2016年CRI Americans Mourn Orlando Shooting Victims

 

Mourners have gathered in cities across the United States to remember the victims of the Orlando shooting, with many calling for increased tolerance¹ and an end to violence toward the LGBT community and ethnic² minorities.

"Our lives matter, whether you're black, trans, queer, whatever, you deserve to be on this planet because God put you here and if you don't believe in God you exist and you matter, no matter what."

"We live in a country where a leading presidential candidate is banking³ on anti-Muslim hate, banking on anti-immigrant hate to reach the White House. And so we, as LGBT people who stand for justice for all, must stand for justice for Muslims, for South Asians, for anyone who is targeted by hate, and not just ourselves."

The shooter has now been identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, a US citizen of Afghan descent.

His Muslim background has led many to worry about a further division within the American society.

Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has been quick to condemn⁴ the killings⁵ as "a hate crime".

"Let me be perfectly⁶ clear - we have no tolerance for extremism of any kind. We must not tolerate hateful rhetoric⁷ that incites⁸ violence against minorities. Religious freedom is a cornerstone of our beliefs as Muslims and as Americans. Today, we must stand united."

The exact motive⁹ behind the killings remains¹⁰ unknown.

Omar Marteen had caught the attention of authorities for suspected terrorist ties.

The FBI interviewed him twice, in 2011 and 2014, but was unable to verify any terrorist links.

The FBI has also confirmed that Marteen called police and pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State while he was holding people hostage inside the popular gay nightclub before he was killed.

The Islamic State has since claimed credit for the incident.

However, law enforcement officials have yet to confirm any ties between him and the extremist group.

FBI agent Ron Hopper says they are still at the early stages of the investigation¹¹.

"We will determine officially whether it's a hate crime or terrorism incident or even a violent crime once we have all the facts in place. We're at the very early stages."

Other motives¹² are also being considered.

The shooter's ex-wife, who only stayed with the 29-year old for 4-months before leaving him, has described Marteen as mentally unstable¹³ and abusive.

His father has also cited his son's objection to the LGBT community, insisting the killings have nothing to do with religion.

Addressing a shocked nation, US President Barack Obama has described the attack in Orlando as "terror and hate," and reminded the Americans once again of the tough battle against gun violence.

"This massacre¹⁴ is therefore a further reminder¹⁵ of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub. And we have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be.　And to actively¹⁶ do nothing is a decision as well."

Sunday's incident in Orlando is the deadliest mass-shooting in American history, surpassing the death toll¹⁷ of 32 in the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech.

For CRI, I'm Qi Zhi.

1 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

4 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

5 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

8 incites   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In all countries any person who incites others to insurrection is guilty of treason. 在任何国家里，煽动他人谋反者，都属犯叛国罪。
• The success of the handicapped man incites us to pursue our dreams. 这位残疾人的成功激励我们追求自己的梦想。

9 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

13 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

14 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

15 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

16 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

17 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。