第四部分：阅读理解（共六篇）
第三十四篇
Surprised by a Miracle
I had been working in the trauma unit at a local hospital for about a year. You get used to families thinking that1 a "coma" patient is moving their hand or doing something that they were asked to do. "Following commands" is what' we call it. Often it's "wishful thinking" on the Families' part.2 Nurses can easily become callous to it.
On this particular night during visiting hours, my patient's wife came in. I had taken care of him for several nights. I was very familiar with his care and what he was able to do. Actually, he didn't do anything. He barely moved at all, even when something would obviously hurt him, such as suctioning.
His wife was very short, about 5 feet tall. She had to stand on a stool to lean over him, so that she could see his face and talk to him. She climbed up on the stool. I spoke to her for a few minutes, and then stepped out to tend to my other patient. A few minutes later, she came running out of the room. In an excited voice, she said, "Donna, he's moving his hand!"
I immediately thought that it was probably her imagination, and that he had not actually done it on purpose. 3 He had been there about a month at the time and had never made any movements on purpose. I asked her what had happened and she said, "I asked him to squeeze my hand and he did !"
This led me to another train of questioning. "But, did he let go4 when you asked him to?" She said yes, that he had done exactly what she asked.
I went into the room with her, not really believing that I would see anything different than I had always seen. But I decided that it would be better to pacify her than to make her think I didn't believe her or that she was somehow mistaken.
She asked him to squeeze her hand, which he did. I said, "Well, ask him to let go." He continued to squeeze for a moment, so that when he finally did let go, I really still didn't believe that he had done it on purpose. So, I said, "Ask him to hold up one finger." He did as asked.
Well, hmm, this was starting to get my attention. I looked at him, his face still somewhat swollen and his eyes still closed. "Stick out5 your tongue!" I said. He did it. I almost fell on the floor. It was the first time I had ever seen anyone "wake up."
词汇：
Coma n．昏迷 pacify V．安抚
Callous adj. 麻木不仁的 swollen adj.肿胀的
Suctioning n．抽吸
注释：
1．You get used to families thinking that…：病人家属会觉得……，对此你会习以为常的。
2．Often it’s “wishful thinking” on the families’ part ：通常这只不过是病人家属的愿望思维。
3．on purpose：有意地
4．1et out：松手
5．stick out：伸出
练习：
1. The first paragraph indicates that more often than not a coma patient___________.
A is found to be following commands.
B is thought to be following commands.
C is used to following commands.
D is callous to nurses' commands.
2. What was the condition of the patient before that particular night?
A He talked only with his wife.
B He barely moved at all.
C He moved only when hurt.
D He was too lazy to do anything at all.
3. How did the author feel upon first hearing what the excited wife said?
A She was amused.
B She was doubtful.
C She was scared.
D She was shocked.
4. What did the patient do on that particular night?
A He squeezed and let go his wife's hand.
B He held up one of his fingers.
C He stuck out his tongue.
D All of the above.
5. The author "almost fell on the floor" because ___________.
A she could hardly believe her eyes.
B she had been working too hard.
C she had been deceived.
D she had been tripped.
答案与题解：
1．B从短文的第一段可以得知，昏迷病人的家属时常以为病人能动了，但大多数情况下，这只是他们的愿望思维，病人并没有真正有意识地在动。
2．B短文的第二段明确交代，病人在此前的日子里基本上处于一动不动状态。
3．B短文的第三段的头一句话表明，作者开始基本上不相信病人家属所说的话。
4．D头三项在短文的最后两段都被提到，因此答案只能选D。
5．A从上下文不难看出，作者之所以差点摔倒是因为她简直难以相信自己的眼睛，之前她还从未见过昏迷病人醒过来。
