情景:喬看到林芝腳上打著石膏,關(guān)切地詢問。

Joe: Oh my god, what happened to you?

Lin Zhi: You mean this? I know it looks pretty bad, but it's just some bones in my foot.

Joe: Just?That sounds serious.

Lin Zhi: Well, it hurt very badly when it happened, definitely! I was talking to a friend while I was waiting to cross the road, and I put my foot out absentmindedly, and it got run over by the wheel of a car.

Joe: Ouch! Did the car stop?

Lin Zhi: No, he just drove straight on! I don't even know if he noticed, though I was screaming.I wish my friend had got the registration, but he was too busy trying to help me. He flagged down a taxi and took me straight to the hospital.

Joe: To emergency?

Lin Zhi: Yes. We got there, and he propped me up on the chair. I was in so much pain I could not remember my insurance details, so he called my work and got them. I mean, we could have paid with it with a card, I suppose.

Joe: You know, that's always a big shock to me at Chinese hospitals.

Lin Zhi: Having to pay?

Joe: Well, not that so much – though of course in England we don't pay anything, the government covers all the cost. So we don't have any of this faffing about over insurance or payment, we just get into casualty –

Lin Zhi: Casualty?

Joe: That's what we call the emergency room. Anyway, we get into casualty and into treatment as soon as possible. Well, they run triage, of course, when there's lots of people there. Most serious things first. People often come in with relatively minor things, but if you're actually bleeding, they get to you straightaway. But what throws me about the Chinese system is that you have to pay for everything as you go! You know, I went in once with food poisoning, and I even had to take the blood to be tested myself, and pay for it at a separate unit; it was bizarre.

Lin Zhi: I thought that was the way in America too?

Joe: Not usually; rather, they give you a bill for it at the end. Especially with emergencies.It's actually illegal in the US not to give emergency treatment to people, regardless of their ability to pay. So if a homeless guy shows up in a hospital bleeding from a gunshot, they have to treat him.

Lin Zhi: Doesn't that cost the hospital a lot of money?

Joe: Yeah, a lot. The government makes up some of it. I think it'd be better if they just bit the bullet and made it all free at the point of care, like we do. But anyway, you were telling me about your injury? Was it all sorted out?

Lin Zhi: Oh, yes, they got me to a doctor relatively quick. But, you know, there were other people trying to get him to see them, even while he was looking at me! My friend ended up shouting at them.

Joe: Yeah, that's happened to me too. In China, I mean, not elsewhere. You know, you're trying to see the doctor and people keep wanting to get his attention. I wish they had a better screening process; the whole thing seems badly organized to me.

Lin Zhi: Well, it all ended up OK. I mean, I have to keep this thing on – the cast – for a while, and then go back to the hospital to get it removed.

Joe: Did they give you painkillers?

Lin Zhi: When I was at the hospital, yes. But now I just have to buy lots of Fenbid! It's not so bad, it just aches.

Joe: Well, I'm glad it was just your foot!

喬:天啊,你這是怎么了?

林芝:你是指這個?我知道這看上去很糟糕,但,只不過是腳骨折了而已。

喬:而已?聽上去很嚴重。

林芝:嗯,發(fā)生車禍那會兒的確很疼!等紅綠燈過馬路時,我正和朋友聊天,心不在焉地把腳這么一伸,就被車輪壓到了。

喬:哎喲!車停下來了嗎?

林芝:沒有,車主就這么開了過去!我當時大叫,不過不知道他有沒有注意到。我希望好友記下車牌號,但他手忙腳亂,只顧著照看我。他攔了輛出租車,帶我直奔醫(yī)院。

喬:去看急診?

林芝:是呀。我們到了醫(yī)院,他扶我坐在椅子上。我當時那么疼,根本記不住保險細節(jié),于是他給我公司打了個電話,問清這一切。我是說,我想我們本可以用醫(yī)?？ㄖЦ夺t(yī)療費的。

喬:你知道的,這在中國的醫(yī)院總是讓我很吃驚。

林芝:付醫(yī)藥費嗎?

喬:嗯,也不全是——不過在英國我們自然不用管任何費用,政府會支付所有花銷。所以我們不必為保險金或是醫(yī)療費而奔波,只需去看急癥——

林芝:急癥?

喬:也就是你們所說的急診室。不管怎樣,我們?nèi)チ思痹\室后就會很快得到治療。當然,有很多病人候診時,就通過治療類選法來安排就診順序,重病優(yōu)先。通常,來看病的人們只是小病小災,但如果確實有人在大出血,就會被直接推進診室。但是讓我吃驚的是,中國的醫(yī)療制度讓病人不得不親自為事事埋單!你知道嗎,有一次我食物中毒,我甚至不得不親自去驗血,再單獨付費。這太讓人匪夷所思了。

林芝:我還以為在美國也是一樣的情況呢?

喬:通常不是的。事后,醫(yī)院會給病人一張賬單,特別是急診時。無論病人是否有能力支付醫(yī)藥費,在美國拒絕為病人實施急救是違法的。所以,如果一個身受槍傷、血流不止的流浪漢出現(xiàn)在醫(yī)院,醫(yī)務人員也得為他療傷診治。

林芝:那醫(yī)院不會花費很多錢嗎?

喬:是啊,花費不少。政府會補貼一些費用。我想,如果美國人咬緊牙關(guān),像我們(英國)一樣,從關(guān)愛公民的角度免去所有醫(yī)療費用,那樣會更好。不過,你的傷勢到底怎樣?已經(jīng)確診了嗎?

林芝:哦,是的。院方較為及時地為我找了一位醫(yī)生。但是,你知道的,即使在他為我做診斷時,其他病人也要他給看病。我的朋友最后還沖這些人發(fā)火了。

喬:是啊,這也曾在我身上發(fā)生過,我是說,在中國,而不是在其他地方。你想,自己想要看醫(yī)生,同時還有其他病人分散他的注意力。在我看來,這都是組織不當,希望醫(yī)院有更完善的組織就醫(yī)順序的方法。

林芝:嗯,最終一切都還好。我是指,我不得不帶著這玩意兒——石膏——待一段時間,再去醫(yī)院把它拆下來。

喬:醫(yī)院有給你開止痛藥嗎?

林芝:開了,在醫(yī)院的時候。但現(xiàn)在我要買很多芬必得!這還不算太糟,就是痛的很。

喬:哎,慶幸的是你傷到的只是腳啊!

Notes:

1. flag down

意為“招手示意……停下來”。

例句:The policeman flagged down our car.

交警示意我們停車。

2. bite the bullet

意為“忍受困難或勉為其難做某事”。

例句:We don't need to bite the bullet and bear something beyond our tolerance.

我們不必凡事都扛下來。

3. end up doing something.

意為“結(jié)果是(做)……,以(做)……而告終,結(jié)果變成……,最后發(fā)展為……”。

例句:We ended up sleeping around the floor after drinking.

喝過酒,最后我們睡倒在地。

4. shout at

意為“對…大聲喊”。

例句:Don't shout at me.

不要對我叫喊。

Links:

Fenbid 芬必得(含布洛芬),消炎鎮(zhèn)痛藥。

There's lots of people. 口語中的語法不像書面用語要求那么嚴格,所以對話中用了There's lots of people也不會影響聽話人的理解。但是,在書面用語中,我們一定要用There are lots of people。