2007年VOA标准英语-Virginia Tech Remembers Shooting Victims As Cla

By Jim Malone
Washington
23 April 2007

Students and faculty¹ returned to classes at Virginia Tech University, one week after the worst mass-shooting spree in U.S. history. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

A white balloon(C-right), one of 32 for each of the Virginia Tech shooting victims is released during the moment of silence on the campus, 23 Apr 2007

A bell on the Virginia Tech campus tolled² 32 times for each of the shooting victims in last week's massacre³.

Students observed a moment of silence for those who died at the hands of Cho Seung-hui and carried white flags and released balloons into the air as memorials to the victims.

Tech students were given the option of returning to class or spending the rest of the semester at home without academic penalty.

Many students decided⁴ they were ready to return to classes.

"I think it is important to return to school and, you know, to show the nation and ourselves that we can continue despite this," a student said.

 

"We need to be here as a community and we are not going to get better if we just run away from everything that happened last week," said another one.

University officials requested that reporters stay away from students once classes restart, following an intense period of national and international media coverage⁵ last week.

Meanwhile, a debate over gun control has intensified⁶.

Most members of Congress appear reluctant to push for new restrictions⁷ on weapons in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings. But there is a growing consensus⁸ that the gunman responsible should not have been allowed to purchase weapons.

Arlen Specter

Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania supports stronger enforcement of background checks that would deny guns to those who have a history of mental illness. Specter spoke⁹ on Fox News Sunday.

"There is no doubt that current law prohibits giving a gun to a person who is mentally defective¹⁰, who has a mental problem of the nature that he had. So there was a definite failure of communication and that ought to be changed with federal legislation," he said.

Some conservatives argue that a student or professor who was armed might have been able to stop the massacre at Virginia Tech.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told ABC's This Week that calls from Britain and Australia to toughen U.S. gun laws will have little impact on the gun control debate.

"I would also point out that in countries that have had absolute bans, Great Britain, Australia, gun violence has actually gone up because the criminals end up buying illegal guns, but the law abiding¹¹, honest citizen is, in effect, disarmed," he said.

But Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker questioned Gingrich's contention¹² that allowing students to carry guns would make classrooms safer.

A state medical examiner said an initial autopsy¹³ of the gunman, Cho Seung-hui, found no brain abnormalities that would explain his rampage. The examiner also said Cho fired more than 100 bullets into his victims and that some of them were shot several times.

1 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

2 tolled   

鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Bells were tolled all over the country at the King's death. 全国为国王之死而鸣钟。
• The church bell tolled the hour. 教堂的钟声报时。

3 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！

4 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。

5 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

6 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

9 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。

10 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

11 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

12 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

13 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。