新視野大學英語讀寫教程第一冊unit3-b The Right Son at the Right Time

Section B

The Right Son at the Right Time

The story began on a downtown Brooklyn street corner. An elderly man had collapsed while crossing the street, and an ambulance rushed him to Kings County Hospital. There, when he came to now and again, the man repeatedly called for his son.
From a worn letter located in his pocket, an emergency-room nurse learned that his son was a Marine stationed in North Carolina. Apparently there were no other relatives.
Someone at the hospital called the Red Cross office in Brooklyn, and a request for the boy to rush to Brooklyn was sent to the Red Cross director of the North Carolina Marine Corps camp. Because time was short — the patient was dying — the Red Cross man and an officer set out in an army vehicle. They found the young man walking through some marshes in a military exercise. He was rushed to the airport in time to catch the sole plane that might enable him to reach his dying father.
It was dusk when the young Marine walked into the entrance lobby of Kings County Hospital. A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.
"Your son is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened. The medicine he had been given because of the pain from his heart attack made his eyes weak and he only dimly saw the young man in Marine Corps uniform standing outside the oxygen tent. He extended his hand. The Marine wrapped his strong fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought a chair, so the Marine could sit by the bed.
Nights are long in hospitals, but all through the night the young Marine sat there in the dimly-lit ward, holding the old man's hand and offering words of hope and strength. Occasionally, the nurse urged the Marine to rest for a while. He refused.
Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was there, but he paid no attention to her and the night noises of the hospital — the banging of an oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff exchanging greetings, the cries and moans and breathing of other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son through most of the night.
It was nearly dawn when the patient died. The Marine placed the lifeless hand he had been holding on the bed, and went to inform the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he smoked a cigarette, his first since he got to the hospital.
Finally, she returned to the nurse's station, where he was waiting. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her. "Who was that man?" he asked.
"He was your father," she answered, startled.
"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."
"Why didn't you say something when I took you to him?" the nurse asked.
"I knew immediately there'd been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, I guessed he really needed me. So I stayed. "
With that, the Marine turned and exited the hospital. Two days later a message came in from the North Carolina Marine Corps base informing the Brooklyn Red Cross that the real son was on his way to Brooklyn for his father's funeral. It turned out there had been two Marines with the same name and similar numbers in the camp. Someone in the personnel office had pulled out the wrong record.
But the wrong Marine had become the right son at the right time. And he proved, in a very human way, that there are people who care what happens to their fellow men.

Words: 661

NEW WORDS

elderly
a. (of people) rather old; senior; past middle age（指人）年齡相當大的；中年以上的

collapse
vi. 1. (of a person) fall down (and usu. become unconscious) because of illness, tiredness, etc. （指人）病倒；累倒；昏倒
2. break into pieces and fall down or in suddenly 倒塌；塌陷
n. 1. the act of collapsing 倒塌，塌陷
2. a sudden and complete loss of strength or will 昏倒；崩潰


ambulance
n. a truck equipped to carry sick or hurt people to hospital, etc. 救護車

county
n. 1. (in US and other countries) areas divided inside a state（美國及其他國家）郡；縣（州以下的行政區(qū)分）
2. the largest unit of local governments in Britain（英國最大行政單位）郡

locate
vt. 1. discover the exact position or place of (sb./sth.) 確定……的位置；找出……的位置
2. （尤用于被動語態(tài)）set (sth.) in a place; place 位于

emergency
n. sudden serious event or situation requiring immediate steps to be taken 緊急事件；緊急情況


emergency-room
n. a special room in hospitals where the doctors try to save the people who are in a state of life or death （醫(yī)院）急診室

marine
n. [C] a member of a group of soldiers trained to fight on land or sea 海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊的軍官或士兵
a. 1. of, near, living in the sea 海里的，海生的
2. of ships and their goods and trade at sea 海運的，海事的

apparent
a. 1. clearly seen or understood; very clear 明顯的；顯而易見的
2. seeming; unreal 外表的；表面上的；假的

apparently
ad. according to how sth. looks; as it seems 外表上；表面上；看上去像

▲corps
n. military force made up of two or more divisions 軍（由兩個或兩個以上的師組成）

vehicle
n. [C] motor equipment such as a car, truck or cart used for carrying goods or passengers on land 陸上交通工具，車輛

