Economist, 經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人雜志。是一份由倫敦經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人報(bào)紙有限公司出版的雜志，于1843年9月由詹姆士威爾遜創(chuàng)辦。雜志的大多數(shù)文章寫得機(jī)智，幽默，有力度，嚴(yán)肅又不失詼諧，并且注重于怎樣在最小的篇幅內(nèi)告訴讀者最多的信息。雜志主要關(guān)注政治和商業(yè)方面的新聞，但是每期也有一兩篇針對科技和藝術(shù)的報(bào)導(dǎo)，以及一些書評。

雜志中所有文章都不署名，而且往往帶有鮮明的立場，但又處處用事實(shí)說話。主編們認(rèn)為：寫出了什么東西，比出自誰的手筆更重要。從2012年1月28日的那一期雜志開始《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》雜志開辟了中國專欄，為有關(guān)中國的文章提供更多的版面。同時，《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》也是極好的雅思閱讀課外讀物，很多時候，雅思閱讀考試的文章就是出自其中?？梢哉f經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人相比較于其他國內(nèi)外語報(bào)紙的態(tài)度更客觀，視角更寬。

A GRISLY photo shows a soldier lying injured, the snow around him steeped in blood. Both hislegs have been blown off. The blood is fake. His legs, however, really are missing. The picture isfrom a training exercise run by Amputees in Action, an agency for actors who have lost arms orlegs. It provides limbless people to train the armed forces and the emergency services as theylearn how better to deal with injuries sustained in the midst of fighting or accidents. Suchtraining, along with improvements in care back home, mean that those who do suffer grievousinjuries on the battlefield are more likely to survive.

一張令人扼腕的照片為我們展示了這樣一幅畫面：一名負(fù)傷的士兵倒在被鮮血浸透的雪地中，紛飛的戰(zhàn)火令他失去了雙腿。事實(shí)上，照片中的血是假，而那位士兵確實(shí)是失去了雙腿。這張圖片來源于由“截肢者在行動”的培訓(xùn)機(jī)構(gòu)所組織的一次表演訓(xùn)練，這家機(jī)構(gòu)旨在為失去雙臂或雙腿的特型演員提供中介服務(wù)。該機(jī)構(gòu)為軍隊(duì)提供殘疾演員，用以訓(xùn)練士兵以及教授急救措施，從而使他們習(xí)得在戰(zhàn)斗或意外中怎樣處理其所受到的傷害。這樣的培訓(xùn)再配以家中的精心照料，將意味著那些在戰(zhàn)爭中經(jīng)受到嚴(yán)重創(chuàng)傷的人，將更有機(jī)會活下來。

Of the 12,000-odd amputees reckoned to have come back to Britain from the second world war,almost none had lost three limbs, says Jerome Church of BLESMA (formerly the British LimblessEx-Service Men's Association). Soldiers with such injuries died in combat. Even five years ago,they probably would not have survived such trauma. Today, it is normal to do so. That is amark of medical improvements on and off the battlefield, says Keith Porter, a surgeon andprofessor of clinical traumatology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Every year,people are surviving bigger injuries, says Professor Porter, and the rate of improvement israpid. The treatments provided today do not appear in existing manuals: “We are writing thetextbooks of the future.”

為英國截肢退伍軍人協(xié)會(BLESMA)效力的杰羅姆?切奇說，自二戰(zhàn)以來，已約有12000余名截肢者回到英國，而他們之中很少有失去三肢或以上的人，因?yàn)橥ǔＪ艿竭@樣等級外傷的士兵，他們通常面臨的就是死亡，甚至在五年前，受到這種程度外傷的人也很少能夠活下來。但是在現(xiàn)如今，對于這類人來說，活下來是一件再正常不過的事情?；埂げㄌ厥且幻诓骱惨聋惿着踽t(yī)院工作的外科醫(yī)生，并且是一名專攻臨床創(chuàng)傷的教授。波特教授說，“這種情況無論是在戰(zhàn)場上或日常生活中，都是醫(yī)療體系進(jìn)步的標(biāo)志。人們能夠經(jīng)受住越來越嚴(yán)重的外傷并存活下來，最后得到改善的幾率也在逐年迅速攀升。今天我們所實(shí)現(xiàn)的治療方法在現(xiàn)存的資料或手冊中卻難覓蹤跡。”波特博士同時表示，“我們正在編纂相關(guān)教科書為未來的醫(yī)療事業(yè)提供幫助。”

Overall, those fighting Britain's wars make up a small proportion of the 5,000 or so major-limb amputations carried out in Britain each year, mostly as a result of diseases such asdiabetes. But the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have led to a spike in the numbers ofsoldiers who have lost limbs. When Mr Church took over as chief executive of BLESMA in 2000,he assumed it was a fading organisation. Most members were elderly veterans of the secondworld war. Since then, its ranks have swelled by about 300. In 2006-09, 54 combatantssustained partial or complete removals of a limb as a result of injuries in Afghanistan. In2009-12 the number rose again to 192, almost half of them multiple amputations.

綜上所述，每年這些在英國戰(zhàn)爭中受傷而截肢的人，僅占了英國全年五千名截肢者中很小的一部分，而其他多數(shù)為諸如糖尿病之類的疾病所致。但是阿富汗與伊拉克之間的沖突戰(zhàn)爭卻使很多戰(zhàn)場上的士兵失去了他們的四肢。當(dāng)切奇先生在2000年出任英國截肢退伍軍人協(xié)會(BLESMA)的首席執(zhí)行官時，他覺得該組織毫無希望可言，而且其中多數(shù)成員是經(jīng)歷過二戰(zhàn)的退伍老兵。在阿富汗戰(zhàn)爭以及伊拉克戰(zhàn)爭爆發(fā)后，組織人數(shù)激增至300人，在2006—2009年這三年間，阿富汗戰(zhàn)役中共有54名戰(zhàn)士進(jìn)行了局部或全部的截肢，在接下來的2009—2012年間，這一數(shù)據(jù)已增加至192，近乎半數(shù)人接受了多處截肢。

Cuts to defence spending (8% in real terms by 2015) have had little impact on services forthose afflicted. In February the government announced it would spend an extra ￡6.5m onadvanced prosthetics for them. Armed with such technology, many can pursue active lives.Those working for Amputees in Action, for instance, act in mainstream films and TVprogrammes as well as training exercises. John Pickup, the agency's founder, says it can bedifficult to attract veterans because the Paralympic team is so determined to get soldiers,sailors and airmen (and women) who have lost arms or legs to join its athletes. That's welcomecompetition.

削減國防開支(預(yù)計(jì)至2015年將會下調(diào)8%)實(shí)際上并不會對這些截肢者的醫(yī)療服務(wù)造成影響，因?yàn)樵诮衲甓抡呀?jīng)宣布，將會投入額外的6,500,000歐元為他們提供先進(jìn)的假肢，通過醫(yī)療科技的幫助，他們得以繼續(xù)自由行動和生活?！敖刂咴谛袆印惫緸榻刂咛峁┲T如在主流電影或電視節(jié)目中演出的機(jī)會，當(dāng)然還有培訓(xùn)練習(xí)。作為機(jī)構(gòu)創(chuàng)始人，約翰·皮卡表示，能夠招收到老兵很不容易，因?yàn)闅垔W會代表隊(duì)十分渴望那些失去手臂或腿的士兵，海員以及飛行員加入到他們的運(yùn)動員行列中，不得不說，這是一場皮卡先生的公司與國家隊(duì)之間的人才競爭之戰(zhàn)。譯者：尤熠 校對：沈曉旭