先听一首歌：
In a City Under Lockdown, Hope Arrives by Motorbike
by Vivian Wang
Delivery drivers in Wuhan and across China offer a lifeline to millions of people barricaded in their homes during the coronavirus outbreak, but the work puts them at risk.
新冠疫情期间，武汉和中国各地的送货骑手，成为了数百万被困家中居民的生命线，但这项工作使他们陷入风险之中。
此段为这篇报道的梗概，起到对标题补充的作用。
👉 lifeline
UK /ˈlaɪflaɪn/ US /ˈlaɪflaɪn/ n. 生命线；命脉（indispensable aids）
economic lifeline 经济命脉
Tourism is the economic lifeline for the country.
旅游业是这个国家的经济命脉。
👉 barricade
UK /ˈbærɪkeɪd, bærɪˈkeɪd/ US /ˈberəkeɪd, berəˈkeɪd/ vt. 把……困在；设路障
Students are barricaded in their dormitory.
学生们被困在宿舍。
Though we are barricaded in our homes, we constantly send out the message. They will encourage our students.
尽管我们被困在家中，但我们将持续发出声音。这些声音会鼓励着我们的学员。
barricade n. 路障
Put some barricades along the road/at the end of the road
在路边或路的尽头放置路障
词根：barrel（n. 桶）
The delivery driver did not want to go upstairs.
这位外卖骑手不想上楼。
The driver, Zhang Sai, hovered outside an apartment building in Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the heart of the coronavirus outbreak. He had been ordered not to take food to customers’ doors in order to minimize the risk of infection.
骑手张赛在位于冠状病毒疫情中心的中国中部城市武汉的一幢公寓楼外踌躇。为了减少感染的风险，他得到的命令是不得将食物送到顾客的家门口。
👉 hover
UK /ˈhɒvə/ US /ˈhʌvər/ vi. 徘徊
A question hovered on his lips.
有一个问题在他的嘴边打转。
to be hovering between life and death
在生死之间徘徊
But the woman on the phone was pleading, he recalled. The food was for her mother, who couldn’t go down to meet him.
但是，他回忆说，电话中的女士恳求他上去。食物是给她母亲买的，母亲无法下楼见他。
👉 plead
UK /pliːd/ US /pliːd/ vi. 恳求（较beg更紧急）
近义表达：beg
Mr. Zhang relented. He would drop off the order and sprint away. As he placed the bag on the floor, Mr. Zhang said, the door opened. Startled, he rushed away. Without thinking, he said, jabbed the elevator button with his finger, touching a surface he feared could transmit the virus.
张赛心软了。他想放下东西然后马上离开。张赛说，当他把袋子放在地板上时，门开了。他吓了一跳，冲了出去。他说，他不假思索地用手指戳了电梯按钮，触碰到了他担心会传播病毒的表面。
👉 relent
UK /rɪˈlent/ US /rɪˈlent/ vi. 心软（soften）
His parents relented and let him go on holiday with his friends.
他的父母心软了，让他和他的朋友一起去度假了。
👉 sprint away 跑掉
sprint /sprɪnt/ verb [intransitive]
to run very fast for a short distance
sprint along/across/up etc
Bill sprinted up the steps.
👉 startled
UK /ˈstɑːtəld/ US /ˈstɑːrtəld/ adj. 受到惊吓的
startle v. 受到惊吓
👉 rush away 跑掉
👉 jab
UK /dʒæb/ US /dʒæb/ vt. 按（电梯等）to push something into or towards something else with short quick movements jab at
She jabbed at the elevator buttons.
When I didn’t respond, he jabbed a finger at me.
jab somebody with something
Stop jabbing me with your elbow!
jab something into something
The soldier jabbed a rifle into his ribs.
That was how Mr. Zhang, 32, found himself speeding back to his delivery station with one finger held aloft, careful not to touch the rest of his hand — a quarantine in miniature.
就这样，32岁的张赛高高举着一根手指，回到他的送货站，小心翼翼地避免碰到手的其他部分——就像一个小型隔离现场。
👉 find oneself doing sth. （回过神来）发现自己正在做某事
I found myself speaking in front of audience for three hours without a break.
