大学英语精读第二册 Unit Six

                A famous surgeon tells about the importance of
                            self-confidence from his own experience

　
                   THE MAKING OF A SURGEON

                                                              Dr. Nolen

           How does  a doctor recognize  the point in  time when  he is   finally a 
     "surgeon"?  As my year as  chief resident drew to a  close  I asked  myself 
     this question on more than one occasion.
          The answer, I concluded, was  self-confidence. When  you  can  say to 
5   yourself,  "There  is  no  surgical  patient I cannot  treat  competently,  treat 
     just  as  well  as or better  than   any  other  surgeon" - then,  and  not  until
     then, you are indeed a surgeon. I was nearing that point.
         Take, for example, the emergency situations that  we encountered almo-
     st every night. The  first few months of  the year  I  had  dreaded  the  ring-
10 ing of the telephone.I knew it meant  another  critical  decision  to be made.
    Often, after I had told Walt or Larry   what to do  in  a  particular  situation,
    I'd have trouble  getting  back  to  sleep.  I'd  review  all  the  facts   of   the 
    case and, not infrequently, wonder if I hadn't made  a poor decision. More 
    than once  at  two or three.  in  the  morning, after  lying  awake for an hour,
15 I'd get out of bed, dress and drive to the  hospital  to  see  the  patient  my-
    self.It was the only way I could find the peace of mind I needed to relax.
           Now,  in  the  last  month of  my  residency,  sleeping  was no longer a 
    problem.There were still situations  in which  I  couldn't  be certain  my  de-
    cision had been  the  right one,  but  I  had  learned  to accept this as a con-
20 stant problem for a surgeon, one that could never be completely resolved--
    and I could live with it. So, once I had made a  considered  decision,  I  no 
    longer dwelt on it.Reviewing  it wasn't  going  to help and I knew  that  with 
    my knowledge  and  experience, any  decision  I'd made was bound to be a 
    sound one. It was a nice feeling.
25      In  the  operating   room  I  was  equally  confident. I  knew   I  had  the 
    knowledge, the  skill,  the  experience  to  handle  any  surgical  situation  I'd 
    ever encounter in practice. There were  no more  butterflies  in  my  stomach 
    when I ogened up an abdomen or a  chest. I knew  that even if the case  was 
    one  in  which  it  was  impossible  to  anticipate  the  problem  in  advance, I 
30 could handle whatever I found.I'd sweated through my share of stab wounds
    of the belly, of  punctured lungs, of compound  fractures. I had  sweated 
    over them for five years. I didn't need to sweat any more.
          Nor was I afraid  of  making  mistakes. I knew  that  when  I  was  out  in 
     practice  I would inevitably  err at  one time  or another and operate on 
35 someone  who  didn't need surgery  or sit on  someone who did. Five years 
     earlier - even   one  year  earlier - I  wouldn't  have   been  able  to  live  with 
     myself if I had had to take sole responsibility  for  a  mistake   in   judgment. 
     Now I could. I still dreaded errors - would do my best to avoid  them -- but 
     I  knew  they  were  part of  a  surgeon's  life. I  could  accept  this fact with 
40 calm ness because I knew that  if I wasn't  able  to avoid a mistake;  chances 
     were that no other surgeon could have, either. 
          This all sounds conceited and I guess  it  is - but a  surgeon  needs  con-
    ceit. He  needs  it to encourage him in  trying  moments  when  he's  bothered 
    by the doubts and unc ertainties  that  are part  of  the  practice  of  medicine.
45 He has  to feel that  he's  as  good  as  and  probably  better  than  any  other 
    surgeon  in  the  world.  Call   it  conceit - call  it   self-confidence;  whatever 
    it was, I had it.

