Longreads Best of 2013: The Best Sentence I Read This Year

Catherine Cloutier is an online producer at The Boston Globe’s Boston.com.

凯瑟琳·克劳蒂尔 (Catherine Cloutier) 是《波士顿环球报》旗下 Boston.com 的在线制作人。

## “Life, Feinberg says, guarantees misfortune.

## 范伯格说，生活注定会带来不幸。

The wolf is always at the door.”

狼总是在门口。”

James Oliphant’s profile of Ken Feinberg in the National Journal transformed the way I view our nation’s response to tragedy.

詹姆斯·奥利芬特 (James Oliphant) 在《国家杂志》上对肯·范伯格 (Ken Feinberg) 的介绍改变了我看待我们国家应对悲剧的方式。

The monetary value of a life lost to violence is rarely equal.

因暴力而丧生的人的金钱价值是不平等的。

In highly publicized events, such as the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., or the Boston Marathon bombings, private donations flood victims and their families, while victims of inner-city gang violence often do not receive enough compensation to pay for a funeral.

在广为人知的事件中，例如康涅狄格州纽敦的校园枪击事件或波士顿马拉松爆炸案，私人捐款大量涌入受害者及其家人，而内城帮派暴力的受害者往往得不到足够的赔偿来支付葬礼费用。

Feinberg tries not to ponder this inequity when distributing victim compensation.

范伯格在分配受害者赔偿时尽量不考虑这种不平等。

He looks at the numbers, determines a method of distribution, and gets the checks out quickly.

他查看数字，确定分配方法，并迅速发放支票。

He has a job to do.

他有工作要做。

It’s math, not emotion.

这是数学，而不是情感。

For one week and much of the many that followed, my life and job revolved around the coverage of one of these tragedies.

在一周以及接下来的许多时间里，我的生活和工作都围绕着报道其中一场悲剧而展开。

Reading this article, particularly lines like the one I featured, gave me perspective on that event in light of other tragedies in our country.

阅读这篇文章，特别是像我所介绍的那样的文章，让我根据我国其他悲剧对这一事件有了看法。

Violence and death are constants; what’s not constant is the attention given to them.

暴力和死亡是常态；不稳定的是对他们的关注。

## How Much Is a Life Worth?)

## 生命值多少钱？）

James Oliphant | National Journal | August 2013 | 18 minutes (4,405 words)

詹姆斯·奥利芬特 |国家期刊| 2013 年 8 月 | 18 分钟（4,405 字）

Read more stories from Longreads Best of 2013

阅读 Longreads 2013 年精选的更多故事

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Photo: aigle_dore, Flickr

照片：aigle_dore，Flickr

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