Words to Know

steer [stIE] vt. 驾驶
=direct the course of (a boat, ship, car, etc)
e.g. He steered the ship carefully between the rocks.
他小心地在礁石间驾驶船。

strain [streIn] n. 过度紧张
=severe demand on one's strength
e.g. Do you suffer from the strain of modern life?
你苦于现代生活的紧张吗？

sullen [5sQlEn] a. 郁郁寡欢
=showing a brooding ill humor or silent resentment
e.g. The sullen girl refused to answer her mother's questions.
那个郁郁寡欢的女孩拒绝回答她母亲的问题。

subdued [sQb5djJd] a. 抑郁的；闷闷不乐的
=gloomy; glum; sulky
e.g. She felt lonely and subdued in a strange city.
她在一个陌生的城市里感到孤独和忧郁。

tumor [5tju:mE] n. 肿瘤
=an abnormal growth of tissue resulting from uncontrolled, progressive multiplication of cells and serving no physiological function; a neoplasm
e.g. The surgeon removed a tumor from her brain.
医生从她脑中取出了肿瘤。

blurt [blE:t] vt. 脱口而出
=utter suddenly and impulsively
e.g. Peter blurted out the news before he considered the consequence.
彼得未考虑后果就把消息泄露了。

intently ad. 凝视地
=firmly fixed; with all one's attention
e.g. He was examining the stamps intently.
他正在专注地检查邮票。

mope [mEJp] vi. 无精打采地游荡
=move in a leisurely or aimless mannere.g. He has been moping about all day.
他整日到处闲逛。

porch [pC:tF] n. 门廊
=a covered platform, usually having a separate roof, at an entrance to a building
e.g. He found his lost key in the porch.
他在门廊找到了丢的钥匙。

sparerib [5spZErIb] n. 排骨
=rib of pork with most of the meat cut off
e.g. We'll have sparerib soup for dinner.
晚饭吃排骨汤。

nauseate [5nC:sIeIt] vt. 使恶心
=feel or cause to feel nausea
e.g. He was nauseated by the movement of the ship.
轮船的晃动使他觉得恶心。

tissue [5tIsju:] n. 组织
=an aggregation of morphologically similar cells and associated intercellular matter acting together to perform one or more specific functions in the body
e.g. The body is made up of various tissues such as muscle tissue and nerve tissue.
人体是由各种组织构成的，如肌肉组织、神经组织等。

chemotherapy [9kemEJ5WerEpI] n. 化疗
=the treatment of cancer using specific chemical agents or drugs that are selectively destructive to malignant cells and tissues
e.g. Chemotherapy is one of the few choices in the treatment of cancer.
化疗是治疗癌症有限的几种方法之一。

rundown a. 破败的
=dirty and dilapidated
e.g. The government decided to begin a series of rundown housing projects.
政府决定开展一系列的失修住房改造项目。

howl [haJl] vi. 嚎叫
=utter or emit a long, mournful, plaintive sound
e.g. The dog howled when it was shut in the house.
狗被关在屋子里时，它就叫起来。

rot [rRt] vt. 使腐烂
=cause to decompose or decay
e.g. Oil and grease will rot the rubber of the tyre.
油污会腐蚀轮胎的橡胶。

toll [tEJl]
n.
(1)通行税；过桥费
=payment required for the use of a road, bridge, harbor, etc
(2)[常用单数]代价, 牺牲, 死亡人数
=(fig) sth. paid, lost or suffered
e.g. Automobile accidents take a heavy toll of human lives.
车祸使许多人丧生。
v. (为报死亡时刻、噩耗等)鸣钟; 敲钟
=(of a bell) ring with slow, regular strokes
e.g. Whose death is being tolled?
在为谁敲丧钟？

publicity [pQb5lIsItI]
n.
(1)宣传；广告；宣传业务
=providing information to win public interest
e.g. There has not been much publicity about this conference at the top level.
对这次高级会议没有作什么宣传。
(2)为人人所知所见之情况; 出风头
=the state of being known to, seen by, everyone
e.g. I sympathized with those heads of state who live their lives in the full blaze of publicity.
我真同情那些在众目睽睽之下过生活的国家元首们。

