课文阅读
Against All Odds-1

When Stephen Hawking returned to St. Albans for the Christmas vacation at the end of 1962, the whole of southern England was covered in a thick blanket of snow. In his own mind, he must have known that something was wrong. The strange clumsiness he had been experiencing had occurred more frequently. At the party he threw on New Year's Eve, he had difficulties pouring a glass of wine, and most of the liquid ended up on the tablecloth.

After a series of examinations, he was told that he had a rare and incurable disease called ALS. The disease affects the patient's nerves in the spinal cord and the parts of the brain which control motor functions. The body gradually wastes away, but the mind remains unaffected. Hawking just happened to be studying theoretical physics, one of the very few jobs for which the mind is the only real tool needed. This, however, gave little comfort to the twenty-one-year-old who, like everyone else, had seen a normal life ahead of him rather than a death sentence. The doctors had given him two years.

Hawking was deeply shocked by the news and experienced a time of deep depression. He shut himself away and listened to a great deal of loud music. He kept thinking, 'How could something like this happen to me? Why should I be cut off like this?' There seemed very little point in continuing with his research because he might not live long enough to finish his PhD. For a while he quite naturally believed that there was nothing to live for. If he was going to die within a few years, then why bother to do anything now? He would live out his time span and then die. That was his fate.

It was not long, however, before he dragged himself out of his depression and back to work. In the hospital, he had seen a boy die of leukaemia in the bed opposite him, and it had not been a pretty sight. He realised that clearly there were people who were worse off than him. At least, his condition didn't make him feel ill. Whenever he felt like pitying himself, he remembered that boy.

参考译文
不计成败

1962年年底，当史蒂芬.霍金返回圣.奥尔本过圣诞假期时，整个英国南部已被厚厚的大雪覆盖。在他的意识里，他一定知道有什么东西出问题了。在他身上发生的奇怪而笨拙的现象开始频繁发生。新年前夕的聚会上，他艰难地倒了一杯酒，大部分都倾到桌布上了。

经过一系列体检，他被告知得了一种罕见、不可治愈的疾病，叫肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS）。这种疾病可以影响病人的脊髓神经和大脑内控制运动功能的区域。身体会慢慢衰弱，而大脑丝毫不受影响。霍金当时正在研究理论物理，这是仅有的少数真正只需大脑思考就可以进行的研究。然而，这几乎不能给这个21岁的年轻人任何安慰，像其他每个人一样，渴望的是正常的生活，而不是死刑。医生认为他只能再活两年。

霍金被这一消息深深震撼了，一度陷入深度抑郁中。他把自己关起来，听大量喧闹的音乐。他不停地想：为什么这样的事会落在我头上？我怎么能摆脱掉呢？由于他可能不能活到完成博士学位那天，他觉得继续研究已经没有什么意义了。当时他当然相信没有什么值得活下去了。如果几年后就要死去，为什么还要自寻麻烦做事呢？干脆坐等死亡来临好了。这是他的命运。

然而，不久他就摆脱抑郁重返工作中了。在医院，他看到对面病床的男孩死于白血病，这不是一个微不足道的场景。霍金清楚地意识到，世上还有比自己更不幸的人。至少，他的病并不让他感到不舒服。不管什么时候想自怜时，他就想起这个男孩。

词汇释义

1.blanket n. 毛毯

例句：
The traveler wrapped himself with a blanket.
旅行者用毯子把自己裹上。

2.clumsiness n. 笨拙,粗陋,不漂亮

例句：
Pardon me my clumsiness.
原谅我的笨拙。

3.end up 结束,告终

例句：
If you continue to steal you'll end up in prison.
你要是继续行窃终归得进监狱.

4.tablecloth n. 桌布,台布

例句：
I'll dust the table before putting the tablecloth on.
我要在铺台布以前先把桌上的灰掸干净。

5.incurable adj. 不能医治的,不能矫正的,无救的

例句：
The child has an incurable habit.
那孩子有个无法矫正的习惯。

6.spinal cord 脊髓

例句：
To kill(cattle) by cutting the spinal cord.
杀牛用将脊柱砍断的方法杀（牛等）

7.waste away 日益消瘦, 日渐衰弱

例句：
He is wasting away from disease.
他因病消瘦不少。

8.unaffected adj.自然的, 不娇揉造作的; 未被感动的, 未受影响的;

例句：
The house was unaffected by the strong wind.
那楝房子未被强风吹动。

9.shut away 关起来

例句：
She shut herself away in her country house.
她把自己关在别墅里。

10.live out vt. 活过

例句：
I doubt if she'll live out the winter.
我看她活不过今年冬季。

11.drag out of 把…从…中拉出

例句：
The newspaper reporters wanted to know why I had resigned form the cabinet but wild horses wouldn't drag it out of me.
新闻记者想知道我为什么辞去内阁职务，但是他们休想从我这里探到口风。

语法讲解

1.The strange clumsiness he had been experiencing had occurred more frequently.

【参考译文】在他身上发生的奇怪而笨拙的现象开始频繁发生。
【结构分析】该句的主语是“The strange clumsiness he had been experiencing”，谓语是“had occurred ”。

2.There seemed very little point in continuing with his research because he might not live long enough to finish his PhD.

【参考译文】由于他可能不能活到完成博士学位那天，他觉得继续研究已经没有什么意义了。
【结构分析】这里的“very little point in doing...”是个固定搭配，意思是“做某事没有意义”。类似的表达还有：there is no point doing sth. 做某事无意义。