沒有什么不可能

I never considered myself unique， but people are constantly telling me， \"you are a miracle.\" To me， I was just an ordinary \"guy\" with realistic goals and big dreams. I was a 19-year-old student in the University of Texas and well on my way toward fulfilling my \"big dream\" of one day becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

我從未覺得自己與眾不同，但人們常對我說：“你的生命是個奇跡。”對我而言，我只是一個普通人，有著現(xiàn)實的目標和遠大的理想。我曾是德克薩斯大學一名19歲的大學生，在通向理想之路上信步前行，夢想有一天我會成為一名整形外科醫(yī)生。

On the night of February 17， 1981 I was studying for an Organic Chemistry test at the library with Sharon， my girlfriend. Sharon had asked me to drive her back to her dormitory as it was getting quite late. We got into my car andI quickly noticed that my gas gauge was registered on empty so I pulled into a nearby convenience store to buy $2.00 worth of gas. \"I'll be back in two minutes，\" I yelled at Sharon as I closed the door. But instead， those two minutes changed my life forever.

1981年2月17日的晚上，我和女友沙倫在為有機化學測試做準備。因為太晚了，沙倫叫我駕車把她送回宿舍。我們鉆進汽車，我很快發(fā)現(xiàn)油表空了，于是我把車泊在附近的一家便利店旁，想買兩塊錢的汽油。“我兩分鐘就回來，”關上車門我朝沙倫喊到。但就是這短短的兩分鐘改變了我一生的命運。

I was just another statistic of a violent crime. I thought I was entering an empty store， but suddenly I realized it was not empty at all. Three robbers were in the process of committing a robbery and my entrance into the store caught them by surprise. One of the criminals immediately shoved a 38 caliber handgun to my head， ordered me to the cooler pushed me down on the floor and pumped a bullet into the back of my head - execution style. The trio of thieves finished robbing the store and left calmly.

我還以為店里沒有人，但我突然發(fā)現(xiàn)我錯了——有3個匪徒正在打劫這家店，而我的進入讓他們有些驚慌失措。其中一個匪徒迅速掏出一把口徑為38毫米的手槍用力指著我的頭，勒令我走到冷凍機旁，然后把我推倒在地，像執(zhí)行死刑般從后面朝我頭部開了一槍。打劫完后3個劫匪逃之夭夭。

When the police arrived they immediately called the homicide division as they did not think I would survive and the paramedic reported that she had never seen a person so severely wounded survive. At 1:30 a.m. my parents who lived in Houston， were awakened by a telephone call from Brackenridge Hospital advising them to come to Austin as soon as possible for they feared I would not make it through the night.

警察來了，他們很快斷定是殺人案，因為沒人相信我還能活過來，而救護人員說她從來沒有見過傷勢如此嚴重的人可以逃離死劫。下午一點半，我住在奧斯汀的父母被來自布萊肯瑞吉醫(yī)院的電話鈴驚醒，醫(yī)院通知他們盡快趕到奧斯汀，因為他們認為我熬不過當晚了。

But I did make it through the night and early in the morning the neurosurgeon decided to operate. However， he quickly informed my family and Sharon that my chances of surviving the surgery were only 40/60. If this were not bad enough， the neurosurgeon further shocked my family by telling them what life would be like for me if I beat the odds and survived. He said I probably would never walk ， talk or be able to understand even simple commands.

但那晚我挺了過來，第二天清晨神經外科醫(yī)生決定給我動手術。但他立即告知我的家人和沙倫我存活的機會只有40%。然后他還雪上加霜地告訴我的家人，向他們描述如果我萬幸活下來將面臨怎樣的生活——我可能再也不會走路了，不會說話了，甚至不能理解一些極其簡單的命令。這些對我的家人來說都是莫大的打擊。

I beat the odds and survived the three and a half hours of surgery. Luckily， I still could not talk and my entire right side was paralyzed.

