世界上最幸運的倒楣鬼：英語精讀講義

This episode is brought to you by Skillshare.

本集節目由 Skillshare 贊助播出。

The first 1,000 people to sign up using the link in the description

前1000名使用資訊欄中連結註冊的用戶

will get their first two months free.

將獲得前兩個月的免費體驗。

On a cold January morning in 1962,

1962年1月一個寒冷的清晨，

32-year-old Croatian Frane Selak

32歲的克羅埃西亞人 Frane Selak

was minding his own business 慣用語

正在做著自己的事，

when suddenly his train derailed.

突然，他乘坐的火車脫軌了。

Disconnected from the rest of the train, 文法

他的車廂與其他車廂脫節，

his train car plunged

墜入了

down a narrow canyon

狹窄的峽谷中，

and into an icy river.

掉進冰冷的河裡。

Desperately fighting to escape the sinking train car,

拼命想逃出下沉的車廂的 Selak，

Selak made his way to the shore 片語搭配

奮力游到了岸邊，

before being pulled to safety by a bystander.

隨後被一名旁觀者拉到了安全地帶。

While 17 other people drowned in that tragic accident,

儘管有17人在那場悲慘的事故中溺亡，

Selak suffered nothing more than a broken arm and hypothermia. 片語搭配

Selak 卻只受了手臂骨折和失溫之苦。

Yet this was the day life would take a strange turn for Selak, 慣用語

然而，正是這一天，Selak 的人生發生了奇妙的轉折，

throwing the mild-mannered music teacher

把這位溫文爾雅的音樂老師，

into a curious roller coaster of fate. 慣用語

拋入命運奇妙的雲霄飛車中。

Welcome to this episode of the Infographics Show,

歡迎收看本集《資訊圖表秀》，

Frane Selak,

講述 Frane Selak，

the luckiest unlucky man in the world.

世界上最幸運的倒楣鬼。

Prior to his train accident,

在發生火車事故之前，

Frane Selak led a quiet and unassuming life 片語搭配

Frane Selak 過著平靜低調的生活，

as a local music teacher.

他是一名當地的音樂老師。

It seems though that life,

似乎生活，

or more accurately death, 表達脈絡

或更準確地說是死亡，

had plans for Selak.

對 Selak 另有安排。

Miraculously escaping death in his train accident,

在火車事故中奇蹟般死裡逃生後，

Selak counted his lucky stars and continued about his life, 慣用語

Selak 暗自慶幸自己的好運，並繼續過著他原本的生活，

chalking up the incident to a stroke of bad luck. 講解

將這次事故歸結為一時倒楣。

But one year later,

但一年後，

Selak's mother fell ill.

Selak 的母親病倒了。

Gravely concerned,

由於非常擔憂，

Selak,

那個，

who had always been too nervous to fly, 文法

一直不敢坐飛機的 Selak，

immediately booked a plane ticket from Zagreb to Rijeka.

立即訂了一張從札格瑞布飛往里耶卡的機票。

The earliest flight being fully booked, 文法

最早的航班客滿了，

Selak managed to persuade a sympathetic airline employee 文法

Selak 設法說服了一位富有同情心的航空公司員工，

to let him ride in the rear of the aircraft

讓他坐在飛機的後部，

along with the single flight attendant.

和僅有的一名空服員在一起。

Nervous,

緊張不安的

Selak took to the skies without incident, 慣用語

Selak 順利升空，

chatting up the friendly flight attendant 片語動詞

他跟友好的空服員聊天，

and sharing tea to take his mind off his nerves. 慣用語

邊喝茶邊緩解緊張的情緒。

Minutes before landing though,

然而，就在降落前幾分鐘，

the rear door to the aircraft suddenly blew open,

飛機後門突然被吹開，

the pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the plane

飛機內外壓力差

sucking Selak and the flight attendant clear out of the airplane.

把 Selak 和空服員直接吸出了機艙。

Plunging to a certain death,

在必死無疑的墜落中，

Selak miraculously survived by landing in a haystack, 文法

Selak 奇蹟般地掉進了一個乾草堆裡倖存下來，

suffering nothing more than minor injuries.

僅僅受了點輕傷。

Unfortunately,

不幸的是，

there were no other survivors of the terrible accident.

