巴黎哀悼恐袭遇难人员

AS IT IS 2015-11-17 As Paris Mourns, So Does Beirut 巴黎哀悼恐袭遇难人员

The colors of the French flag -- blue, white and red -- dominated¹ social media following Friday evening’s terrorist² attacks in Paris.

The attacks killed 129 people and injured hundreds of others. The French president Francois Hollande called the Islamic State’s attacks “an act of war.”

Hours after the attacks, an image of the Eiffel Tower within a peace sign went viral, as did the hashtag #peaceforparis.

French officials turned off the lights and closed the tower, a symbol of Paris, for safety. Around the world, countries responded by shining the colors of blue, white and red on their own symbols and monuments.

Facebook let users change their profile photos to the colors of the French flag. The social media network also activated⁴ its Safety Check feature after the Paris attacks.

The social media site launched the feature in 2014 and has used it for people affected⁵ by natural disasters. It recently used the safety check-in after the earthquake that struck South Asia last month.

Paris was the first time the company used the feature for events other than a natural disaster.

The attention on the Paris attacks - both on traditional and social media - has led some people to ask a difficult question: Why Paris and not Beirut?  

Just one day before the night of terror struck Paris, two suicide⁶ bombs exploded in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. Forty-three people were killed and nearly 200 were wounded. It marked the deadliest suicide bombing in Beirut since Lebanon’s civil war ended in 1990. The Islamic State also claimed responsibility for those attacks.

The New York Times wrote an editorial⁷ on the issue on Sunday.

And on social media, users questioned why the Lebanese flag was not an option for their profile photo.

For its part, Facebook explained over the weekend its decision to activate³ Safety Check. Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg posted on his Facebook page that the company plans to use Safety Check for more human disasters in the future. 

“You are right that there are many other important conflicts in the world,” Zuckerberg wrote. “We care about all people equally, and we will work hard to help people suffering in as many of these situations as we can.”

A Lebanese doctor wrote a blog post about the difference in international response to the two terror attacks. Dr. Eli Fares wrote, “When my people died, no country bothered to light up its landmarks⁸ in the colors of their flags. When my people died, they did not send the world into mourning. Their death was but an irrelevant⁹ fleck¹⁰ along the international news cycle, something that happens in those parts of the world.”

Dr. Fares’ blog post has been shared on Facebook more than 270,000 times.

Words in This Story

natural disaster - n. a sudden and terrible event in nature (such as a hurricane, tornado¹¹, or flood) that usually results in serious damage and many deaths

activate - v. to cause (a device) to start working

irrelevant adj. not important or relating to what is being discussed right now

1 dominated   

受控的 -tive

参考例句：

• As a child he was dominated by his father. 他小时候由父亲主宰一切。
• His personality dominated over the other members of the committee. 他的人格影响委员会的其他成员。

2 terrorist   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子

参考例句：

• Without the gun,I'm a sitting duck for any terrorist.没有这支枪，我就成了恐怖分子下手的目标了。
• The district was put on red alert during a terrorist's bomb scare.这个地区在得到恐怖分子炸弹恐吓后作了应急准备。

3 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。

4 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

7 editorial   

adj.编者的，社论的；n.（报刊的）社论，重要评论

参考例句：

• For a full hour they argued over the wording of the editorial.他们为社论的措辞争论了一个小时。
• We now bring you the full text of the Renmin Ribao editorial.现在全文广播《人民日报》社论。

8 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

9 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

10 fleck   

n.斑点，微粒 vt.使有斑点，使成斑驳

参考例句：

• The garlic moss has no the yellow fleck and other virus. 蒜苔无黄斑点及其它病毒。
• His coat is blue with a grey fleck.他的上衣是蓝色的，上面带有灰色的斑点。

11 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。