Sixty-one years old, a wiry man of middle height, with thinning gray hair and sharp features, he had ventured into the most remote corners of Asia studying the epidemiology of stomach cancer.

• 我在他身旁待了几分钟后准备离开。我琢磨着，我无法对这样一个病人再用平时所说的那些话来鼓励，说什么与病魔作斗争是至关重要的。