生存奇迹
Miraculous survival
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English–
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。
the show that brings you an interesting topic, authentic listening practice and six new items of vocabulary.
该节目会奉上有趣的话题，地道的听力练习，以及六个新词汇。
I'm Dan…
我是丹……
And I'm Neil.
我是尼尔。
In this episode we’ll be discussing miraculous survivals.
在这期节目中，我们要讨论生存奇迹。
Have you ever had a near-death experience, Neil?
尼尔，你曾有过濒死的经历吗？
A near-death experience, meaning a situation where I very nearly died?
濒死经历，就是我差点死掉的情况？
Well, I once fell off the side of a mountain, but I was saved by a tree.
嗯，有一次我从山上掉下来，但被一棵树救了。
That's incredible!
真是不可思议啊！
Why do you ask?
你问这个干嘛？
Well, I recently heard a story about Alcides Moreno.
这个嘛，最近我听到了一个关于阿尔喀德斯·莫雷诺的故事。
Who's that?
这个人是谁？
He's a window cleaner.
他是一个玻璃窗清洁工，
He cleaned the windows on the sky scrapers in New York.
在纽约清洁摩天大楼的窗户。
Except one day, he fell.
有一天，他摔了下来。
Oh my goodness.
噢，我的天啊。
Yes.
是啊，
And what's more is,
但更重要的是，
he survived.
他活下来了。
Wow!
哇哦！
How far did he fall?
他摔出去多远？
Ah, well, all will be revealed after this week's question.
啊，先看本周的问题，再来揭晓所有答案。
According to the BBC, what chance of survival does a human have when falling to the ground from around 3 storeys?
根据本期BBC节目，一个人从约三层楼高的地方摔下来，生存的几率有多大？
a) 30% b) 50% c) 70%
a) 30% b) 50% c) 70%
And by storeys, you mean the entire floor of a building including all its rooms.
这里说的“楼层”，指的是包括所有房间在内的一栋建筑的整层楼。
Well, I think it’s got to be b) 50%.
嗯，我觉得答案应该是b) 50%。
Well, we'll find out if you're right or not later.
我们一会儿就知道你的答案是否正确了。
So, do you want to hear the story?
那么你想不想听听这个故事呢？
Of course!
当然了！
Well, on the 7th of December, Ecuadorians Alcides Moreno, and his brother, Edgar, went up to the top of the Solow Tower in New York to clean the windows like they did every day.
12月7日，厄瓜多尔人阿尔喀德斯·莫雷诺和他的兄弟埃德加像往常一样，上到了位于纽约的索洛塔顶部清洁窗户。
And how tall is that building?
这栋建筑有多高？
It's 47 storeys.
47层。
And how did they usually clean it?
他们平时是怎么清洁的呢？
Well, they used a scaffold, which is a structure of interconnected pipes and boards that creates a frame or shape.
他们会使用脚手架，也就是有着相互连结的管道和板子的结构体，可以搭建出框架或是形状。
Ah, so in this case there was a platform which was attached by cables, or large metal ropes,
啊，所以在这种情况下，就有了一个装有缆绳或是巨大金属绳索的平台，
and hung over the edge of the building and which the window cleaners could raise and lower.
悬挂在建筑物的边缘，窗户清洁工就可以上下工作了。
Exactly.
没错。
So, as usual they filled up their buckets and climbed on to the scaffold.
所以他们像往常一样，将桶装满，爬上了脚手架。
And…
然后……
Well, unfortunately the cables were loose, and the scaffold fell from the building.
不幸的是缆绳松开了，脚手架从楼上掉了下来。
Both brothers fell 47 storeys.
两兄弟都从47层楼上摔了下来。
That's terrible!
真是太可怕了！
What happened next?
后来怎么样了？
I'll let Jo Fidgen, presenter of the BBC show Outlook, explain.
我们来让BBC《展望》节目的主持人乔·菲詹来解释一下吧。
When firefighters arrived on the scene, they found a crowd of distraught onlookers pointing towards an alleyway.
消防员赶到现场的时候，看到一群慌乱的旁观者指向一条小巷。
Edgar had landed on a fence and couldn't be helped,
埃德加掉在了栅栏上，当场死亡，
but Alcides was found crouching in a pile of twisted metal still clutching the controls of the scaffold.
但阿尔喀德斯蜷缩在一堆变形的金属中，还紧紧地抓着脚手架的控制装置。
He was breathing…even trying to stand up…
他还有呼吸……甚至试图站起来……
So, firefighters arrived to find a group of distraught, which means extremely worried and upset,
所以，消防员赶来后，看到了慌乱的人们，即极度担心、烦乱的人们，
people showing them where the two men had come down.
他们向消防员指出这两个人是在哪里掉下来的。
Yes, and though, unfortunately, Edgar didn't survive,
对，但不幸的是埃德加没能存活下来，
Alcides was found clutching, or holding extremely tightly, to the controls of the scaffold.
阿尔喀德斯抓着，或者说紧握着脚手架的控制装置。
Did I hear correctly that he was trying to stand up?
他还试图站起来？我没听错吧？
Did he escape the accident unscathed?
他毫发无损地逃过了这场事故？
Unscathed means without any injury at all.
毫发无损的意思是说丝毫没有受伤。
And, no, he fell into a coma for 3 weeks and he needed 24 pints of blood.
但不是的，他昏迷了三周，需要24品脱血。
I'm speechless.