這場可怕的事故中沒有其他倖存者。

Two brushes with death are enough for a single lifetime, 慣用語

兩次與死神擦肩而過，對一個人的一生來說已經足夠了，

but fate wasn't done with Selak. 慣用語

但命運對 Selak 的考驗還沒結束。

Four years later,

四年後，

Selak was commuting on a local bus

Selak 正乘坐當地的一輛公車通勤，

when the bus suddenly skidded into a river.

公車突然打滑衝進了一條河裡。

Once more plunged into icy waters,

再一次墜入冰冷的水中，

Selak managed to swim free of the sinking vehicle

Selak 設法游出了下沉的車輛，

and make his way to safety,

並安全脫險，

suffering nothing more than cuts and bruises.

只受了點割傷和瘀傷。

Four other riders were not so lucky and lost their lives.

另外四名乘客就沒有這麼幸運了，他們不幸喪生。

Perhaps and very understandably deterred from public transportation, 片語搭配

也許是對大眾運輸產生了可以理解的陰影，

Selak purchased a car of his own.

Selak 買了一輛自己的車。

In 1970,

1970年，

while driving his vehicle burst into flames and exploded. 片語搭配

在駕駛時，他的車突然起火並爆炸。

Diving for safety,

Selak 躍向安全地帶，

Selak managed to escape the burning wreck,

設法逃出了燃燒的殘骸，

once more suffering nothing more than minor wounds.

再次只是受了點輕傷。

What should have been a freak accident repeated itself 文法

本應是反常意外的事故卻重演了，

three years later

三年後，

with yet another of Selak's vehicles

Selak 的另一輛車

exploding after spontaneously catching fire.

自燃後爆炸了。

Diving for safety once more,

再次躍向安全地帶，

Selak escaped this time with minor burns.

這一次 Selak 只受了輕微的燒傷，逃過一劫。

Perhaps giving him a chance to catch his breath, 慣用語

也許是給了他一個喘息的機會，

life gave Frane Selak 22 years of relative peace 用詞

生活給了 Frane Selak 22年相對平靜的時光，

until a bus hit him while walking on a street in Zagreb in 1995.

直到1995年，他在札格瑞布街頭步行時被一輛公車撞倒。

Surviving once more with relatively few injuries,

再一次帶著相對較少的傷痛存活下來後，

Selak was then forced off a mountain road a year later.

一年後，Selak 又被逼落山路。

Driving in the Croatian mountains,

在克羅埃西亞山區開車時，

an oncoming UN truck barreling down a narrow road forced Selak to swerve, 講解

迎面駛來的一輛聯合國卡車在狹窄的道路上疾馳，迫使 Selak 猛打方向盤，

sending his car plunging off the mountain ledge and into a ravine. 文法

導致他的車衝出山崖，墜入深淵。

Jumping out at the last second,

在最後一刻跳出車外，

Selak managed to grab onto the branches of a tree and hoist himself to safety 片語動詞

Selak 成功抓住了樹枝，將自己拉到了安全的地方，

as his car smashed into the ground below.

而他的車則在下方砸在地上。

That would be the last time death made an attempt on Selak's life, 用詞

那將是死神最後一次企圖奪走 Selak 的生命，

at least to date.

至少到目前為止是這樣。

As if to make up for his incredible streak of bad luck, 講解

彷彿是為了彌補他不可思議的連續厄運，

Selak caught a break in 2003 when he won a million-dollar lottery. 慣用語

2003年，Selak 中了百萬美元彩券，終於時來運轉。

Interviewed by several international publications,

在接受幾家國際出版物採訪時，

Selak said that you could look at it two ways. 片語搭配

Selak 說你可以從兩個方面來看待這件事。

I was either the unluckiest man in the world 文法

我也要么是世界上最倒楣的人，

or the luckiest.

要么是最幸運的。

I prefer to believe the latter. 用詞

我更願意相信後者。

Lucky or not, 文法

不管幸不幸，

Selak's reputation for tragedy had made it difficult to keep friends. 文法

Selak 在悲劇方面的名聲使他很難交到朋友。

People around him are hesitant to get into vehicles with him

身邊的人都對他敬而遠之，不敢和他一起上車，

or be in his general proximity. 用詞

甚至不敢離他太近。

And who could blame them? 語氣意圖

誰能怪他們呢？

Reflecting on his life,

回顧自己的一生，

Selak told reporters,

Selak 告訴記者，

"There came a stage when I was lucky to have friends at all. 文法

「有一段時間，能有朋友我都覺得很幸運。

Many stopped seeing me,

很多人不再見我，

saying I was bad karma." 文化背景

說我是倒楣鬼。」

A number of Selak's friends also commented,

Selak 的一些朋友也評論道，

"Put it like this. 表達脈絡

「這麼說吧。

If I heard Frane had booked a flight or train, 文法

如果我聽說 Frane 訂了航班或火車，

I would cancel."

