥官、海军上尉奥利弗·F·纳奎因在电码中说:“状况尚可,但是很冷。”
在逃生呼吸设备“莫森肺”的发明者查尔斯·莫森的带领下,海军潜水员采用了一种钟型救援船前往营救,这种小型船只能够系在能潜水的大船上,同时能与潜艇的逃生舱相连接。救援共分四次进行,最终,潜艇里的33个人全部被安全地带上了岸。5月25日午夜刚过,最后一批幸存者也“浮”出了水面。
Under the Haitian Rubble 海地瓦砾堆下的幸存者
With each day that passed following Haiti’s devastating 7.3-magnitude earthquake, the odds of uncovering anyone alive underneath the rubble plummeted27). When survivors were found on days five, seven and eleven, the world called it incredible. But when Darlene Etienne emerged after 15 days there was only one word to describe her perseverance: miraculous. She was extremely dehydrated and had a broken leg, but the 17-year-old survivor was otherwise healthy as French rescue workers pulled her out of a house’s rubble near St. Gerard University.
发生在海地的具有摧毁性质的7.3级地震发生后,在瓦砾堆下发现生还人员的几率每天都在骤降。当在震后第五天、第七天乃至第十一天,仍能找到幸存者时,全世界都惊呼“匪夷所思”。然而,当达琳·埃蒂安在震后第15天生还之时,我们只能用一个词来形容她的毅力:奇迹!在圣杰拉德大学附近一所房屋的废墟中,法国救援人员将这名17岁的幸存者抬了出来,当时的她除了严重脱水和断了一条腿外,身体并无大碍。
1. China’s Mining Miracle:此处指2010年3月28日在山西省发生的王家岭煤矿透水事故。事故发生后,经历八天八夜的奋战,最终共有115名幸存者获救。
2. ensue [In5sju:] vi. 跟着发生,继起
3. buoy [bCI] vt. 支撑,鼓励
4. shaft [FB:ft] n. 隧道,井筒
5. glucose [5^lu:kEus] n. 葡萄糖
6. raft [rB:ft] n. 救生艇,救生筏
7. bob [bCb] vi. 上下移动,上下漂动
8. frigid [5frIdVId] adj. 寒冷的,特别冷的
9. mesmerize [5mezmEraIz] vt. 使迷惑,迷住
10. stall [stC:l] vt. 使(飞机)失速
11. culprit [5kQlprIt] n. 犯人
12. ditching [5dItFIN] n. 水上迫降
13. Pulitzer Prize:普利策奖,1917年根据美国报业巨头约瑟夫·普利策的遗愿设立,20世纪七八十年代已经发展成为美国新闻界的最高荣誉奖。
14. Hubble Space Telescope:哈勃太空望远镜
15. makeover [5meIkEuvE] n. 翻新
16. scrap [skrAp] vt. 放弃,抛弃
17. give out:耗尽,用尽
18. call off:放弃,取消
19. succumb to:被压垮,死于
20. trek [trek] vi. 艰苦跋涉
21. USS:United States Ship的缩写 ,美国军舰
22. state-of-the-art:先进的,尖端技术的
23. induction valve:送水阀
24. Morse code:摩斯电码,由美国人艾尔菲德·维尔发明,是一种时通时断的信号代码,这种信号代码通过不同的排列顺序来表达不同的英文字母、数字和标点符号等。
25. bell [bel] n. 钟形船,一种中空的、通常倒置的船,能用于潜入水面下深处。
26. tether [5teTE] vt. 捆绑,束缚
27. plummet [5plQmIt] vi. 骤降,骤跌