Phrases & Expressions

silent as the grave 死一般沉寂
e.g. After his speech, the hall was silent as the grave.
在他的讲话结束之后，礼堂里是死一般的沉寂。

deprive … of … 剥夺某人或某物…的权利

deprive [dI5praIv] vt. 剥夺
=take something away from
e.g. The court ruling deprived us of any share in the inheritance.
法庭裁决剥夺了我们全部的继承权。

light up 露出笑容
e.g. The child was so happy that its face lit up with pleasure.
孩子是如此的高兴以至于脸上露出了喜悦的笑容。

take a deep breath 深吸一口气
e.g. The salesman took a deep breath and started his talk.
推销员深吸了一口气，开始谈了起来。

make the best of it 尽力而为
e.g. The girl did not like to wash dishes, but she made the best of it.
这个女孩不爱洗碗，但她尽量做好。

submit…to… 向…提交…
e.g. Some students have not yet submitted their essays to their tutors.
有些学生还没有把论文交给他们的导师。

submit [sEb5mIt] vt. 呈送
=put forward for discussion, decision, etc
e.g. I hope you can submit your term papers before the deadline.
我希望你们能在最后限期之前交上你们的学期论文。

cancer could be approached with openness:
people could talk about cancer openly and there was nothing to be ashamed of

approach… with openness 公开对待…
e.g. We should, above all, know how to approach the difference with openness.
首先，我们应该了解如何公开对待这种差异。

be bound to do sth. 一定会做某事
e.g. In the long run, it is bound to deepen the eventual economic collapse.
从长远角度看，这件事一定会深化最终的经济崩溃。

take one's pill 吃药丸

pill [pIl] n. 药丸；药片
=small ball or tablet of medicine for swallowing whole
e.g. Occasionally she had to take sleeping pills.
有时候，她必须借助安眠药才能入睡。

work out… 解决…
e.g. Things will work out if you will just be patient.
只要你愿意耐心一点，一切问题都会解决的。

break the ice 打破沉默；活跃气氛
e.g. There was an embarrassing silence, until one of the men broke the ice by offering the other a cigarette.
开始有一阵尴尬的沉默，直到一个人打破沉默，递给另一个人一支烟。

put…to a vote 通过选举来决定
e.g. I shall now proceed to put the matter to a vote. Will all those in favour hold up the right hand?
下面我将通过选举来决定这件事。所有赞成的人请举右手。

Elks Club:
a fraternal organization 慈善互助会

it occurred to me that:
it came to my mind that

Make Today Count:
Make Today Valuable

Difficult Sentences

Without really knowing it, all of us had been celebrating a funeral-mine-and the funeral had not even taken place yet.
我们大家都不知不觉地好像一直在办一场葬礼——我的葬礼——而这葬礼甚至还没有发生。

celebrating a funeral:
Here "celebrating" is used ironically.

"What have you got to lose by trying to live with this damned cancer?" a voice in my head asked me.
“要是你学会去正视这该死的癌症，难道你会失去什么吗？”我脑子里有一个声音问到。

to live with:
to learn to accept

The strain under which the family was living was already taking its toll. School had started, and Tammy had brought home failing slips in several of her classes.
一家人生活于癌症带来的压力之中，压力开始造成了损失。学校开学后，泰米带回的成绩单有好几门不及格。

The strain under which the family was living was already taking its toll:
The great pressure caused by my illness was starting to cause problems in the family.

The doctors say that in all probability unless something else happens first, I will die of cancer.
医生们说如果不是先出了别的意外，我多半可能死于癌症。

in all probability 很可能
e.g. I've no idea where last Saturday's newspaper is; in all probability it has been thrown away.
我不知道上周六的报纸哪去了，很可能已经被扔了。

Wanda and I had only a little money, although we had been able to make ends meet with the Social Security disability payments and Veterans Administration checks we had been receiving.
旺达和我虽然能够靠领取社会保险的伤残津贴和退伍军人管理局给的钱维持基本生活，可我们的钱还是很少。

make ends meet 勉强维持生计，收支平衡
e.g. Both husband and wife had to work to make ends meet.
夫妇双方都得工作才能勉强维持生计。

Social Security disability payments:
money paid by U.S. government to those who are too ill to work

Veterans Administration checks:
money paid to needy veterans of American wars (美国)退伍军人管理局给的钱

Although I had read about all the money being spent on cancer research, I had heard very little about the emotional rehabilitation of cancer patients and their families. The void was obvious.
虽然我读到过有关大量金钱花在进行癌症研究的报道，却很少听说有人关心如何医治癌症患者跟他们的家庭在情绪上的创伤。这方面的空白是显然存在的。

The void was obvious:
It was clear that too little attention had been given to the emotional problems faced by cancer patients and their families.

But now I knew it was up to me to deal with them.
但是现在我知道应当由我去处理这些问题。

it was up to me to deal with them:
it was I myself who should deal with them

(be) up to sb. to (do) 是…应该(做)的，是…义不容辞的
e.g. It's up to us to give them all the help we can.
我们理应尽可能给他们以帮助。