有声英文阅读-女教师撼人心魄的最后一课

The Teacher's Last Shocking Lesson

     A remarkable¹ woman reasons with her killer² - and tapes it
     She used the miniature tape recorder for a graduate-school course she was taking. The device, though, would do much more than capture a lecture. It was a microcassette found in Kathleen Weinstein's shirt pocket that not only led police to her alleged³ killer but also revealed the New Jersey⁴ teacher to be a woman of extraordinary courage and compassion⁵.
     Weinstein, 45, was on her way to an exam at Toms River high School South on March 14 when she got out of her gold 1995 Toyota Camry to buy a sandwich at the busy Toms river Shopping Center. That's where her path crossed that of Michael LaSane, who, police say, wanted just such a car to celebrate his 17th birthday. Grabbing Weinstein by the jaw⁶, the attacker told her he had a gun and forced her into the Camry. The car was then driven to Manitou Park, about two miles from the shopping center. It was there, police believe, that Weinstein was able to activate⁷ the recorder she kept in her bag. According to Ocean County prosecutor⁸ Daniel Carluccio, the taped conversation between Weinstein and LaSane took place as they removed personal items - bags, notebooks, her six-year-old son's belongings⁹, from the car. "It wasn't hysterical," Carluccio says of the 24-minute tape. "It wasn't the kind of thing you would expect of someone who is facing a life-threatening situation. Mrs. Weinstein bravely and persistently¹⁰ used every skill and power she had to convince her attacker to simply take her car and not her life."
     The excerpts¹¹ of the talk released by the prosecutor show why Weinstein was a beloved figure at Thorne Middle School in Middletown, where she was a special-education teacher. "You haven't done anything yet," she tells her attacker. "All you have to do is let me go and take my car. For my life, don't you think I should be concerned and let you take my car? For my life! Do you really want to have that on your head?" At another point, the teacher tries to get him to open up. "Why don't you just tell me? Of course, it's important. It's determining you whole life and the direction you're taking." Weinstein also talks about her son Daniel and her plans to take in a foster child with her husband Paul. "I want to give something to somebody, to give something back," she says.
     Her powers of persuasion¹² were to no avail. Weinstein's body, with hands and feet bound, was discovered by a hiker on March 17. She had been smothered¹³ with her coat. But before she died she somehow slipped the microcassette into her pocket without her killer knowing it. Because Weinstein had asked LaSane about himself and his family, police quickly had their suspect, the son of a local official. "Our impression was that she was very aware she was leaving something behind," says Carluccio. He will not comment on LaSanbe's side of the conversation except to say, "When you hear the tape, it will raise profound questions about what is happening in our world with juveniles¹⁴ and our society. It goes beyond materialism¹⁵."
     Weinstein also helped leave behind a new program at Thorne Middle School in which students were encouraged to do nice things for others. Every morning Weinstein would announce various good deeds over the p.a. system and she solicited¹⁶ prizes form local merchants and restaurants. Given her fate, the name of the program has a heartbreaking resonance¹⁷ to it: Random¹⁸ Acts of Kindness.

