戰場上最安靜的數字：腎臟
一開始，作者把加護病房寫成一座會呼吸、會發光的城：呼吸器的氣聲、監視器的滴滴聲、護理紀錄裡爬滿數字。大家目光都盯著肺，但真正悄悄崩塌的，原來是床尾那袋透明的尿袋——它的滴速、顏色，像是一條被忽略的求救訊號。作者順著這條線索，帶我們回到 1918 年西班牙流感的年代，看見「病毒、肺炎與急性腎損傷」糾纏百年的故事。
一、逐句重點文法解析- “In an ICU, time does not pass by sunrise or sunset.”
— 介系詞片語 In an ICU 放句首做「場景設定」。對比用法 does not pass by sunrise or sunset 以 by 連接兩個名詞片語，形成文學化對仗。可延伸：In exams, time does not pass by…（套用寫作技巧）。 - “The battle for the lungs was loud. The fall of the kidneys was nearly silent.”
— 平行句型與對比（battle vs. fall；loud vs. silent）。考試常見修辭：Antithesis（對照）。把 for the lungs / of the kidneys 的介系詞片語換一換就能練習同構。 - “It tugged a thread that leads back a century …”
— 擬人＋關係子句：a thread that leads back…（關代 that 引導限定用法）。動詞用現在式 leads 營造「至今仍延伸」的感覺。Medium - “Travel back to 1918.”
— 祈使句（省略主詞 you）。可學寫作招式：用祈使句帶讀者「穿越」情境。 - “The virus was the match; the inferno was secondary bacterial infection.”
— 隱喻＋分號；A was the B（病毒像火柴）對上 C was D（大火是細菌性肺炎），典型「平行隱喻」。分號連接兩個獨立子句，語氣強而不散。 - “With hindsight, we now suspect a deeper secret.”
— 介系詞片語 With hindsight 作句首語氣鋪陳；now suspect 為「現在觀點」的學術語氣（委婉、保留）。
二、重要單字與片語（5–10）
- ICU (n.) 加護病房；= intensive care unit
Ex: The patient was sent to the ICU for monitoring. - ventilator (n.) 呼吸器；Syn: respirator
Ex: He was placed on a ventilator after surgery. - ground-glass opacities (n.) 磨玻璃影（胸部 CT 常見）；學術片語
Ex: CT showed ground-glass opacities in both lungs. - casualty (n.) 傷亡、犧牲者
Ex: The kidney became an overlooked casualty of the pandemic. - collateral damage (n.) 附帶損害
Ex: Kidney injury was once seen as collateral damage from sepsis. - cytokine storm (n.) 細胞激素風暴
Ex: A cytokine storm can damage multiple organs. - hindsight (n.) 事後看法、後見之明
Ex: With hindsight, the signs were obvious. - armamentarium (n.)（醫師）手邊可用的治療與工具
Ex: Antibiotics expanded the medical armamentarium.
三、相近片語比較
- collateral damage vs. side effect
前者多指「戰爭/系統性事件」造成的附帶傷害；後者多指藥物或措施的「副作用」。 - look back vs. travel back (in time)
look back 側重回顧回想；travel back 有文學感，像穿越時空。
四、易混淆比較
- virus（病毒；需寄生活細胞）vs. bacterium/bacteria（細菌；可獨立生長）
Ex: A virus needs a host cell, but a bacterium can replicate on its own.
五、小結
這一段用「安靜的尿袋」提醒我們：疫情裡，腎臟是被忽略的受害者。寫作上學到對比、祈使句開場與分號並列的力道；科學上理解「病毒—細菌—全身發炎」如何讓腎臟默默倒下。
