美国国家公共电台 NPR As Graduates In Santa Fe And Parkland Look Ahead, A Look Back On Activism This Year

 

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And on Sunday, surviving seniors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., will get their diplomas. So now we want to take a look back on what's happened in the nearly four months since the shooting at that school, where students emerged as nationally recognized advocates for gun regulation. NPR's Brakkton Booker has the story.

BRAKKTON BOOKER, BYLINE¹: Parkland student Alfonso Calderon sat before lawmakers last week asking the same question he's posed since February - why has virtually nothing been done about gun violence since 17 people were killed at his school?

ALFONSO CALDERON: There's been a lot of talk, especially around here, about putting America first. I agree. Let's put America first and put the gun lobbies and the NRA second. I don't understand why this is such a difficult conversation to have.

BOOKER: Fellow Marjory Stoneman Douglas classmate Charlie Mirsky has been to Washington five times since the Parkland shooting. Yes, he's disappointed, but he's also confident student-led action is slowly swaying lawmakers.

CHARLIE MIRSKY: I mean, I've been frustrated² long before anything happened. I've - I mean, I was just a professional complainer before being a professional activist³. And although we're frustrated with the way things are, we feel like we can actually do something now.

BOOKER: That something means keeping the pressure on Congress. In March, federal lawmakers passed modest gun measures. But those fell well short of what gun control advocates were pushing for, like bans on assault weapons and universal background checks. A handful of states, including Washington and Florida and Vermont, have taken action on guns. But for student-led activism, the high-water mark was this.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTIVIST: Welcome to the revolution.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTIVIST: It is a powerful and peaceful one because it is of, by and for the young people of this country.

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BOOKER: Five weeks after the Parkland shooting, hundreds of thousands across the country took part in the March For Our Lives. Activists⁴ kept momentum⁵ up through the spring with not one, but two national school walkouts when thousands of students left their classrooms in protest of gun violence in schools. And then it happened again.

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GREG ABBOTT: We come together today as we deal with one of the most heinous⁶ attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools.

BOOKER: That's Texas Governor Greg Abbott on the day a student gunman killed 10 at Santa Fe High School. After that shooting, young people again took to social media, creating hashtags like if I die in a school shooting. And then, another kind of protest - a die-in.

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UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: We as a community are taking a stand against gun violence in America.

BOOKER: At Richard Montgomery High School in Maryland last week, 43 students took turns lying on an orange tarp as if they had been shot. Faculty⁷ members traced their body outlines with markers.

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UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: We as students are sick and tired of watching our peers be slaughtered⁸ in schools day in and day out. Something has to change.

BOOKER: And more die-ins are planned across the country. There were some at Publix grocery stores in Florida a week ago. That's because of the supermarket's financial backing of a pro-gun candidate running for governor. The chain later announced it's suspending those payments.

As summer break approaches, many are wondering what's next. One idea is a national school boycott⁹ this fall. Parents will pull their kids out of class until new federal gun laws are passed. The more pressing question is whether these small successes will lead to a big victory for these gun control activists before the November election. Brakkton Booker, NPR News.

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1 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。

2 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

6 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

7 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

8 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》

9 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。