2007年VOA标准英语-International Students React To Virginia Tech S

By Brian Padden
Blacksburg, Virginia
18 April 2007
 

One day after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, the Virginia Tech University campus was quiet. Classes were canceled and police were stationed throughout the campus. Authorities say the man who killed 32 students before taking his own life was himself a student from South Korea.   VOA's Brian Padden spoke¹ to some other international students at the university.

Flags are at half-staff at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, some four hours south of Washington, D.C.  With classes canceled, few students were out walking the grounds.  Inside the war memorial chapel², cadets held an around-the-clock vigil to honor those who died.  Outside, students left flowers and condolences at another small memorial.  Here, a number of international students gathered, including Ceylan Oner of Turkey. She was off campus when the shooting took place.

"I'm in shock.  I'm still in shock. I cannot believe it and it is causing so much disturbance³ in me.” she says. “This is coming from someone that didn't even see the incident.  I cannot even think about people who have been there. And I think it's going to cause a lot of distress⁴ in the students."

In the wake of police saying the gunman was an international student from South Korea, some Asian students, such Cambodian-American Virak Kchu, are concerned that all Asians might be blamed for what happened.

Virak Kchu

"It's always in the back of my mind. It's all friendly and everybody is nice and things like that.  But emotions might take over.  Somebody gets angry and says this guy kind of looks Korean. Their emotions might take over and I might be that guy," worries Kchu.

Indonesian student association president Rhondy Rhardja says there is no ethnic⁵ or cultural connection to this crime.  "America is a really nice country.  It's a peaceful country. And this incident, it really can happen anywhere in the world.  Doesn't matter if it is Indonesia or the United States. It can happen anywhere to anybody."

And this time it happened here in what was once the quiet college campus.

1 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。

2 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

3 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

4 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。