生的權利

Bonnie： Hey Jer， do you have a 1）DNR or 2）living will or anything like that？ I was watching Grey’s 3）Anatomy the other day when the issue came up， ①and it got me thinking about whether or not， or at what point， I’d want my family to pull the plug on my life support.

Jeremy： I can honestly say that I’d never pull the plug on you， even though it’d be mostly for selfish reasons.

Bonnie： Selfish？ How so？

Jeremy： Because， even if you were in pain， I’d miss you too much and wouldn’t be able to let you go. Plus， I have other problems with the idea of it. ②So if you did want someone to help you end your life， you’re barking up the wrong tree.

Bonnie： Well， I haven’t decided yet. I’m still doing my due diligence.

Jeremy： Aren’t you a bit young to be thinking about things like living wills？

Bonnie： Actually， it’s never too early to consider such things. Jeremy： Alright then. Forget about the timing. You wanna know how I really feel about it？ I think the concept of Euthanasia is a 4）fallacy.

Bonnie： What do you mean a fallacy？ You don’t see it as a merciful act？

Jeremy： Merciful my ass！ ③Euthanasia， much like war and the death penalty， is just another way to 5）justify the killing of human beings and thinning out the population. ④Think about it： it lets 6）glorified murderers off the hook and gives doctors， under the guise of 7）selflessness， the chance to play God with people’s lives.

Bonnie： You really think doctors are so 8）corrupt？

Jeremy： As a matter of fact， yes！ 9）For one， you know， many of their patients don’t even have the mental capacity to make such decisions， as far as whether to live or die. And insurance companies can put undue pressure on docs to avoid 10）heroic measures， turning Euthanasia into a means of cost containment.

Bonnie： Huh…I never thought of that.

Jeremy： I mean， the Good Book says “Thou shalt not kill，”right？ There shouldn’t be any exceptions， so why should some med-school hack have the right to 11）supersede our unalienable right to live？ As far as I’m concerned， it 12）demeans the value of human life. And I， for one， feel that in this and every county， human life means something. It means everything.

邦妮：嘿，杰，你有寫下拒絕心肺復蘇的預囑或立下生前遺囑或是類似的事情嗎？幾天前我在看《實習醫生格蕾》的時候有看到這類問題的出現，那讓我考慮到是否，或在某些方面，我會希望我的家人幫我結束自己的生命。

杰里米：我老實告訴你，就算是主要出于自私的理由，我也不會幫你結束生命的。

邦妮：自私？怎么會？

杰里米：因為就算你很痛苦，我也會因為太想念你而不可能放棄你。再者，我對這種想法還有別的質疑。所以如果你確實想找人幫你結束生命的話，你找錯人了。

邦妮：嗯，我還沒決定，我仍在做我應做的努力。

杰里米：考慮生前遺囑的事情你不覺有點太年輕了嗎？

邦妮：事實上，考慮這種事情從來都不會太早。

杰里米：好吧。且不提時間的問題。你想知道我對此的真正感受嗎？我認為安樂死的理念是一種謬論。

邦妮：你說謬論是什么意思？你沒看到那是一種仁慈的行為嗎？

杰里米：仁慈你個頭！跟戰爭和死刑很像，安樂死只是另一種方式，用于證明殺害人類和使人口稀疏是正當的。想想吧：它會讓堂而皇之的謀殺者逃過罪責，而醫生就在無私的偽裝下有機會草菅人命。

邦妮：你真的覺得醫生是那么腐敗嗎？

杰里米：事實上，是的！你知道的，舉例來說，他們的很多病人甚至沒有心智能力做出是死是活這樣的抉擇。保險公司給醫生施加過度的壓力不讓他們竭盡全力救活病人，把安樂死變成了一種成本控制的手段。

邦妮：哈……我沒有那樣想過。

杰里米：我的意思是，《圣經》有云：“汝不能殺戮，”對不對？所以不該有任何例外，那為什么某些蹩腳醫生有權利剝奪我們不能被剝奪的生存的權利？對我來說，它貶低了人類生命的價值。作為其中一分子，我覺得在這個國家乃至每一個國家，人的生命都很重要，意味著一切。

Smart Sentences

① And it got me thinking about whether or not， or at what point， I’d want my family to pull the plug on my life support. 那讓我考慮到是否，或在某些方面，我會希望我的家人幫我結束自己的生命。

pull the plug on sth.： stop sth. or sb.’s activity（讓某事停下來，制止某人的活動）。例如：

Mom can pull the plug on my skating training if I fail any classes at school.

如果我有哪門課不及格，媽媽可能不讓我繼續滑冰訓練。

② So if you did want someone to help you end your life， you’re barking up the wrong tree. 所以如果你確實想找人幫你結束生命的話，你找錯人了。

bark up the wrong tree： waste one’s efforts by pursuing the wrong thing or path（怪錯人，找錯目標）。例如：

I later realized that we’d been barking up the wrong tree by blaming the machine instead of focusing on the people.

我后來意識到，我們一直怪機器，而不是關注人，搞錯了對象。

③ Euthanasia， much like war and the death penalty， is just another way to justify the killing of human beings and thinning out the population. 跟戰爭和死刑很像，安樂死只是另一種方式，用于證明殺害人類和使人口稀疏是正當的。

thin out： make sth. less dense（稀疏，稀少）。例如：

The trees began to thin out as we got higher up the mountain.

隨著我們不斷往山上走，樹木開始變得稀疏。

④ Think about it： it lets glorified murderers off the hook and gives doctors， under the guise of selflessness， the chance to play God with people’s lives. 想想吧：它會讓堂而皇之的謀殺者逃過罪責，而醫生就在無私的偽裝下有機會草菅人命。

off the hook： get out of an unpleasant situation（擺脫困境，過關）。例如：

I can’t believe Mom let Jim off the hook. He almost ruined my science project homework.

我真不敢相信老媽就這么讓吉姆逃過一劫，他差點毀了我的科學課作業。