更可能置我們於死地的十件小事(上)

The world can be a frightening place. Images of violence, natural disasters, accidents, and other such dangers permeate our media, sowing fear in many. While these threats should certainly be respected, other far more mundane things in our lives are statistically much more likely to kill us.

大家可曾想過,我們生活在一個多麼可怕的世界！媒體鋪天蓋地地報道各類暴力事件、自然災害、意外事故，時時散播着恐怖的氣息。對這類危險應當提高警惕幾乎人盡皆知，但大家可能不知道，事實上，日常生活中許多毫不起眼的小事更可能置我們於死地。

People Die Falling Out Of Bed Than From Roller Coasters

10.墜牀比墜過山車更危險

Some people love roller coasters; some people are terrified of them. The high speeds and great heights provide a relatively safe thrill for amusement park goers. However, accidents do happen, and roller coasters kill an average of four people in the US each year.

提起過山車，有人歡喜有人憂。過山車的極速高空體驗給遊客帶來了無限快感。然而，刺激的同時，意外也隨之而來，在美國，平均每年有四人因乘過山車死亡。

One-quarter of roller coaster deaths are occupational fatalities involving workers. Half are caused by a rider's medical condition being exacerbated by the ride; these can be prevented by increased signage warning sufferers of certain conditions against boarding. Only the final quarter are caused by some sort of trauma to a park visitor, such as falling out of the roller assured: You probably won't be killed the next time you ride a roller coaster. You're much more likely to die from falling out of your own bed. Every year in the US, 450 people die this way. Ironically, bed rails sometimes make things worse. Hospitals have found that stubborn patients try to climb over them and fall farther than they would have otherwise.

其中，因過山車而死的職業工作人員佔了1/4。約1/2是因爲遊客的身體狀況不適宜此類娛樂活動，過山車帶來的高度驚險與刺激會使遊客身體狀況惡化而死亡，這類情況可以通過增加標牌警告患者避免乘車來解決。死亡人數中，只有四分之一是因爲突發事件喪命，比如從過山車中翻落墜空而死。由此看來，乘過山車意外死亡是小概率事件。但你一定想象不到，墜牀而死的概率並不低！在美國每年有450人死於墜牀。可笑的是，牀欄有時會令事情變得更糟。醫生髮現，有些固執患者試圖翻越牀欄，卻落得摔得更慘的下場。

Are More Likely To Kill You Than Bears

9.奶牛比熊更有可能殺死你

Fatal black bear attacks on humans have been rising in North America since the 1960s. Over the past 110 years, 63 people have been killed by black bears, mostly in Alaska and Canada. This amounts to fewer than one person per year. However, since 86 percent of these fatalities occurred after 1960, the current average is closer to two people per year.

自1960年以來，北美熊襲人事件頻頻發生。過去110年以來，共63人因遭遇黑熊襲擊而死，其中大多發生在阿拉斯加和加拿大。這相當於每年有一個人死於黑熊攻擊。不過，其中86%的黑熊襲人致死事件發生在1960年之後，所以近幾年，每年約兩人死於黑熊攻擊。

Increased human encroachment into black bear habitats is cited as a probable cause. Most fatal attacks have been perpetrated by lone male bears sampling humans as a new food source. Surprisingly, mother bears defending their cubs or bears that have become familiar with humans are responsible for few fatalities. While injurious encounters with black bears may continue to rise with human expansion, they have a long way to go before they kill more people than cattle, which kill an average of 22 people per year in the United States alone. Most fatal attacks on humans by cattle are deliberate, either by territorial bulls trampling and goring farmers or mothers protecting their calves. Other times, people are simply accidentally crushed.

棲息地一再遭到破壞是黑熊襲人事件頻發的一大原因。許多致命攻擊是因爲成年雄性黑熊把人類當成了新的食物來源。而負責捍衛自己幼崽的母熊，或者已經與人類熟悉了的黑熊則很少會攻擊人類，這是個很有趣的現象。雖然因人類的擴張，黑熊襲人致死事件會持續上升，但比起奶牛的殺傷力，黑熊就小巫見大巫了。如果告訴你在美國平均每年造成22人死亡的殺人狂魔是奶牛，你會大跌眼鏡嗎？更可怕的是，奶牛的殺人行爲可以稱之爲“蓄意謀殺”，原因無外乎領土遭人類侵犯、森林遭人類砍伐或者因幼崽受到傷害而奮力反抗。因此，與意外遭遇黑熊襲擊而死相比，人類死於奶牛攻擊的情形更加常見。

8.A Rip Current Will Get You Before A Shark Does

8.未落狂鯊口，已入離岸流

Going to the beach is a common and beloved summer pastime for people across the world. Such outings are not without danger, of course. You could get sunburned, stung by a jellyfish, or bitten by a shark.

夏季來臨時,人們普遍對去海邊玩耍青睞有加。可不要忽略，這項戶外活動是有危險的。曬傷、被水母蟄傷或不幸被鯊魚咬傷的事情並不罕見。

Most unprovoked shark attacks on humans are cases of mistaken identity, where the shark takes one bite and then swims away upon tasting a distinctive lack of seal or fish. Those single bites can still cause serious injury or death. Even these mistakes are comparatively rare; most sharks that attack have been provoked by a human in some the same, if you're in the water and feel yourself pulled away from safety, a rip current is much more likely to be responsible than a shark. Rip currents are more powerful than you may realize. They can pull you away from shore faster than an Olympic swimmer can swim. Trying to directly swim against a rip current, a common reaction, will only lead to fatigue and drowning. It is estimated that over 100 people drown each year in the US due to rip currents. Conversely, despite some swimmers going to such extremes as taunting sharks, someone dies in the US from a shark attack only once every two years. Worldwide, only five die each year.

