时代周刊:时代百大人物 对强权直言不讳的帕克兰中学生(2)

Now it gets harder.

但这一任务已经越来越难了。

A Republican Congress remains¹ unmoved.

共和党控制的国会还是不为所动。

NRA scare tactics still sway much of the country.

NRA的恐吓策略也仍然影响着这个国家的大部分地区。

Progress will be slow and frustrating².

他们的进展必将缓慢而令人沮丧。

But by bearing witness to carnage, by asking tough questions and demanding real answers, the Parkland students are shaking us out of our complacency.

但目睹了屠杀的帕克兰学生们提出了尖锐的问题并要求得到真正的答案，他们正在动摇着我们的自满，也在带领我们走出自满。

The NRA’s favored candidates are starting to fear they might lose.

全国步枪协会青睐的那群候选人开始担心他们可能会失败了。

Law-abiding gun owners are starting to speak out.

守法的枪支拥有者开始大声疾呼了。

As these young leaders make common cause with African Americans and Latinos—the disproportionate victims of gun violence—and reach voting age,

随着这些年轻的领袖们与非裔美和拉丁裔同胞们——受枪支暴力影响最为严重的人群——同气连枝，也随着他们逐渐达到投票年龄，

the possibilities of meaningful change will steadily³ grow.

发生重大意义的变革的可能性也将稳步增长。

Our history is defined by the youthful push to make America more just, more compassionate⁴, more equal under the law.

美国历史的一大特征就是美国在年轻人的推动下，成为更加公正、更富同情心，更为平等的法治国家。

This generation—of Parkland, of Dreamers, of Black Lives Matter— embraces that duty.

这一代人——帕克兰的孩子、追梦人以及“黑人的命也是命”代表的这一代人——欣然扛起了这一责任。

If they make their elders uncomfortable, that’s how it should be.

如果他们让自己的长辈感到不舒服了，那也是应该的。

Our kids now show us what we’ve told them America is all about, even if we haven’t always believed it ourselves:

现在，我们的孩子已经向我们展示了过去我们讲给他们的，尽管有时我们自己都不相信的，美国的实质内涵：

that our future isn’t written for us, but by us.

未来不是为我们而写，而是由我们而写。

1 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。

2 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

4 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。