2007年VOA标准英语-US University Shootings Renew National Gun-Cont

By Sean Maroney
Washington
18 April 2007
 

Roanoke Firearms owner John Markell holds a Glock 9 mm pistol similar to the one sold in his gun shop 36 days ago to the Virginia Tech shooting suspect Cho Seung-Hui

A disturbed gunman's rampage at a public university in the U.S. state of Virginia is now being called the deadliest single shooting incident in American history.  Thirty-three people, including the gunman, died at Virginia Tech on Monday.  The massacre¹ has renewed debate about gun-control laws in the United States.  VOA's Sean Maroney reports.

A student with a cellphone camera watched police approaching and heard gunshots inside the classroom building where the horrific shooting rampage was taking place.  Monday's gunfire killed 33 people -- 32 students and instructors² plus the gunman, who took his own life.  The tragedy at Virginia Tech also brought back memories of other school massacres³.

Eight years ago this week (April 20th), two boys at Columbine High School in suburban⁴ Colorado shot and killed 12 students and a teacher.  Last October, an armed gunman killed six girls in a one-room Amish schoolhouse in a rural part of Pennsylvania.

In the wake of the massacre in Virginia, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said President Bush continues to believe in Americans' constitutional right to have firearms, within the law.

"If there are changes to the president's policy, then we will let you know,” she said. “But we've had a consistent policy of ensuring that the Justice Department is enforcing all of the gun laws that we have on the books, and making sure that [violators] are prosecuted⁵ to the fullest extent of the law."

Police say the Virginia Tech gunman was 23-year-old Cho Seung-hui, born in South Korea but a resident of the United States since childhood.  Cho was entitled to buy a pistol, under gun laws in the state, since he was never found guilty of any serious criminal activity.

The best-known U.S. advocacy group that opposes more restrictive gun-control laws is the National Rifle Association, or NRA.  The group's spokesman, Bill Powers, says it is a citizen's fundamental right -- as stipulated⁶ in the U.S. Constitution -- to keep and bear arms.

"There are politicians, special-interest lobby groups who frankly⁷ don't like the 2nd Amendment⁸ [to the Constitution], don't like firearm owners, no matter how lawful⁹ and peaceful they are.  They don't like firearms, they don't like the great history and tradition of freedom in the 2nd Amendment and the Bill of Rights that was part of the forging of our nation," says Powers.

Nancy Hwa speaks for a group called Handgun Control, which wants more stringent¹⁰ laws about gun ownership:

"If you look at the wording of the 2nd Amendment, it talks about 'the well-regulated militia¹¹.'  Nowadays, that's the National Guard.  In terms of maintaining a national guard -- that's what the 2nd Amendment refers to.  It does not mean that everybody has the right to own an Uzi [submachine gun]."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation¹² says that, as of late 2005, background investigations¹³ mandated¹⁴ by current laws have barred almost a half million people from purchasing firearms.  Federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies have performed checks on more than 50 million Americans seeking permission to buy guns.

1 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！

2 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

3 massacres   

大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败

参考例句：

• The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. 动不动就用枪、动不动就杀、大规模屠杀的时代已经过去了。 来自教父部分
• Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their recollection. 近来那些不可胜数的屠杀，在他们的头脑中记忆犹新。

4 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

5 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

6 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

7 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

8 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。

9 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

10 stringent   

adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的

参考例句：

• Financiers are calling for a relaxation of these stringent measures.金融家呼吁对这些严厉的措施予以放宽。
• Some of the conditions in the contract are too stringent.合同中有几项条件太苛刻。

11 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

14 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。