VOA慢速英语2018--全美多地游行抗议枪支暴力

US Students Lead Massive¹ Protests³ to Demand Gun Control

People gathered in cities across America on Saturday for massive student-led protests to demand stronger gun control measures.

Hundreds of thousands took part in large “March for Our Lives” protests. They took place in major cities including Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago and Parkland, Florida. Parkland was the site of the February 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead. Some international cities also held demonstrations⁴.

The protests were organized by students after the Parkland shooting. One of the largest took place in Washington D.C. Several survivors⁵ of the Stoneman Douglas tragedy spoke⁶ to the crowd from a stage set up on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Among the survivors to speak was 18-year-old Emma Gonzalez, one of the leaders of the student-led gun control movement. She began by saying it took the gunman in the Parkland shooting only a little over six minutes to kill 17 people, and injure 15 others.

With tears in her eyes, she read the names of her friends – and other victims - who died in the shooting. At one point, Gonzalez stopped speaking and just looked into the crowd, silent, for several minutes. At times during the silence, people in the crowd shouted repeatedly⁷: “never again! never again!”

Gonzalez then broke her silence by explaining that her speech had lasted just as long as the killings⁹.

“Since the time that I came out here, it has been six minutes and 20 seconds.”

She noted¹⁰ that this was all the time the gunman needed to carry out the killings, before dropping his gun and trying to hide in the crowd of escaping students. In the attack, suspect Nikolas Cruz used an AR-15 semi-automatic weapon that was bought legally. Cruz was arrested a short time after the crime.

Gonzalez ended her speech by urging supporters to take a strong stand to prevent future violence.

“Fight for your lives, before it’s someone else’s job.”

Alex Wind is a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He spoke to the protesters about why students from across the nation had risen up since the shooting to demand gun reforms.

“We, as students, as youths, decided¹¹ that if adults weren’t going to take action, we would. No gun-related legislation¹² has been passed in this country since 2008 – 10 years ago.”

He added that since 2008, there had been dozens of mass shootings in the United States. In addition, there have been rising violence rates in cities such as Miami, Chicago and Baltimore. “It needs to stop,” he said.Organizers decided to have only students speak at the March for Our Lives. Several famous music artists performed for the event, including Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Common.

Carson Gosine is a high school student from Miami, Florida who traveled to Washington D.C. for the march.

“We’re out here because we’re afraid. We’re afraid to go into our schools because of the danger of people with dangerous weapons coming into our schools and massacring us. We’ve become afraid, we’re terrified.”

He said he hopes the massive student-led demonstrations will be noted by the U.S. Congress¹³ and cause lawmakers to finally act.

Leila is also a student from Florida. She too said she holds hope that there can finally be legislative¹⁴ changes if pressure is kept up in protests like these.

“I think it is possible, of course. With events like today, this many people - people are coming and voicing their opinion, and showing how they feel - there’s definitely… where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Logan Brenan attends high school in the state of Maryland and came to Washington to demonstrate¹⁵ with a group of friends.

“We’re not protesting¹⁶ the right to have guns, we’re not protesting the Second Amendment¹⁷. We just want to see the Second Amendment in more its original form, of just a few small guns that really can’t do any real harm.”

The U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment relates to weapons rights of citizens. Brenan added that he thinks there should be new laws requiring tougher background checks for gun buyers and bans on assault-style weapons.

Emma Luce attends school in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“I’m tired of being afraid when I hear sirens¹⁸ coming. I’m tired of having to do active shooter drills every single month. I’m tired of Congress and our president just not doing anything about it.”

Sofia Balcius is a high school junior from the Midwestern state of Indiana. She decided to attend the protest² with her father.

“Well, I think that because this new generation of students are rising up – and we’re the next generation of voters. And I think that this new generation is really going to keep this issue around, that we are not going away anytime soon.”

Sofia says she is very angry with the lack of legislative change on the gun control issue. Her father, Minda, is completely supportive of his daughter. He says he also wants stronger gun control to prevent future tragedies. He thinks the new student-led movement might actually have the chance to make a difference.

“I think as adults we’re failing this younger generation to protect them, to make them safe. And if adults cannot get this done, I hope that this younger generation achieves this goal of making the schools safer.”

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

massacre¹⁹ – n. the violent killing⁸ of many people

original – adj. happening first or existing at the beginning

drill – n. practice or exercises done to increase preparation and skills

1 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

2 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。

3 protests   

n.[体]抗议；抗议，反对( protest的名词复数 )v.声明( protest的第三人称单数 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• The protests have forced the government to back-pedal on the new tax. 抗议活动已迫使政府撤销新的税目。
• Plans to build a new mall were deep-sixed after protests from local residents. 修建新室内购物中心的计划由于当地居民反对而搁浅。

4 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

5 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

6 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。

7 repeatedly   

adv.重复地，再三地

参考例句：

• The loudspeakers blared the speech repeatedly.扬声器里反复大声地播送那篇演讲。
• He repeatedly beat his foot upon the floor.他反复用脚敲着地板。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 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。

12 legislation   

n.立法，法律的制定；法规，法律

参考例句：

• They began to draft legislation.他们开始起草法规。
• The liberals band together against the new legislation.自由党员联合一致反对新的立法。

13 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

14 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

15 demonstrate   

vt.论证，证明；示范；显示；vi.示威游行

参考例句：

• Let me demonstrate to you how this machine works.我给你演示一下这台机器的运转情况。
• How can I demonstrate to you that my story is true?我怎样才能向你证明我的话是真实的呢？

16 protesting   

v.声明( protest的现在分词 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• They were formally protesting. 他们正式提出抗议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were protesting soaring prices. 他们抗议物价暴涨。 来自辞典例句

17 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。

18 sirens   

n.汽笛( siren的名词复数 )；妖冶而危险的女人；危险的诱惑；塞壬（古希腊传说中半人半鸟的女海妖，惯以美妙的歌声引诱水手，使他们的船只或触礁或驶入危险水域）

参考例句：

• police cars with lights flashing and sirens blaring 警灯闪烁、警笛刺耳的警车
• In big cities you always hear sirens all the time. 在大城市里，你总能听到警笛声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！