英语PK台 第100期:英语新闻:被打女司机引发的思考

 Female driver blamed online after being beaten up for abrupt¹ lane changes

The latest online poll shows that the female driver who was brutally² beaten by a man for lane changes has lost public support as 78 percent of netizens believe that she should be held accountable for her bitter experience.

Footage showing the woman, surnamed Lu, being violently beaten by a man in Chengdu, Sichuan province, has triggered outrage³ after being uploaded on Sunday. The man soon met with overwhelming criticism from Internet users, who described him as "lunatic","psycho" and "barbarous".

However, public opinion soon took a U-turn when footage from the dashboard camera on Zhang's car went viral on the Internet on Tuesday. The three-minute-long video shows the female driver suddenly crossing lanes in front of the Zhang's car twice. Her driving shows she was taking others' lives for granted.

Although 78 percent of people blame the female driver for the road rage, most of the netizens said they wouldn't use violence to answer such deeds, according to the poll conducted by Sina.com.

Vocabulary:

Lane change, netizen, trigger, outrage, Road rage

1 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

2 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。