▲marsh
n. (area of) low-lying wet land 沼澤（地帶）；濕地

military
a. of or for soldiers or an army; of or for (all the) armed forces 軍人的；軍用的；陸軍的；軍事的；軍隊的

sole
a. 1. one and only; single 惟一的；獨一無二的；僅有的
2. belonging to or limited to one person or group; not shared（某人或某公司）專用的；獨占的；不公用的

enable
vt. 1. make (sb.) able to do sth. by giving him the necessary power or means（通過授予必要的權利和手段）使能夠；使可以
2. make (sth.) possible 使成為可能

dusk
n. [U] time after twilight and before night 黃昏；薄暮

lobby
n. an outer room, entrance-hall or room before main room(s) 門廊；門廳；接待室

dim
a. 1. (of the eyes, eyesight) not able to see well（指眼睛、視力）看不清楚的
2. where or which one cannot see well; not bright 微暗的；朦朧的

dimly
ad. in a dim way 模糊地；朦朧地


oxygen
n. [U] chemical element, a gas without color, taste or smell, present in the air and necessary for all forms of life on earth 氧；氧氣

extend
v. 1. lay or move out (the body or a limb) at full length 伸開；展開（身體或四肢）
2. make sth. longer or larger (in space or time) 使（在空間或時間上）伸展；擴大；加大

▲limp
a. 1. lacking strength or energy 無力的；沒精神的
2. not straight or firm 柔軟的；軟弱的
vi. walk with a halting step, one foot or leg moving less well than the other 一瘸一拐地走

squeeze
v. 1. press on (sth.) from opposite sides or all sides 壓；擠；榨；緊握
2. force (oneself/sb./sth.) into, through, etc. a narrow gap or limited space 用力使進入（通過）狹窄或有限的空間；擠入；擠過

▲ward
n. 1. a separate part or room for a particular group of patients 病房
2. a person, esp. a child, who is under the care of a guardian or the defense of a law court （尤指小孩）受監(jiān)護人；受保護人

occasional
a. 1. happening, coming, done, etc., from time to time; not regular 偶爾的；偶然的；不經(jīng)常的
2. used, meant, written, etc. for a special event 應時的，應景的

occasionally
ad. now and then; at times 偶然地；有時

tank
n. 1.（盛液體或氣體的）大容器；大箱；大罐
2. 坦克

laughter
n. [U] act, sound or way of laughing 笑；笑聲

staff
n. 1. a group of assistants working together in a business, etc. answering to a manager or person in charge 工作人員
2. 掌權的人；做管理工作的人（與學生和工人相對）

exchange
vt. 1. give sth. and receive sth. (from another person) in return 交換；互換；交流
2. give or receive sth./sb. (of the same kind or value) in place of another 交換

inform
v. 1. (of, about) give sb. knowledge (of sth.); tell sb. 通知；告訴；報告
2. (0n) give evidence or make a charge against sb. (to the police) 控告

sympathy
n. (ability for) sharing the feelings of others; feeling of pity and sadness (for sb.) 同情；憐憫

interrupt
vt. 1. stop (sb.) from speaking, etc., or (sth.) from happening by speaking oneself or by causing some other sort of trouble 打擾（通過插話或干擾，打斷某人的談話或其他正在發(fā)生的事情）
2. break the flow (of sth.) for a period of time 使中斷

▲startle
vt. give a sudden shock or surprise to (a person or an animal); cause to move or jump suddenly (from surprise) 使大吃一驚；使驚跳起來。

exit
vi. go out; (esp. of an actor) leave (the stage) 退出；（尤指演員）退場

n. [C] a way out 出口

funeral
n. (usu. faith based) a form of burying or burning dead people 葬禮（土葬或火葬）

personnel
n. 1. a department in a firm which deals with workers, esp. with their hiring and benefits 人事部門；人事處
2. people employed in one of the armed forces, a firm or a public office; staff 職員；人員（指軍職、公司或公職人員）

PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS

come to
recover consciousness 蘇醒，恢復知覺

now and again
sometimes 不時地，有時候

call for
demand; ask for 要求

set out
begin a journey 出發(fā)

for a while
for a period of time; for some time 一會兒；有一段時間

pay no attention to
take no notice of 不注意，沒留意

now and then
at times; sometimes 不時地，有時候，時時

with that
after doing that 接著，于是

on one's way to
in the course of the journey that one is making somewhere 在路上

turn out
happen to be; be found to be in the end 結果是；證明是

PROPER NAMES



North Carolina
（美）北卡羅來納州