我會取消的。」

Selak's long streak of bad luck seems to be over,

Selak 長久的厄運似乎已經結束了，

but with so much international attention falling on the man,

但隨著如此多的國際關注落在此人身上，

doubt about some of his claims have begun to spring up.

圍繞他的一些說法開始產生質疑。

Many doubters point to a lack of official records documenting any fatal plane or train crashes

許多懷疑者指出，缺乏記錄致命飛機或火車墜毀事故的官方紀錄，

in 1962 or 1963,

無論是1962年還是1963年；

and in an interview with the BBC,

在接受 BBC 採訪時，

either Selak misstated his original

要么是 Selak 誤說了他的初衷，

or a reporter miswrote it,

要么是一名記者寫錯了，

giving the first year of his accident as 1957 and not 1962

把他發生第一場事故的年份說成了1957年，而不是1962年，

and saying it took place on a bus instead of a train.

並且說那是在公車上，而不是火車上。

Inconsistencies have also popped up in Selak's own telling of his stories, 片語動詞

Selak 自己講述的故事中也出現了不一致的地方，

with Selak claiming in 2003 that he'd been playing the lottery consistently 文法

他在2003年聲稱，自己一直堅持買彩券

for years before finally winning,

多年後才中獎，

but when re-interviewed in 2010,

但在2010年再次接受採訪時，

he claimed he'd won the jackpot on his very first time playing.

他又稱自己是第一次買彩券就中了頭獎。

Details tend to become murkier the longer a story is retold, 文法

故事流傳得越久，細節往往就變得越模糊，

and with Selak now in his late 80s, 文法

加上 Selak 現已年近九旬，

it's understandable if there are some inconsistencies.

出現一些不一致的情況也是可以理解的。

The nature of Selak's incredible escapes from death

Selak 不可思議的死裡逃生的本質

also makes them fodder for skeptics. 慣用語

也讓這些故事成為了懷疑論者的談資。

Yet Selak and those close to him stick by each story, 片語動詞

儘管如此，Selak 和他身邊的人依然堅持著每一個故事，

and real or not,

不管是真是假，

Selak has had to bear the stigma of being incredibly unlucky 片語搭配

Selak 都不得不承受著「極度倒楣」的烙印，

from friends and family 用詞

無論是來自朋友還是家人

alike.

皆是如此。

If

可是，

real

如果

though,

真是這樣的話，

Selak is truly the unluckiest man in the world,

Selak 確實是世界上最倒楣的人，

and it's nice to see that life finally granted him a consolation prize 片語搭配

很高興看到生活終於給了他一個安慰獎，

for trying to kill him,

算是對試圖奪走他性命的補償，

even if it took 70 years. 文法

即使這花了70年的時間。

What are the odds a man could live a life of such good and bad luck? 片語搭配

一個人一生中遇到如此好運和厄運的機率有多大？

Well, if math interests you,

如果你對數學感興趣，

why not take one of the many mathematics courses available on Skillshare

為什麼不參加 Skillshare 上提供的眾多數學課程之一

and calculate those odds yourself.

自己計算一下這些機率呢。

With classes on basic multiplication rules all the way to set theory,

從基本的乘法規則到集合論的課程都有，

relations and functions,

再到關係和函數，

you can become a math wiz in no time.

你很快就能成為一個數學高手。

The first 1,000 people to visit skillshare.com/infographics34

前1000名訪問 skillshare.com/infographics34

or to click the link in the description

或點擊資訊欄中連結的用戶，

will receive premium membership for two months completely free.

將獲得兩個月的完全免費高級會員資格。

Join Skillshare and start learning today.

加入 Skillshare，今天就開始學習吧。

So, what do you think about Selak's life?

那麼，你對 Selak 的人生有什麼看法呢？

Too incredible to be true?

不可思議到令人難以置信？

Let us know in the comments.

請在評論區告訴我們。

Also, be sure to check out our other video

另外，別忘了查看我們的其他影片，

called Most Evil Popes in the History of Mankind.

叫做《人類歷史上最邪惡的教宗》。

Thanks for watching,

感謝觀看，

and as always,

和往常一樣，

don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.

別忘了按讚、分享和訂閱。

See you next time.

下次見。