真是让人咋舌。
I don't understand how he lived.
我不明白他是怎么活下来的。
You aren't the only one.
你不是唯一一个对此感到疑惑的人。
Listen to what Dr. Philip Barie, from New York-Presbyterian Hospital, said about the whole incident.
听听来自纽约长老会医院的菲利普·巴列医生对整个事件是怎么看的吧。
I don't know what adjective you'd care to use: unprecedented, extraordinary…
我不知道你们想使用什么形容词：史无前例的，非同寻常的……
if you are a believer in miracles, this would be one.
如果你们相信奇迹的话，你们可以用这个词。
Wow.
哇哦。
So he can’t explain it either.
所以他也解释不了咯。
He said it was unprecedented which means never happened or done before.
他说这是史无前例的，意思是之前从未发生过。
Yes, and he also said that this was a miracle,
对，他也说这是一个奇迹，
which is an unexplainable positive outcome to a bad situation that people say was the intervention of a god.
即在糟糕的情况下，一个无法解释的，积极的结果，人们说这是神对这件事的干预。
I guess we'll never know.
我猜我们永远也不会知道了。
But one thing I can know is the answer to this week's question.
但我所能知道的，是这周问题的答案。
Ah, yes.
啊，对。
I asked you what chance of survival does a human have when falling to the ground from around 3 storeys?
我问过你，人从约三层楼的高的地方摔到地上，生存的几率有多大？
a) 30% b) 50% c) 70%
a) 30% b) 50% c) 70%
And I said b) 50%.
我的回答是b) 50%。
And you were exactly right.
完全正确。
Well done.
非常棒。
Wow!
哇哦！
It's a first!
这可是第一次！
Shall we look at the vocabulary then?
接下来我们看看词汇吧？
First we had a near-death experience, which is an experience where a person very nearly, or could easily have died.
首先是“濒死经历”，意思是一个人差点儿就死了，或者非常容易死亡。
Have you ever had one, Dan?
你曾经有过这样的经历吗，丹？
When I was 14 I fell out of a canoe into a river and got stuck between the boat and a rock with my head underwater.
14岁的时候，我从一艘独木舟上掉到了河里，头在水下，我被卡在了船和一块石头之间。
I thought it was the end. But, some people pulled me out.
我觉得我完了。但有人把我拉了出来。
Then we had scaffold.
然后是脚手架这个词。
A scaffold is a structure of interconnected pipes and boards that creates a frame or shape.
脚手架是指有着相互连结的管道和板子的结构体，可以搭建出框架或是形状。
Name a place that you might see scaffolding, Neil.
说出一个你可以看得到脚手架的地方，尼尔。
They are usually put up around houses when builders are working on the roof.
施工人员在房顶工作的时候，经常会在房屋周围搭建脚手架。
Then we had clutching.
然后我们学了紧握这个词。
If you clutch something, it means you hold it extremely tightly.
如果你紧握着某样东西，意思是说你紧紧地抓着它。
There is a well-known idiom that uses this word. Sound familiar, Dan?
有一个众所周知的习语里就用到了这个词。听起来耳熟吗，丹？
Ah, you're clutching at straws, Neil, which means you are trying to find a reason or hope to succeed when it’s extremely unlikely.
啊，抓住救命稻草。意思是没什么希望的情况下，你试图找到取得成功的一个理由或是一丝希望。
What was after that?
这之后是什么呢？
After that we had unscathed.
之后我们学习了毫发无损这个词。
If you are unscathed, you are uninjured.
如果说你毫发无损，就是说你没有受伤。
We often talk about escaping something unscathed.
我们常说，从某种境况中逃脱而没有受伤。
Have you ever escaped an accident unscathed?
你有过从事故中逃脱但毫发无损的经历吗？
Well, when I was 6, I fell through a hole that some builders had made while doing renovation.
我6岁的时候，掉进了一个施工人员翻新建筑的时候挖的洞里。
I hit the ground in the garage, but somehow I escaped unscathed.
我在车库里撞到了地面，但我不知怎么地，毫发无所地逃脱了。
Maybe, I bounced?
可能是我弹起来了？
Then we heard unprecedented.
然后我们听到了“史无前例的”这个词。
If something is unprecedented, it has never happened or been done before.
如果某件事是“史无前例的”，那它之前从未发生过，也未被做过。
Can you think of an example, Neil?
你能想出来一个例子吗，尼尔？
Neil Armstrong walking on the moon was unprecedented in 1969.
1969年，尼尔·阿姆斯特朗踏上月球，这是史无前例的。
And, finally, we had miracle.
最后，我们学习了奇迹这个词。
A miracle is an unexplainable positive outcome to a bad situation that people say was the intervention of a god.
奇迹是指在糟糕的情况下，一个无法解释的，积极的结果，人们说这是神对这件事的干预。
The adjectives is miraculous.
它的形容词是“奇迹般的”。
Do you believe in miracles, Dan?
你相信奇迹吗，丹？
Well, I've never seen or experienced one,
我从未见过，也未曾经历过奇迹，
but when you hear a story like this, it's difficult not to.
但当你听到像这样的故事时，你很难不相信。
And, that's the end of today's 6 Minute English.
今天的6分钟英语就到这里啦。
Please join us again soon!
我们下期再会！
And we are on social media too - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
我们也有社交媒体，记得访问我们的Twitter, Facebook, Instagram 和 YouTube。
See you there.
我们那里见哦。
Bye!
再见！