密歇根新闻广播 不能把科学教师变成士兵

 

Governor Rick Snyder said something remarkably¹ sane² earlier this week. Actually, the fact that people noticed it is a sad indication of how sick our society is.

"I don't think having more guns is a good thing," he said, meaning guns in schools. This remark ought to be in a class with "the sky is blue." Or, "if you are caught in a thunderstorm, you may get wet." Guns in schools are a bad idea, period.

Ask the families of those murdered in Florida.

However, no matter how many are slaughtered³ in no matter how many school massacres⁴, some people don't seem to be able to grasp the idea that maybe we should prevent people from getting guns, especially guns designed for mass killings⁵.

Nor are they willing to see that outlawing⁶ guns in schools is just sheer common sense. Instead, our gun-happy lawmakers have apparently⁷ watched too many westerns, and think the answer is some sort of remake of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Take State Representative Jim Runestad, a Baby Boomer from northern Oakland County. He hates unions and hates the idea that workers constructing state buildings ought to be paid as much as the standard prevailing⁸ wage in the industry. But he does love guns, and thinks he has the solution to the school shooting crisis: More guns in schools.

He's currently drafting legislation which would, according to Michigan Radio reports, allow districts to keep guns in school buildings for teachers to use in self-defense.

These guns would be hidden in locked compartments⁹ and would only be accessible to teachers who go through 80 hours of training in "how to engage with an active shooter."

For added safety, the locked compartments where the guns are hidden could only be opened with the thumbprint of approved school employees. When I read that, I would have burst out laughing, if we weren't talking about people being murdered.

The average school shooting lasts three minutes. Does Runestad, or anyone in their right mind, think a shooter is going to wait till one or more of the designated and trained teachers goes to the weapons cache, holds their thumb up to be properly identified, and then gets the weapon out and gets ready to do battle? Does he think there is going to be any warning?

Common sense knows better. I don't know much about Representative Runestad, except that he turns 59 tomorrow, and I don't know how well he remembers high school. But I can tell him this: The students, some of them anyway, will soon find out where the weapons are stored.

They will also, sooner or later, at some school or another find a way to get them. I can think of all sorts of scenarios¹⁰, none of them good. Legislators also might want to think about what really would be likely to happen even if a teacher with a little training tries to play Dirty Harry¹¹ in an active shooter situation. The odds¹² are that the outcome might well be even more tragic¹³.

Guns don't belong in schools, and trying to transform schools into armories¹⁴ won't work. You can make a rational argument for having trained and armed security in some schools.

But trying to turn social studies teachers into Secret Service agents makes no sense.

Jack¹⁵ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's Senior Political Analyst¹⁶. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

2 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

3 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 massacres   

大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败

参考例句：

• The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. 动不动就用枪、动不动就杀、大规模屠杀的时代已经过去了。 来自教父部分
• Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their recollection. 近来那些不可胜数的屠杀，在他们的头脑中记忆犹新。

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 outlawing   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Regulations are outlawing certain refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons, which contain ozone-depleting chemicals. 随后出台的政策禁用了部分制冷剂，如破坏臭氧层的氟氯碳化合物。
• An amendment outlawing sale of intoxicating liquors(1920)was repealed in 1933. 规定售卖酒类为非法的一个宪法修正案（一九二○年）在一九三三年被废止。

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 prevailing   

adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的

参考例句：

• She wears a fashionable hair style prevailing in the city.她的发型是这个城市流行的款式。
• This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society.这反映了社会上盛行的态度和价值观。

9 compartments   

n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层

参考例句：

• Your pencil box has several compartments. 你的铅笔盒有好几个格。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The first-class compartments are in front. 头等车室在前头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

12 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

13 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

14 armories   

n.纹章( armory的名词复数 )；纹章学；兵工厂；军械库

参考例句：

• The armories were important in the World War II. 兵工厂在二战中是很重要的。 来自互联网
• Can only be used to open the door, such as churches and armories Colored door. 只能用来开门，例如血色的教堂和军械库的门。 来自互联网

15 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

16 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。