在經歷了3個半小時的手術之后，我僥幸活了下來。醫(yī)生的話得到了應驗，我不能說話，整個右邊的身體癱瘓了。

My hallucinations， coupled with my physical problems， made my prognosis still very bleak. However， as time passed my mind began to clear and approximately six weeks later my right leg began to move ever so slightly. Within seven weeks my right arm slowly began to move and after eight weeks I uttered my first few words.

意識上的幻覺和生理上的病疾使我的病情預斷非常的渺茫。然而時間的飛逝使我的意識開始變得清晰，大約6個星期以后我的右腿可以輕微地活動了，7周以后我的右臂開始緩慢地活動了，8周以后我終于開口說話了。

My speech was extremely difficult and slow in the beginning， but at least it was a beginning. I was starting to look forward to each new day to see how far I would progress. But just as I thought my life was finally looking brighter I was tested by the hospital europsychologist. She explained to me that judging from my test results she believed that I should not focus on returning to college but that it would be better to set more \"realistic goals.\"

說話對于我非常的艱難并且開始的時候說得很慢，但是總算是開頭了。我開始寄希望于新的一天的到來，祈望著新的進步。但正當我以為生活總算初露光明的時候，醫(yī)院里有個歐洲來的心理學家對我做了測試。她向我解釋到，從檢測的結果來看她堅信我不能再重返學校，勸我對此不要抱有任何希望，希望我最好樹立些更現(xiàn)實點的目標。

Upon hearing her evaluation I became furious for I thought : \"Who is she to tell me what I can or cannot do. She does not even know me. I am a very determined and stubborn person!\" I believe it was at that very moment that I decided I would somehow and someday return to college.

她的這番結論讓我怒不可遏，“她是誰，憑什么告訴我能做什么或不能做什么。她根本不了解我。我是很堅強而固執(zhí)的人！”我相信就在那時我決定無論如何，總有一天我會返回學校的。

It took me a long time and a lot of hard work but I finally returned to the University of Texas in the fall of 1983 — a year and a half after almost dying. The next few years in Austin were very difficult for me， but I truly believe that in order to see beauty in life you have to experience some unpleasantness. Maybe I have experienced too much unpleasantness， but I believe in living each day to the fullest and doing the very best I can.

在經歷了一年半垂死掙扎的生活后，在漫長的等待和艱辛的付出后，終于在1983年的秋天，我返回了德克薩斯大學。在奧斯汀接下來的幾年里我生活得非常艱難，但我確信為了看到生活中的真善美你必須要經歷一些苦難。也許我經歷的苦難太多了，但我有一個信念——充實地過每一天，盡力做到最好。

As I climbed the steps to receive my diploma from the Dean of Liberal Arts in the University of Texas on that bright sunny afternoon in June of 1986，excitement and pride filled my heart as I heard the dean announce that I had graduated with \"highest honors\"， been elected to Phi Beta Kappa and been chosen as one of 12 Dean's Distinguished Graduates out of 1600 in the College of Liberal Arts.

1986年6月那個陽光明媚的午后，當我步履蹣跚地走上德克薩斯大學迪安文學院的臺階接受文憑的時候；當我聽到院長宣布我以最高榮譽畢業(yè)的時候，我的心中充滿了驕傲和自信。接著他還宣布我被選入美國大學優(yōu)等生榮譽學會，并在1600名畢業(yè)生中當選為12名迪安文學院的杰出畢業(yè)生之一。

The overwhelming emotions and feelings that I experienced at that very moment， when most of the audience gave me a standing ovation， I said to myself: \"Nothing is impossible and never， never give up！\"

當場有許多觀眾站起來為我鼓掌，那一刻令我心潮澎湃、百感交集。我對自己說：“沒有什么是不可能的，只要絕不放棄!”

能說會用

give up：放棄(念頭、希望等)， 停止， 拋棄， 認輸， 把……送交， <口>對……絕望(=give up)

如：You ought to give up smoking; I gave it up last year.你應該戒煙，我去年就戒掉了。

give up a secret泄露秘密

◆編輯：夏天兒