美国国家公共电台 NPR Santa Fe Church Community Reflects On Texas Shooting

Santa Fe Church Community Reflects On Texas Shooting

DON GONYEA, HOST:

Residents in Santa Fe, Texas, are still grappling with the school shooting that left 10 people dead on Friday. Today, speaking on ABC's "This Week," Texas Lieutenant¹ Governor Dan Patrick laid the blame on American culture - not access to guns.

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DAN PATRICK: We have devalued life, whether it's through abortion², whether it's the breakup of families, through violent movies and particularly violent video games.

GONYEA: And during church services this morning, survivors³ and their families tried to find answers of their own. Houston Public Radio's Travis Bubenik joined them and has this report.

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ARCADIA FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH CHOIR⁴: (Singing) Lord, I need you, oh, I need you.

TRAVIS BUBENIK, BYLINE⁵: The choir at Arcadia First Baptist Church sings the refrain of many in Santa Fe who are turning to faith to deal with the grim reality that this familiar and tragic⁶ American routine has now come to their town. Pamela Pannell's grandson would have been in the art class where witnesses say the shooting started, but he was in another room that day for AP testing.

PAMELA PANNELL: And that's the hard part - to come that close to losing him and everything that's going on with the ones that were lost. My heart goes out to all of them.

BUBENIK: Texas Governor Greg Abbott attended the Arcadia First Baptist service and later talked about what he called obvious ideas to prevent future shootings - hardening school security, better control of who comes in and out of schools. He's pointed⁷ to one mental health program that intervenes with kids who show warning signs that they might become violent. But for Pannell and other church-goers here, the answer is simpler.

PANNELL: We need God back in our schools.

BUBENIK: Almost two decades ago, the U.S. Supreme⁸ Court told the Santa Fe school district it had to stop allowing student-led prayers at school events. Just down the road from Pannell's church, at Calvary Crossroads Church, pastor⁹ Del Toler tells his congregation to think about that the next time they get a chance to vote. He says there might be a number of ways to prevent future shootings, but...

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DEL TOLER: I think the church is the focal point, and I think we've gotten the cart before the horse, and we want the other things, but we don't want God.

BUBENIK: And Toler's thoughts about changing gun laws...

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TOLER: Guns helped shape America. Guns have ensured our freedom. It's the heart in a man that steers¹⁰ him to do wrong.

BUBENIK: Eighteen-year-old Santa Fe High student Megan Dunford is one of Toler's church members. She was friends with Sabika Sheikh, the Pakistani exchange student killed in the shooting.

MEGAN DUNFORD: It's been really different knowing that she's gone.

BUBENIK: I asked Dunford what she liked about her friend.

DUNFORD: I liked everything. I mean, she made me laugh and stuff. She was very helpful.

BUBENIK: As the national debate swirls¹¹ about how to prevent another school shooting, Dunford is just trying to deal with the loss of a friend, like so many others in this grieving community. For NPR News, I'm Travis Bubenik in Santa Fe, Texas.

1 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

2 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。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 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。

7 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

10 steers   

n.阉公牛，肉用公牛( steer的名词复数 )v.驾驶( steer的第三人称单数 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• This car steers easily. 这部车子易于驾驶。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fodder fleshed the steers up. 优质饲料使菜牛长肉。 来自辞典例句

11 swirls   

n.旋转( swirl的名词复数 )；卷状物；漩涡；尘旋v.旋转，打旋( swirl的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Swirls of smoke rose through the trees. 树林中升起盘旋的青烟。 来自辞典例句
• On reaching the southeast corner of Himalaya-Tibet, It'swirls cyclonically across the Yunnan Plateau. 在到达喜马拉雅--西藏高原东南角处，它作气旋性转向越过云南高原。 来自辞典例句