回过神来，我发现我已经滔滔不绝地讲了三个小时。
👉 aloft
UK /əˈlɒft/ US /əˈlɑːft/ adv. 在空中，在高处
a flag flying aloft 迎风飘扬的旗帜
“I was very scared,” he recalled in a telephone interview. “Because I ride a scooter, I felt the finger was like a flag.”
“所以我很怕，”他在电话采访中回忆道。“因为我骑的是电动车，我感觉那一根手指头就像一面旗子一样。”
For many in China, delivery drivers like Mr. Zhang are the only connection to the outside world. Once a ubiquitous but invisible presence on the streets of nearly every Chinese city, the drivers are now being heralded as heroes.
对于许多中国人来说，像张赛这样的送货骑手是他们与外界唯一的联系。这些骑手曾经是中国几乎每个城市的街道上无处不见却被人忽视的存在，现在被当作英雄来赞颂。
Throughout China, at least 760 million people — almost a tenth of the world’s population — face some form of residential lockdown. The restrictions are particularly strict in Wuhan, where government efforts to contain the virus have barricaded most of the 11 million residents in their homes.
在整个中国，至少有7.6亿人——几乎是世界人口的十分之一——面临着某种形式的居住封锁。这种限制在武汉尤其严格，政府遏制该病毒的努力已导致1100万居民中的大多数被关在家里。
Each household can send someone out for necessities just once every three days. Many residents do not venture outside at all, for fear of infection. Of the more than 2,200 deaths and 75,000 infections linked to the new virus, the majority have been in Wuhan.
每个家庭每三天可以派一个人外出一次购买生活必需品。由于担心感染，许多居民根本不敢冒险外出。与新病毒有关的2100多例死亡和近7.5万例感染中的大多数发生在武汉。
But people still have to eat — which is why Mr. Zhang and legions of delivery drivers find themselves on the street each day. As Wuhan and the rest of the China hunkers down, they have become the country’s vital arteries, keeping fresh meat, vegetables and other supplies flowing to those who need them.
但是人们还是得吃饭——这就是为什么张赛和大批送货骑手每天都在街上忙碌的原因。随着武汉和中国其他地区的人们困守家中，他们已经变成了这个国家的重要动脉，让新鲜的肉、蔬菜和其他物资流向需要的人。
It is grueling and dangerous work. Mr. Zhang, who works for Hema, a supermarket chain owned by the tech giant Alibaba, crisscrosses the city armed only with the face masks and hand sanitizer that his company supplies each morning.
这是艰巨而危险的工作。张赛为科技巨头阿里巴巴旗下的连锁超市盒马鲜生工作，每天早上配备公司提供的口罩和消毒洗手液在城市中穿梭。
His company uniform, bright blue with a hippo logo, tells the local authorities that he is allowed to be on the road.
他的公司制服是鲜艳的蓝色，带有河马标识，让地方当局知道他是可以上路的。
At night, he tries not to think about the epidemic. He listens to pop songs and looks for good news on TV.
在晚上，他试图不去想疫情。他听流行歌曲，并在电视上寻找好消息。
The dozens of trips he makes each day are born of not just Wuhan’s necessity but his own. His wife and 4-year-old twin boys, as well as his father, rely on him for financial support. He never considered taking time off, even after the danger of the outbreak became clear. When his family asked him to stop, he ignored them, too.
他每天进行的数十次递送不仅出于武汉的需要，还为了他自己的生活。他的妻子和4岁的双胞胎男孩以及他的父亲依靠他提供经济支持。即使疫情的危险越来越明显，他也从未考虑过请假。当家人要求他停下来时，他也不听。
Mr. Zhang’s family lives outside Wuhan, and he cannot visit because of the outbreak, but he video chats with them daily.
张赛的家人不住在武汉，由于疫情暴发他无法回去看他们，但每天都和他们视频聊天。
If he goes fast and works long days, Mr. Zhang said, he could make about 8,000 yuan a month, or just over $1,100 — more than he made in his previous job as a mail courier. The average monthly salary in Wuhan in 2017 was about 6,640 yuan, according to the data provider CEIC.
