又中又英——screeching halt

　　Last week, I had a sinking feeling when I read the news one of the world’s most promising vaccine trials for the coronavirus had to be temporarily halted after it hit a snag. The vaccine, developed by the Oxford University, was a frontrunner in the global race to find a safe vaccine. Oxford teamed up with the biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to do large-scale testing in several countries. Oxford-AstraZeneca was in the last stage of its final phase three trial when it hit a snag. One volunteer in Britain who had taken the experimental vaccine became ill. The trial came to a screeching halt.
If you have a sinking feeling, it means you feel something bad is going to happen. I had a sinking feeling because the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was very promising, which means it was showing signs of success. When something “hits a snag” it means it encounters a problem or obstacle. The vaccine hit a snag because one of the volunteers who took it became ill. I had a sinking feeling when I read the news because the vaccine was a frontrunner, which means it was ahead of other vaccine trials and could win the race. I love travelling and had hoped for a vaccine by the end of the year so I can start travelling again.
Luckily, after the trial came to a screeching halt, Oxford restarted it over the weekend. When a driver suddenly uses his brakes to make his vehicle come to a sudden stop, it makes a loud and unpleasant noise. That is called a “screeching halt”. But the expression also means a sudden and unexpected end to something. If the Oxford vaccine caused the illness, experts will have to decide if the trial should continue. They have now decided it can safely resume. Such snags are common during vaccine trials. There are several other frontrunners in the vaccine race. I really hope one will succeed.
  上星期，当我读到一则新闻，就是其中一支最有希望的（promising）新冠肺炎疫苗试验，在它碰壁（hit a snag）以后必须暂时叫停，我不禁心里一沉，有种不祥的感觉（sinking feeling）。那支由牛津大学研发的疫苗，是全球力寻安全疫苗竞赛中的领先者（frontrunner）。牛津与生物制药公司阿斯利康合作，在好几个国家做一个大型的临床试验。牛津与阿斯利康是在三阶段的终期临床试验时碰壁（hit a snag）的。英国一位志愿者接种试验性的疫苗后有不良反应。试验需要戛然煞停（screeching halt）。
  若你有个 sinking feeling，意即你有不祥的预感。我有这样的不祥之感（sinking feeling）是因为牛津与阿斯利康疫苗本身是非常 promising，意即它被看好，有望成功。当某事“hits a snag”，即它遭遇到困难或障碍。由于其中一位接种过疫苗的志愿者发病，因此疫苗遇上了阻滞（hit a snag）。我读到新闻时有不祥之感（sinking feeling），因为这支疫苗已是个 frontrunner，意即它领先于其他的疫苗试验，并且有望在竞赛中胜出。我喜爱旅游，寄望在年底前有疫苗推出，那我就可以再度旅行了。
  幸好，试验在紧急煞停（came to a screeching halt）之后，牛津在周末得以重新开始试验。当一位司机突然煞车令车辆停顿时，就会响起一下尖锐刺耳的声音，那就叫做 screeching halt。但这个习语也指意外地突然叫停某事。若是牛津的疫苗引起该病，专家们便要决定那试验应否继续。但现在他们决定了，试验可安全地恢复。这样的阻滞（snags）在疫苗试验阶段中是很常见的。在这场疫苗竞赛中，还有另外几位领先者（frontrunners），我衷心希望有一支得以成功研发。[email protected]
中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