女教师撼人心魄的最后一课

     一位非凡的女人劝说杀害她的凶手--并作了录音
     她使用一个微型录音机来录她正在听的一门研究生院的课。然而这个装置起的作用要比录下一堂的讲座大得多。正是这个在凯瑟琳·温斯坦衬衣口袋里找到录音带使得警方断定杀人凶手，并且显示了这位新译西州教师作为一个女性的非凡勇气和不同寻常的同情心。
     45岁的温斯坦在3月14日去南汤姆斯河中学考试的路-+******上，她走出她那辆1995年丰田公司产的喀麦丽牌小汽车到繁华的汤姆斯河售货中心买三明治。在那里，她遇到了迈克尔·拉森，警察说，拉森正想要一部那样的车庆祝他的17岁生日。攻击者托住她的下巴，并且告诉她他有枪，强迫她进入车里。然后车子开到了曼尼托公园，距离那个售货中心大约两英里。警方认为，正是在那里，温斯坦才能够打开她包里的录音机。据海洋县的检查官丹尼尔·卡鲁齐奥说，所录的温斯坦和拉森的谈话开始于他们扔下车上的个人物品时--包、笔记本，以及她六岁儿子的东西。卡鲁齐奥谈到24分钟长的录音带时说："它并不歇斯底里，那完全不是你所料到的一个面对生命威胁的情景的样子，温斯坦太太运用各种她所具有的技巧、勇敢，顽强地劝说袭击者只取走她的车而不伤她的性命。"
     检查官发表的那部分谈话的节录表明为什么温斯坦在米道镇桑恩中学是一位受人爱戴的人。她是个特殊教育老师。她告诉袭击者说："你什么都还没有做，你现在要做的就是开走我的车而让我走。难道你认为我会关心是否让你开走我的车吗？为了我的性命，你真的想背负上杀人犯的罪名吗？"而同时，这位教师又试图让他的话多起来；"你为什么不告诉我一些事？当然这很重要，它决定着你整个一生和你正在选择的人生方向。"温斯坦还谈到了她的儿子丹尼尔以及她丈夫保罗计划收养一个孩子的事。她说："我想给予别人一些东西，为的就是会有好报。"
     她的说服力没有起到作用。3月17日，一位施行者发现了她捆着手脚的尸体。她被人用她的外套窒息而死。但在临死前，不知用什么方法，她把微型卡式录音带偷偷放进口袋，而凶手并不知道。因为温斯坦曾问过有关拉森自己及其家庭的情况，警方很快就撒谎到了嫌疑人，他是个地方官员的儿子。"我们的印象是她很清楚她正遗留下什么东西，"卡鲁齐奥不愿评论录音中拉森的话，只是说，"你听到录音时，你会发现它提出了正在发生的有关青少年和社会的深刻问题。这不仅是物质至上的问题。"
     温斯坦还帮助桑恩中学开展一个新的活动，就是鼓励学生为他人做好事。每天早上，温斯坦都通过校内广播系统宣布一些好人好事。她还恳求当地的商人和饭店出资给予奖励。想想她的命运，这项活动的名称"随时随地做好事"听起来令人心碎。

1 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

2 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

6 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

7 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

8 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

9 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

10 persistently   

ad.坚持地；固执地

参考例句：

• He persistently asserted his right to a share in the heritage. 他始终声称他有分享那笔遗产的权利。
• She persistently asserted her opinions. 她果断地说出了自己的意见。

11 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

12 persuasion   

n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派

参考例句：

• He decided to leave only after much persuasion.经过多方劝说，他才决定离开。
• After a lot of persuasion,she agreed to go.经过多次劝说后，她同意去了。

13 smothered   

（使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制

参考例句：

• He smothered the baby with a pillow. 他用枕头把婴儿闷死了。
• The fire is smothered by ashes. 火被灰闷熄了。

14 juveniles   

n.青少年( juvenile的名词复数 )；扮演少年角色的演员；未成年人

参考例句：

• Do you think that punishment for violent crimes should be the same for juveniles and adults? 你对暴力犯罪的惩罚对于青少年和成人应一样吗？ 来自生活英语口语25天快训
• Juveniles Should we not exactly in need of such strength and conviction? 少年的我们难道不正是需要这种力量和信念吗？ 来自互联网

15 materialism   

n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上

参考例句：

• Idealism is opposite to materialism.唯心论和唯物论是对立的。
• Crass materialism causes people to forget spiritual values.极端唯物主义使人忘掉精神价值。

16 solicited   

v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求

参考例句：

• He's already solicited their support on health care reform. 他已就医疗改革问题请求他们的支持。 来自辞典例句
• We solicited ideas from Princeton University graduates and under graduates. 我们从普林斯顿大学的毕业生与大学生中征求意见。 来自辞典例句

17 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

18 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。