【英语趣味课堂】同性恋婚姻-Gay Marriage

Adria: So New Mexico like you said, it's pretty conservative. What are the gay marriage laws or are there any gay marriage laws in New Mexico?

Shiloh: Well it's illegal in the state of New Mexico to receive a gay marriage. You can't receive a marriage licence if you're a gay couple. That being said, my town especially, Santa Fe, is a haven¹ for lesbian couples. We have very many lesbians in my town. Generally we get along pretty well. Although my state is a very conservative Republican state, I live in kind of an enclave of liberalism and I have issues with it and I think that this is pretty standard for most Republicans. I have religious issues with it and moral issues with gay marriage. I personally don't think it's right. I think that marriage between a man and a woman is something that's more than just a legal contract but it's an important moral connection that you have and I think that it should still be illegal to marry another man or another woman.

 

Adria: That's interesting. I have, I think, the opposing view but like I said I'm from Kentucky, it's very conservative so yeah gay marriage isn't legal in Kentucky and actually homosexuals are largely discriminated³ against in my state but personally I think homosexuals should be allowed to marry and actually I saw a really funny Facebook status about supporting gay marriage and it said some stars have nine divorces and Britney Spears was married for fifty five hours so saying that there's a sacredness to marriage is kind of an oxymoron since it's been bastardized so much over the last couple of years so it's an interesting issue. Definitely something we'll have to talk about more.

 

What are your ideas on abortion⁵?

 

Shiloh: Also they are similar to gay marriage. Abortion is against my religion, I have very strong convictions against abortion. I think that it's basically murdering a child. It doesn't matter what stage of development the baby's in, a live person is still a live person and I think it's immoral⁶ to abort⁴ a child. Also I think it's problematic because it's just a way to cover up your mistakes. You did something wrong, maybe it's not immoral, but you screwed up, you don't want to have to suffer the consequences for something that you did and I think in that sense it's really disappointing when people have abortions⁷ because they're choosingthe easy way out and I think it's amazing to have a child and it can change your life for the better and it's just a natural progression of life. People have kids, even if you don't want to have a child, hey you have to understand it, it's going to happen and you have to live with it and make the best of it and it'll probably change your life for the better and it's sad to see unborn babies being aborted⁸ and they're never going to grow up, they're never going to have a life, they're never going to change their parents' life and their parents are never going to have the opportunity to raise a child.

 

Adria: Well, I would say my opinion also differs from that. Maybe as a woman I see it differently so I kind of support feminism rather largely. So I kind of feel like a woman has the right to choose what she wants to do with her body and you mentioned that a woman has to live or somebody has to live with their choice but the man doesn't have to live with his choice because he doesn't have to go through nine months of pregnancy⁹ and then eighteen years of raising a child because at least in poor communities the father is more likely to leave and so then the woman has to deal with that. And with that being said, I did grow up in a Catholic household and I went to an all girls Catholic high school and I think over the years I"ve become more conservative on the issue and I don't like the idea of abortion and I kind of disagree with it in some respects but I do understand that people have the right to do what they want with their own body and many Democrats¹⁰ feel that, you know, a woman should be able to have her own bodily rights, and also that also especially as far as health care is concerned that abortion should be included in health care and you know, be considered a normal medical practice.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

discriminate² against

 

Homosexuals are largely discriminated against in my state.

 

People who are discriminated against are treated differently and in a negative way, than most other people. Notice the following:

 

Immigrants are often discriminated against.

It's against the law to discriminate against someone because of race, religion or sex.

oxymoron

 

Britney Spears was married for fifty five hours so saying that there's a sacredness to marriage is kind of an oxymoron.

 

An oxymoron is two words used together that seem to have opposite meaning. Notice the following:

 

'pretty ugly' is a classic oxymoron.

'Seriously funny' is in fact a funny example of an oxymoron.

screw up

 

You did something wrong, maybe it's not immoral, but you screwed up.

 

When we screw up, that means we do something wrong or make a mistake. Notice the following:

 

I really screwed up at work yesterday.

He screwed up big time!

suffer the consequences

 

You don't want to have to suffer the consequences for something that you did.

 

We use the phrase 'suffer the consequences' to talk about a negative result of our actions. Notice the following:

 

If you're late, you'll have to suffer the consequences.

He had to suffer the consequences of his mistake.

the easy way out

 

They're choosing the easy way out.

 

Choosing the easy way out of a situation is the way that is least difficult for us. Notice the following:

 

I'm lazy. I always look for the easy way out.

The easy way out is not always the best way.

1 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

2 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

3 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

4 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

5 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

6 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

7 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

8 aborted   

adj.流产的，失败的v.（使）流产( abort的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（某事物）中止；（因故障等而）（使）（飞机、宇宙飞船、导弹等）中断飞行；（使）（飞行任务等）中途失败

参考例句：

• The rocket flight had to be aborted because of difficulties with computer. 因电脑出故障，这次火箭飞行只好中辍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They aborted the space flight finally. 他们最后中止了这次宇航飞行。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

10 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》