The first I knew about it was when I wokeup in the ambulance. 当我从救护车中苏醒过来时才知道发生了什么事。
▲我认为此句译文有欠妥之处。牛津高阶6版652页有类似句型:
The first I heard about the wedding (=The first time I became aware of it) was when I saw it in the local paper. 我最初知道他们结婚的消息是从当地报纸上看到的。
上文似应译为:我最初了解此事经过是在自己于救护车上苏醒之时。
▲个人以为此句 first 后加 time 是正确的,只不过 first 由一个名词或代词变成了一个形容词。
The first I knew about it was when I woke up in the ambulance.
= The first (time) (that) I knew about it was (the moment/ the time) when I woke up in the ambulance.
因此,I knew about it 为定语从句,前面省略了 that; 而 when I woke up in the ambulance 可以理解为表语从句,该网友提供的译文似乎把其误认为时间状语从句,因此出现了误译。