                                  New Worsds

    surgeon / n.                                  doctor who performs operations 外科医生
  self-confidence  n.              自信心
  making n.                                      means of gaining success 成功之道
  resident / n.                                   住院医生
  conclude / vt.                                arrive at a belief or opinion by reaso-
                                                           ning 得出结论
  surgical /  a.                                   of, by, or for surgery 外科的;手术的
  cotnpetently / ad.                           with the necessary skill 称职地;胜任地
    competent a. 
   near vt.                                          approach; come closer to
   emergency / n.                               sudden and dangerous happening needing 
                                                            immediate action 紧急情况；急症
  encounter / vt                                 be faced with(difficulties,danger,etc.) ;
                                                             meet unexpectedly 遭到;T意外地遇见
  dread / vt.                                      fear greatly 畏惧
  critical / a.                                      important  at  a  time  of danger  and 
                                                            difficulty 紧要的;关键性的
  particular / a                                   belonging to some one person,thing, or 
                                                             occasion 特定的
  case n.                                           instance of disease or injury 病例
  infrequently ad.                              seldom; not often
   relax / vi.                                       become less tense 放松
  relaxation n.
   residency / n.                                the last stage of a doctor's training 
                                                           at a hospital 高级专科住院实习（期）
  constant /  a.                                 happening all the time; unchanging 
                                                           不断的 ; 始终如一的
  resolve / vt.                                   solve 解决
    resolution / n. 
   considered a.                                carefully thought out 经过深思熟虑的
  dwell /dwel/ vi.                              live ( in a place) 居住   
   bound /  a.                                     very likely; certain 一定的;必然的 
  sound a.                                       correct; based on good judgment 正确的; 
                                                           合理的 
  confident / a.                                 sure  of  oneself and  one's abilities 
                                                  自信的
    confidence n. 
   handle vt.                                      manage, deal with 处理
  butterfly / n.                                  蝴蝶
  abdomen /   n .                             belly 腹(部)
   anticipate / vt.                               see beforehand 预期 
    anticipation n.
   sweat / n.                                      汗
              vi.                             流汗
  stab / n.                                        thrust made with a pointed weapon 刺,戳 
  belly / n.                                       肚,腹部 
  puncture / vt.                                make a small hole in (sth. ) with sth. 
                                                            pointed 刺穿
  compound / a.                              having more than one part 复合的 
  fracture / n.                                   break in a bone 骨折
  compound fracture n.                   复合性骨折
  inevitably / ad.                              unavoidably 不可避免地
    inevitable a.
   err la:lvi.                                       make mistakes; do wrong 
   operate / vi.                                  perform a surgical operation 动手术
  surgery /  n.                                 外科; 外科手术 
  sole / a.                                       unshared; one and only 唯一的
  responsibility / n.                          责任, 责任心
  avoid / vt.                                    escape; keep or get away from 避免
  conceited / a.                               having too high an opinion of oneself
                                                          自负的 
  conceit / n.                                  too high an opinion of oneself 
   trying a.                                       hard to endure or bear; very difficult
                                                           难受的; 恼人的
  bother / vt.                                  annoy, trouble 烦扰, 麻烦
  uncertainty / n.                            uncertain condition; doubt 

                                         Phrases & Expressions

   draw to a close                  come to an end 结束
  live with                             learn to accept ( sth. unpleasant); tolerate 
                                                学会适应 ; 容忍
dwell on                                think, write, or speak a lot about 老是想着; 
                                                详述 ; 强调
  (be) bound to (do)             (be) certain to (do) 一定...,必然... 
    in practice                         (医师,律师等)在开业中;在实践中
  butterflies in the stomach    feelings of nervousness 忐忑不安
  open up                             cut open 切开 , 给…开刀 
  in advance                          ahead of time 预先 , 事前
  at one time or another         sometime or other 早晚
  sit on                                 delay taking action on;do nothing about 拖延; 
                                                搁置

                           Proper Names

  Nolen /                      诺兰（姓氏）
  Walt /                       沃尔特(男子名 Walter 的昵称)
  Larry /                       拉里 ( 男子名 Lawrence 的昵称 )