张赛说，如果骑得快一点并且工作时间够长，每个月可以赚大约8000元人民币（约合1100美元出头）——这比他以前担任邮递员的工作时赚的要多。根据数据提供商CEIC的数据，2017年武汉市的平均月薪约为6640元。
Mr. Zhang and his colleagues offer one another a constantly updating stream of advice. It was one of Mr. Zhang’s colleagues who told him to use a key to press elevator buttons. Another afternoon, someone said in the company group text that a suspected coronavirus patient had died in Neighborhood 125. Don’t enter that area of Wuhan anymore, the message said.
张赛和他的同事们互相提供随时更新的建议。张赛的一个同事告诉他要用钥匙按电梯按钮。某天下午，有人在公司群里说，125小区一个疑似患者去世了。信息上说，大家就不要再进那个小区了。
“So damn unlucky,” a colleague said. “Those orders were assigned to me.”
“真-他-妈倒霉，”一位同事说。“125小区的单子派给我。”
So far, none of Mr. Zhang’s co-workers have fallen sick, he said.
张赛说，到目前为止，他的同事都没有生病。
The epidemic has brought some unexpected bright spots. Before, Mr. Zhang said, he sometimes ran red lights during rush hour in order to meet his delivery goals for the day. Now, the streets are empty. He has no problem getting around.
疫情带来了一些意想不到的亮点。张赛说，以前，他有时为了完成当天的递送任务在高峰时段闯红灯。现在，街道空无一人。他去哪都很顺畅。
👉 unexpected bright spots 意料之外的好处
👉 run red lights 闯红灯
👉 get around 溜达，转悠
People are nicer, too. Some customers barely opened the door or avoided eye contact. After the outbreak erupted, everyone said thank you.
人们的态度也更好了。有些客户几乎不来开门或者看都不看一眼。疫情暴发后，每个人都说谢谢。
👉 barely UK /ˈbeəli/ US /ˈberli/ adv. 几乎不 almost not SYN hardly
She was barely aware of his presence.
Joe and his brother are barely on speaking terms.
👉 erupt UK /ɪˈrʌpt/ US /ɪˈrʌpt/ v. 爆发
“There’s a saying: ‘A man’s words are kind when death is close,’” Mr. Zhang said. “Everybody is very tired. Everybody has been suffering for so long.”
“有一句话说：‘人之将死，其言也善。’”张赛说。“大家都很辛苦。大家已经被折腾这么久了。”
👉 A man’s words are kind when death is close. 人之将死，其言也善。
Those interactions are rarer now. This week, the Wuhan authorities ordered neighborhoods to establish “contactless delivery” points. When Mr. Zhang has a delivery, he takes it to a designated checkpoint in the customer’s neighborhood and leaves.
这些互动现在更少见了。本周，武汉当局下令各社区建立“无接触配送”点。张赛拿到货物后，便将其送到客户附近的指定检查站然后离开。
👉 "contactless delivery" points “无接触配送”点
👉 designated checkpoint 指定检查点
By far the best change, though, has been to Mr. Zhang’s after-work routine. Usually, he’d watch a movie or spend time with friends. Now, every night, he writes in a journal. Then he sends the entries to various online publications that — much to his delight — have begun sharing them.
不过，到目前为止，变化最好的是张赛下班后的生活。通常，他会看个电影或和朋友在一起。现在，他每天晚上都会写日记。然后，他将日记发送给各种网络媒体，令他感到高兴的是，网络媒体已经开始将它们发表。
👉 entry
UK /ˈentri/ US /ˈentri/ n. 投稿作品；参赛作品；进入
something that you write, make, do etc in order to try and win a competition
The winning entry will be published in our April issue.
What’s the closing date for entries?
👉 much to one's delight 让某人高兴的是
His first post was published Jan. 30, in the online magazine Single Read. It was called “Self-narration of a Wuhan takeout worker.” Since then, he has published five more.
他的第一篇文章发表于1月30日的在线杂志《单读》中。标题为“一个武汉外卖员的自述”。从那以后，他又发表了五篇。
He writes of calling a friend to ask him to support his sons if he gets sick; of watching two older men play chess outdoors without masks; of taking in a crisp Wuhan day, with few around to share it.