未受刺激的鯊魚襲擊人類大多是因爲認錯“人”，當它咬上一口卻明顯嘗不到海豹或魚的味道時就會自動遊走。沒錯，這錯誤的一口後果十分嚴重，人們常因此身負重傷，不幸喪生的也不在少數，好在這種認錯“人”的行爲是相當少見的。正常情況下,鯊魚會襲擊人類大多是因爲它受到了某種形式的刺激。同樣地，如果置身水中的你感覺自己被拉離安全水域，離岸流比鯊魚更有可能給你帶來殺身之禍。離岸流的威力超乎你的想象。它把你拉離海岸的速度比奧運會游泳選手的遊速還快。人們遇到離岸流時,常常會直接逆流而遊，很不幸,這樣只會耗費體力，最後溺水而死。據統計，美國每年有一百多人死於離岸流。儘管有些游泳者會參與類似鬥鯊這樣的極限活動，死於鯊魚襲擊的美國人也只是每兩年一例。即使從世界範圍看，每年也只有五例。可見,離岸流比鯊魚更危險。

School Sports Kill More US Citizens Than Terrorists Do

7.遠在恐怖分子之上的殺手——中學體育運動

Terrorism has been a defining fear in 21st-century US culture since the horrifying 9/11 attacks in 2001. From Al-Qaeda to ISIS, the news has frequently been filled with frightening terroristic imagery, causing many citizens to fear for themselves and their children.

自從2001年駭人聽聞的911襲擊後，恐怖主義就成爲21世紀美國文化中的一種典型恐懼。從基地組織到伊拉克和大敘利亞伊斯蘭國，令人害怕的恐怖主義報道頻頻出現在新聞上，致使許多公民爲他們自己及其子女惴惴不安。

In truth, US children are far more likely to end up dying on their high school playing field than at the hands of a terrorist. Roughly 50 young athletes die each year in the United States due to sports-related injuries. Rural areas are the worst-affected. Common causes of death include overheating (more on that later), brain injuries, and sudden cardiac arrest. It certainly doesn't help that two-thirds of athletes show up to practice significantly dehydrated. Nor does it help that 16 percent of football players who are knocked unconscious from a hit will play more that same day; those who suffer further injury as a result have a 50/50 chance of dying. Sudden cardiac arrest kills 90 percent of the young athletes that it strikes. Terrorism, on the other hand, has taken roughly 12 private US citizens per year, with 2001 an obvious anomaly. For example, terrorism killed nine in 2009, 10 in 2010, 17 in 2011, 10 in 2012, and 16 in 2013. The overwhelming majority of these deaths involved travel to Afghanistan. Not one death occurred within US borders.

事實上，美國兒童死在中學運動場上的機率要比死在恐怖分子手上的機率大得多。美國每年約有50名年輕運動員因運動損傷而死。這一現象在鄉村地區最爲嚴重。常見的死因包括運動過激、腦損傷或心搏驟停。但這並不能阻止許多運動員瘋狂的訓練強度：2/3的運動員訓練至嚴重脫水，16%的足球運動員在被撞擊至失去知覺當天依然加強訓練。而那些傷勢惡化的運動員死亡概率高達50%。出現心搏驟停的年輕運動員中，只有一成能倖免於死。在2001年的大規模襲擊後，每年死於恐怖主義的美國公民約有12人，舉例來說，分別爲2009年的9人、2010年的10人、2011年的17人、2012年的10人及2013年的16人。而且這些人絕大部分是死在阿富汗之行，沒有一例是死於美國邊境的。

ey World Kills More Than Florida's Alligators

6.喪命於迪士尼樂園的人數遠超於死於佛羅里達短吻鱷之嘴的人數

From 2005–2014, eight visitors to Disney World in Orlando, Florida were killed. Heart attacks (sometimes worsened by a lack of readily available defibrillators) and traumatic injuries are common causes. Five workers have also been killed in that time span, including three during a particularly bad season in 2009, by trauma or electrocution.

2005至2014年，佛羅里達州奧蘭多市的迪士尼公園事故頻發。8名遊客在此喪生，死亡原因多爲突發性心臟病或外傷。此外，5名員工也在這段時間死亡，僅在2009年的一個事故高發季度，就有3名員工死於外傷或者觸電。

Some might consider Florida's alligators to be more frightening than Mickey Mouse. The prospect of being bitten or dragged under and drowned by one of these ancient reptiles is certainly grim. While most alligators only attack if provoked, unprovoked predation does occur. Victims are often completely unaware of the alligator until it attacks. Still, you're more likely to win the lottery in Florida than be killed by a hungry alligator. From 2005 to present, only six people have died in unprovoked alligator attacks. None have died since 2007.

很多人都認爲佛羅里達的短吻鱷比迪士尼樂園裏可愛的米老鼠可怕得的多。人們一想到被這樣古老的爬行動物咬傷或者拖進泥潭裏就會渾身顫抖。雖然短吻鱷有時候會無故地去捕食人類，但大多數情況下它們只有受到威脅纔會對人類發起攻擊，受害者對於他們的偷襲往往毫不知情。從2005到現在，只有6個遊客喪生於短吻鱷的無故偷襲。但從2007年起，沒有人在這樣的事故之中喪命。

翻譯:叫我王二白 來源:前十網