VOA慢速英语2018 小男孩推翻镇上的打雪仗禁令

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Cold, snowy weather has arrived in many places. That means young people are enjoying building snowmen, going sledding and having snowball fights.

许多地方都出现了寒冷多雪的天气，这意味着年轻人可以尽情享受堆雪人、坐雪橇和打雪仗啦。

But in one small American city, snowball fights are illegal.

但是在美国的一个小城市，打雪仗是非法的。

Welcome to Severance¹, Colorado. The town, north of Denver, gets about 100 centimeters of snowfall a year. For almost 100 years, city rules have said it is illegal to throw or shoot stones or missiles at people, animals, buildings, trees, property or vehicles. Snowballs were considered to be part of the town’s definition of “missiles.”

欢迎来到科罗拉多州的塞弗伦斯镇。这个位于丹佛市北部的小镇每年降雪量约为100厘米。近100年来，这个小城都规定向人、动物、建筑物、树木、不动产或者车辆投掷石头或投掷物是非法的。雪球就被认为是该镇定义的投掷物的一部分。

Kyle Rietkerk works for the town of Severance. He said children cannot believe that it is illegal to have snowball fights in their hometown. He said town leaders have for years told the children, ‘You have the power, you can change the law.’

Kyle Rietkerk在塞弗伦斯镇工作。他说，孩子们都不敢相信在家乡打雪仗是非法的。他说，镇领导多年来一直对孩子们说，“你有权力，你可以改变这项法律。”

But no one had tried -- until now.

但是从来没有人试过，直到现在。

Nine-year-old Dane Best lives in Severance with his parents and little brother. He has made it his mission to get the snowball-fight ban overturned².

9岁的戴恩·贝斯特（Dane Best）跟父母与弟弟一起住在塞弗伦斯镇。他把推翻打雪仗禁令当作自己的使命。

Dane says he believes the law is “outdated.”

戴恩说他认为这项法律“已经过时了。”

“I want to be able to throw a snowball without getting in trouble,” he said.

他说：“我希望能够在不惹麻烦的前提下扔雪球。”

Dane’s mother, Brooke Best, told The Greeley Tribune newspaper that her son found out it was illegal to throw snowballs within town limits about a month and a half ago. Since then, he has been talking about how to change that.

戴恩的母亲布鲁克·贝斯特（Brooke Best）对 The Greeley Tribune 报表示，她的儿子在一个半月前发现，在镇里扔雪球是非法的。从那以后，他一直在谈论如何改变这种状况。

Dane wrote letters with his classmates in support of overturning³ the ban.

戴恩跟同学们写信支持推翻这项禁令。

And on Monday, he spoke⁴ about the issue at a Severance town meeting. Leaders listened as Dane presented his arguments. Then, they all voted to lift the ban.

周一，他在一场塞弗伦斯镇的会议上谈到了这个问题。镇领导们听取了戴恩的观点，然后他们投票解除了这项禁令。

Dane says the first person he hopes to hit with a snowball is his four-year-old brother.

戴恩表示，他希望用雪球打的第一个人是他四岁的弟弟。

Dane and his family have researched other Severance rules, including one that defines⁵ pets only as cats and dogs. Dane has a guinea pig, which appears to be illegal in Severance, too.

戴恩和他的家人研究了塞弗伦斯镇的其它规定，其中一项规定将宠物定义为猫和狗。戴恩有一只豚鼠，在塞弗伦斯镇看来也是非法的。

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Words in This Story

sled - v. to ride on a sled (a small vehicle that has a flat bottom or long, narrow strips of metal or wood on the bottom and that is used for moving over snow or ice)

1 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

2 overturned   

adj. 倒转的 动词overturn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。
• When a bird's nest is overturned, no egg can remain intact. 覆巢之下无完卵。

3 overturning   

n.推翻

参考例句：

• Feng Yun-ching answered hastily, springing up and all but overturning the opiumlamp as he did so. 冯云卿陡的跳起来说，几乎带翻了烟盘里的烟灯。 来自子夜部分
• Overturning and sliding are seldom a factor in the design of arch dam. 拱坝设计中很少考虑倾覆和滑动的问题。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 defines   

规定( define的第三人称单数 )； 使明确； 精确地解释； 画出…的线条

参考例句：

• This name defines us all. 这个名字造就了我们。 来自演讲部分
• The range of incomes over which this happens defines the 'poverty trap'. 发生在这种情况的收入范围，称为“贫困陷阱。”