We spend a considerable amount of time planning birthdays, wedding and anniversaries.
我們花了很多時間來策劃生日、婚禮和紀念日。

But have you ever thought about how you would like to die?
但你可曾想過自己愿意以什么樣的方式離開人世呢？

In a new study, researchers have revealed the key characteristics of a 'good death'.
在一項新研究中，研究人員揭示了“善終”的幾個關鍵詞。

They focused on the views of the patients themselves; family members – who were quizzed before or during bereavement - and healthcare providers.
他們針對病人、喪親前后的家屬和醫護人員做了問卷調查。

They identified 11 core themes of a good death, which included a choice of a specific process while dying, being free of pain and with the appropriate religious or spiritual rituals they wanted.
通過調查，研究人員確定了“善終”的11個核心主題，包括臨終時選擇的流程——沒有痛苦地死去以及舉行自己想要的適當的宗教或心靈儀式。

The other key characteristics included dying with a sense of emotional well-being, passing away with dignity and feeling as though one has 'completed' one's life.
其他的核心主題包括懷著幸福感死去、有尊嚴地死去以及感到人生圓滿。

The study was published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
該研究發表在《美國老年精神病學期刊》上。

It comes after a shocking report today revealed thousands of British patients are routinely being left dehydrated and in pain during their final hours.
就在今天，一份令人震驚的報告披露成千上萬的英國病人在臨死時都常規性地處于脫水和痛苦的狀態。

Last week, another study urged doctors to send cancer patients home to die, as this may give them a few extra days of life.
上周，另一項研究敦促醫生讓癌癥病人回家等死，因為這樣也許能讓他們多活幾天。

The University of Tsukuba study found people given between two and eight weeks to live survived 36 days at home, but only 29 in hospital.
日本筑波大學的研究發現，被醫生診斷還能活兩到八周的病人，如果在家休養可以活36天，但在醫院治療只能活29天。

Often, people prefer to spend their final days at home but end up dying in hospital because doctors do not want them to leave, researchers said.
研究人員稱，人們通常更愿意在家度過最后的時光，但由于醫生不同意往往最后死在醫院。

From floating in space to being administered a fatal dose of morphine, Reddit users share how they would like to die.
從漂浮在太空到服下致命劑量的嗎啡，社交新聞網站Reddit的用戶們分享了自己想要的死法。

‘I want a meteor to kill me,’ one user called Turd Burgleson wrote.
一位名叫特德?巴格爾森的用戶寫道：“我希望被流星殺死。”

Another user, called ‘themoosehatguy’, said: ‘Floating in a space suit while down at the Earth. One last good view.’
另一位名為“駝鹿帽男人”的用戶寫道：“穿著航天服漂浮在太空中俯視地球。最后再好好地看一眼。”

One patient, a recent cancer survivor, said: ‘When it gets to the point that I can no longer care for myself, I want my significant other to crawl into bed with me and administer a lethal dose of morphine.
一位近日剛戰勝癌癥病魔的幸存者說：“如果到了我不能再照顧自己的時候，我希望我的另一半能鉆進我的被窩，給我注射致命劑量的嗎啡。

‘We have fallen asleep with his arm around me and my head on his shoulder every night of our long relationship.
“在我們這么多年的夫妻歲月中，每天晚上我都是在他的臂彎中，枕著他的肩膀睡著的。

‘He held me this way during the long nights after chemo, and I felt as if it was the safest place in the world. That is where I want to die.’
“化療后的一個個漫漫長夜里，他也是這么抱著我睡覺的，我覺得那是世界上最安全的地方。那就是我想要死去的地方。”

Vocabulary

geriatric: 老人的；老年醫學的
dehydrated: 脫水的
administer: 給予

英文來源：每日郵報
翻譯&編輯：丹妮