英语原文

At the Critical Moment

　　Looks like they'll drift right off1 to sleep, Jennifer Jackson thought with a smile as she snapped her 17-month-old son Noah and daughter Cassidy, three, into their car seats.
　　Taking advantage of the bright afternoon, the 31-year-old mom had brought her kids to a park near their home.Noah quickly fell asleep as she began to drive, and Jennifer hoped a little extra sleep was all he needed.He'd been unusually clingy2 since the morning,wanting to be held and crying if she put him back in the stroller3.
　　Jennifer had driven just a few miles when she heard a strangled4 screech5 from the back seat of the car. Noah's eyes were rolled back in his head! His face was contorted6, and his body and head jerked from side to side, slamming him violently against the seat!
　　"Noah!" she screamed, swerving7 the car across two lanes and bringing it to a stop on the shoulder8.
　　Jennifer burst out of the car, tore open the back door and pulled Noah from his car seat. He was still shaking, and his skin was scalding9 to her touch.
　　You have to be calm, she told herself. She tried the only life-saving techniques she knew-CPR10 and the Heimlich maneuver11-but neither seemed to help.
　　She looked down the road. Cars whizzed by to their destinations, seemingly oblivious12 that her baby desperately needed help. And yet, Jennifer sensed, in that line of cars lay her only hope for Noah...
"I'll be right back, honey,"she told Cassidy. Then, holding Noah in one arm, Jennifer began to flail13 her other arm toward the oncoming cars"Stop!"she screamed.
　　In an instant, a car pulled over and a young woman jumped out." Please, do you have a car phone?"Jennifer asked.
　　By the time the woman shook her head no, a man was running toward them."What's wrong with the baby?" he asked.
　　One glance at Noah and then at Jennifer's terrified face told the story. He inserted his finger into Noah's mouth to make sure he wasn't choking on his tongue. But he didn't have a cell phone, either.
　　Suddenly, in her haze14 of panic15, Jennifer looked up and thought for a moment she was dreaming. All along the side of the parkway--in front of her and behind her-cars and Jeeps, vans and even a motorcycle had pulled over and were lining the road.
　　It's as if the whole highway just stopped in its tracks to come help us! She thought.
　　Groups of people sprang16 into action."I'm on the line with 911,"one man called out. " Tell me the baby's symptoms."
　　" I've called the police,"a woman shouted." They're sending help!"
　　Incredibly, one man happened to have ice in his car, and another had a sheet to wrap it in before holding it on Noah's burning forehead. There were more: a man volunteered to drive Noah to the hospital; a woman offered to take Cassidy to her house nearby; two men stood peering down the road, ready to flag down the ambulance17.
　　A pregnant woman put her arm around Jennifer's shoulder to comfort her. And another climbed into the car with Cassidy, who stared at the crowd in fear." I'll sit beside her," she said, taking Cassidy's hand and reassuring her.
　　It's more than incredible, Jennifer thought. With each person who rushed over, she could feel a growing strength within her, a certainty that somehow, with so many hands and hearts there to help, Noah would be all right.
　　Just then, a police car roared up-followed by the ambulance. As paramedics18 rushed Noah into the ambulance and Jennifer and Cassidy scrambled in behind them, Jennifer glanced back through the window. On the roadside, the strangers who had stopped to help stood rooted as one--unwilling to leave.
I don't know your names, but I'll never forget your faces or what you did, Jennifer promised. And as the ambulance pulled away, she pressed her lips against the glass and mouthed,"Thank you!"praying they would see--or at least know--what was in her heart.
At the hospital, doctors gave Noah thorough treatment. And within a few hours, he was smiling and ready to go home.
Today, he's as playful19 and healthy as ever--and Jennifer gives thanks every day to the strangers who made that possible.
"It's incredible that so many good-hearted20 people came to our rescue21," she says.

注释：

1.drift off迷迷糊糊地睡去(或出神)
2.clingy adj.粘着的，缠着的，依恋的
3.stroller n.[美](折叠式)婴儿小推车
4.strangle vt.扼住，闷住，使窒息
5.screech n.(表痛苦，惊恐等的)尖叫
6.contorted adj.被扭曲的，被歪曲的
7.swerve vt.使突然转向一边
8.shoulder n.(车行道两侧的)紧急停车道
9.scalding adj.滚烫的，灼烫的
10.CPR = cardiopulmonary resuscitation[医]心肺复苏
11.Heimlich maneuver n.[美][医]海姆利克氏操作法(在哽噎者的上腹部迅速向上施压以将异物压出气管的手法)
12.oblivious adj.不注意的
13.flail vt.挥舞
14.haze n.迷糊，懵懂
15.panic n.恐慌，惊慌
16.spring vi.迅速行动
17.ambulance n.救护车
18.paramedic n.护理人员
19.playful adj.顽皮的
20.good-hearted adj.好心肠的
21.rescue n.救援；to sb's～为救助(某人)