他在文中写道，如果他生病，就打电话给朋友请他照顾儿子；他看到两位老人在户外下象棋，不戴口罩；他在武汉度过了清爽的一天，身边却没有多少人可以分享。
👉 write of 提及
👉 crisp
UK /krɪsp/ US /krɪsp/ adj. 天气爽朗的；脆的 weather that is crisp is cold and dry OPP humid
The air was fresh and crisp.
a crisp clear autumn day
“Normally, you would see more people sunbathing, playing chess, grocery shopping, doing nothing,” he wrote in that entry, dated Jan. 30. “Usually, I think they’re too noisy. Only now do I discover a city without people yelling is boring.”
你本可以看到更多晒太阳的人，下棋的人，买菜的人，没有任何事可以忙的人，”他在1月30日的那篇文章中写道。“平时我嫌他们太吵，现在才发现，没有人嚷嚷的城市，没有意思。”
Mr. Zhang said he had always harbored literary aspirations. He has written novels, poems and fairy tales, but none of those earlier writings were published.
张赛说，他一直怀有文学抱负。他写过小说、诗歌和童话，但这些早期的作品都没有出版。
👉 harbor American English （British English, harbour）
to keep bad thoughts, fears, or hopes in your mind for a long time I think he’s harbouring some sort of grudge against me.
She began to harbour doubts over the wisdom of their journey.
He has only a middle school education, and thought that would put off editors. But they have published his entries after making only some grammatical changes, he said.
他只有初中学历，并且认为编辑会因此拒绝。但是，他说，他们仅做了一些语法改动后就发表了他的文章。
👉1 put something ↔ off
to delay doing something or to arrange to do something at a later time or date, especially because there is a problem or you do not want to do it now SYN delay, procrastinate
The match has been put off until tomorrow because of bad weather.
put off doing something
I put off going to the doctor but I wish I hadn’t.
2 put somebody ↔ off British English
to make you dislike something or not want to do something
Don’t let the restaurant’s decor put you off – the food is really good.put somebody off (doing) something
Don’t let your failures put you off trying harder.
He reads every comment left on his posts. Many people say they cannot believe a delivery driver wrote them.
他阅读了帖子下面的所有评论。许多人说他们无法相信这些是一个外卖骑手写的。
“I think people like me because I’m just one of them,” he said.
他说：“大家喜欢我可能是因为我就是他们身边的人。”
Mr. Zhang plans to keep writing after the outbreak ends. He has already started taking fewer deliveries, to have more time to write.
张赛计划在疫情结束后继续写作。他已经开始减少接单，以便有更多时间写东西。
If outlets stop publishing his work, he’ll keep making deliveries to earn money. But he will not stop writing.
如果媒体不再发表他的作品，他会继续送货赚钱。但他不会停止写作。
“The epidemic has made many people close their mouths. It has made many of the unlucky among us close their mouths forever,” Mr. Zhang wrote in one post. “I want to talk now.”
“疫情让人闭嘴。让身边不幸的人永远闭嘴，”张赛在一篇文章中写道。“我想说话了。”
张赛在单读发表文章的部分节选：
想起从前看的电影，经常有这样场景：男主角从外面回家，顺手把外套脱了，挂起来。从前觉得小资，觉得阔气，现在觉得这是一个好的卫生习惯。
新闻上说，有一个治愈的患者出院的时候把旧衣服烧了。1998 年，妈妈走的时候，老爸把她的衣服烧了，送温暖。以前觉得迷信。现在觉得这是一个好的卫生习惯。
看到一位爹爹蹲在公共厕所门口，用力咳嗽。
看到一个婴儿戴口罩，小小的口罩，有图案的口罩。
看到说 31 日开业的钢花菜场没有开业。一些菜贩想摆地摊，被城管赶走了。
看到普仁医院外面，有一个行人对另一个说，一家五口都……我没有脑补。我很忙。
1 月 31 日下午，武汉朝阳街。看到下棋的人还在下棋，人也多了一个，口罩也不戴了。这劲头是要赢啊！不知道这个公共设施，他们能占用多久。
【拓展】
1⃣️ 危难时刻你们怎么还关在象牙塔里丨单读：
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VJIXoL5Y5KB7vwJIz7-zcQ
2⃣️ 一位武汉外卖员的自述丨单读
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VoEt-k6HTq-lEUgKa9R5IQ
