VOA慢速英语2015 纽约官员反对亲穆斯林广告

AS IT IS 2015-07-06 New York Officials Block Pro-Muslim Advertising¹ 纽约官员反对亲穆斯林广告

Many visitors to New York City have used the Metropolitan² Transit³ Authority. The MTA is New York’s public transportation system and one of the largest in the world.

Two young Muslim comedians⁵ have brought a case against the transit system to federal court. The comedians want to advertise their new film on subway trains.

The MTA had accepted anti-Muslim advertising up until last year. Now, it is blocking pro-Muslim advertising. The comedians say that a ban of their ads violates their rights under the First Amendment⁶ of the United States Constitution. The first amendment protects many rights, including freedom of speech.

At issue in the court case is the latest advertising for a movie called Beware: The Muslims Are Coming. The film is the work of a production company called Vaguely⁷ Qualified⁸ Productions. The company is taking legal action against the Metropolitan Transit Authority for failing to honor a signed contract. Under the agreement, the MTA promised to accept advertising for the film on its subway system. The two comedians, Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallah, have already spent almost 20-thousand dollars on advertising.

The MTA is now refusing the ads because it says they contain disputed political content.

Glenn Katon is the legal director for Muslim Advocates, a legal rights and educational organization. He says the MTA's decision is wrong.

"You can't dispute comedy. You can't dispute the underlying⁹ message, which is Muslims are human beings, some of whom have a sense of humor. Like these are things that I don't think anyone can reasonably dispute. And, that's why we think the MTA got the decision so wrong."

The MTA was involved in a similar lawsuit¹⁰ earlier. A group called the American Freedom Defense¹¹ Initiative provides support to anti-Islamic activists¹² and their ideas. In April, a federal court ruled in a case involving the AFDI and the MTA. The AFDI wanted the transit system to accept ads critical of Islam. The court ordered the MTA to accept the advertising. After the court's decision, the MTA decided¹³ to stop accepting ads that have sometimes been called "political messaging."

Gene¹⁴ Russianoff is an attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, a group that works in support of public transit riders. He says the MTA's decision to stop accepting "political messaging" is strange and pointless. He says that free speech is important in New York's subway system. The subways are where people go to communicate, he adds.

Beware: The Muslims are Coming is now playing on video streaming websites, such as Amazon and iTunes. But Ms. Negin and Mr. Obeidallah say the advertising campaign was important to them. They feel that the MTA betrayed them with its decision.

"What's political about saying Muslims love frittatas or have great frittata recipes. Or other posters like Muslims hate a bunch of things like hipsters who wear winter hats in the summertime? There's nothing political about us just expressing who we are and telling our story. That's really the point about this."

"The First Amendment is totally awesome¹⁵. It protects speech, all kinds of speech, even that speech we don't like, and that's what makes it great."

The efforts of the two film makers¹⁶ could open the way for their comedic opinions. But they could open the way for people with very different opinions, too.

Words in This Story

transit – adj. related to transportation; n. - the act of moving people or things from one place to another

comedian⁴ – n. a person who performs in front of others and makes people laugh by telling jokes or funny stories

lawsuit – n. a case or legal action; process by which a court of law makes a decision to end a dispute

attorney – n. a lawyer; a person whose job is to guide and assist people on issues relating to the law

streaming – adj. playing continuously as data is sent to a computer over the Internet

hipster – n. a person who follows the latest styles, methods or looks

1 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

2 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

3 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

4 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

5 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

6 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

7 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

8 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

9 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

10 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 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》

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

15 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

16 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》