美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-10-22

 A deal in D.C. after weeks of accusations¹ and negotiations², news broke yesterday that Democrats³, Republicans and the president had more or less agreed on the plan. It would end the partial U.S. government shutdown that started on October 1st, and it would avoid the country hitting the debt ceiling, which experts said would happen today. The deal came from the U.S. Senate, where Democrats hold a majority, though it was a bipartisan agreement there. The Senate was expected to vote on a deal last night that would be followed by a vote in the Republican-led House of Representatives. Yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner urged his fellow Republicans to support the plan. If it passes both Houses of Congress, the president still has to sign it.

 

And one thing to keep in mind: this is an interim⁴ deal, it's temporary. It would fund the government through mid-January, raise the debt ceiling until early February. So, this is not a long term solution. Teachers, as always, you can get the latest details at cnn.com.

 

Our next story today is about a tragedy that allegedly started with bullying⁵, both in person and online. It led to a 12-year old in Florida committing suicide and later the arrest of two other girls.

 

"Police say Rebecca was bullied⁶ for a year. It apparently⁷ started when a 14-year old began dating a boy that Rebecca had dated beforehand. The bullying got worse over time. Police found social media messages to Rebecca that said things like you should die and why don't you go kill yourself. Rebecca's mom transferred her to another school, but that didn't stop it."

 

"I remember telling her, you know, you don't listen to them, you're beautiful, they are just jealous of you and she would say -- you are my mom, you have to say that."

 

"Eventually, the middle school student killed herself. But police say the bullying didn't stop afterward⁸. They say the 14-year-old who'd been doing some of it, posted on Facebook, essentially⁹ saying, yes, I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself, but I don't care. They arrested the 14-year old and another girl, a 12-year old, charging them with felony, aggravated¹⁰ stalking. The lawyer for the older girls says she didn`t have access to Facebook at the time the message was posted."

 

"She denies them. She says that this is not as clear cut as it seems. That these things that were posted on Facebook recently were not by her."

 

"But Rebecca's mother says that the arrest means justice is being served."

 

"Something is finally being done about these girls that were bullying her. That`s all she ever wanted was somebody to listen and do something about it."

 

"Police had been arresting minors¹¹ more often because of cases like this, the goal is to cut down on cyber bullying."

 

"Well, I can tell you we're all devastated¹² by this. And I can tell you all of us that worked that case and worked around that case, we lost sleep over that child dying needlessly."

1 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

5 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

11 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。