英语美文：没有什么不可能
　　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.
　　我从未觉得自己与众不同，但人们常对我说：“你的生命是个奇迹。”对我而言，我只是一个普通人，有着现实的目标和远大的理想。我曾是德克萨斯大学一名19岁的大学生，在通向理想之路上信步前行，梦想有一天我会成为一名整形外科医生。
　　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，我和女友沙伦在为有机化学测试做准备。因为太晚了，沙伦叫我驾车把她送回宿舍。我们钻进汽车，我很快发现油表空了，于是我把车泊在附近的一家便利店旁，想买两块钱的汽油。“我两分钟就回来，”关上车门我朝沙伦喊到。但就是这短短的两分钟改变了我一生的命运。
　　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.
　　我还以为店里没有人，但我突然发现我错了——有3个匪徒正在打劫这家店，而我的进入让他们有些惊慌失措。其中一个匪徒迅速掏出一把口径为38毫米的手枪用力指着我的头，勒令我走到冷冻机旁，然后把我推倒在地，像执行死刑般从后面朝我头部开了一枪。打劫完后3个劫匪逃之夭夭。
　　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.
　　警察来了，他们很快断定是杀人案，因为没人相信我还能活过来，而救护人员说她从来没有见过伤势如此严重的人可以逃离死劫。下午一点半，我住在奥斯汀的父母被来自布莱肯瑞吉医院的电话铃惊醒，医院通知他们尽快赶到奥斯汀，因为他们认为我熬不过当晚了。
　　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.
　　但那晚我挺了过来，第二天清晨神经外科医生决定给我动手术。但他立即告知我的家人和沙伦我存活的机会只有40%。然后他还雪上加霜地告诉我的家人，向他们描述如果我万幸活下来将面临怎样的生活——我可能再也不会走路了，不会说话了，甚至不能理解一些极其简单的命令。这些对我的家人来说都是莫大的打击。
　　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.
　在经历了3个半小时的手术之后，我侥幸活了下来。医生的话得到了应验，我不能说话，整个右边的身体瘫痪了。
　　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.
　　意识上的幻觉和生理上的病疾使我的病情预断非常的渺茫。然而时间的飞逝使我的意识开始变得清晰，大约6个星期以后我的右腿可以轻微地活动了，7周以后我的右臂开始缓慢地活动了，8周以后我终于开口说话了。
　　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."
　　说话对于我非常的艰难并且开始的时候说得很慢，但是总算是开头了。我开始寄希望于新的一天的到来，祈望着新的进步。但正当我以为生活总算初露光明的时候，医院里有个欧洲来的心理学家对我做了测试。她向我解释到，从检测的结果来看她坚信我不能再重返学校，劝我对此不要抱有任何希望，希望我最好树立些更现实点的目标。
　　

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