VOA标准英语2008年-Community Groups, Police Fight Gun-related 'Cri

By Chris Simkins
Washington
21 May 2008
 
Gun violence is on the rise in Washington. Since the first of the year, dozens of people have been murdered and wounded in a rash of shootings. With a population of over half a million people, the nation's capital has already recorded dozens of homicides this year, the rate keeping pace with last year. And police say there have been a greater number of gun-related crimes, leaving many people in the community angry and frustrated¹. VOA Chris Simkins reports on what some community activists³ and the police are doing to decrease the violence.

On any given night in many parts of Washington, the quiet of the evening can be broken by sounds of gun fire. Over the last several months shootings in the city have risen sharply.

Local television newscasts report on the rash of shootings almost daily: "Detectives in Washington's sixth police district are investigating three shootings today alone. The man who was shot died tonight."

Despite having some of the toughest gun laws in the country there were 338 gun crimes in the District of Columbia from March through the end of April.

Ronald Moten is angry about what he calls the endless cycle of violence in Washington. Moten and his group called "Peaceoholics" organized this march to denounce the street crimes and encourage young people to stay out of trouble.

"They are not taught how to survive and the only way they are taught to survive is from what they learn on the streets. If you don't have the skills or if you are not educated or motivated to do the right thing then you tend to fall through the cracks," Moten said.

Many of the shootings involve young African American teenagers and those in their 20's and 30's, which reflects national crime statistics. The shootings are often drug or gang related.

"There is a time and a need sometimes for a public rally cry, a public display of support for a murder free DC," says David Bowers⁴, Community Activist² against DC Crime.

Thirty eight-year-old Bowers is trying to raise community awareness⁵ about what some see as a crime wave. In 2000, he founded a group called "No Murders DC".

Bowers says he wants young people to become actively⁶ involved in the anti-violence movement. He says, "One of the issues is how can we get young people who tend to be unfortunately the perpetrators and the victims of violence, let's get their input⁷. Too often we look at them as the problem as opposed to potential players in the solution."

The police are responding by deploying⁸ 1,200 officers to patrol neighborhoods over several three day periods. The Metropolitan⁹ Police Department has also placed several thousand video surveillance cameras in neighborhoods. Officers hope to capture the faces of criminals.

Bowers says he and members of an anti-crime task force want to go further, "This report is going to speak to issues ranging from mental health, housing, to job training, to law enforcement."

Meanwhile, community activists say they fear the city's crime wave will continue during the hot summer months of June, July and August when there are typically more shootings and homicides.

1 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 bowers   

n.（女子的）卧室( bower的名词复数 )；船首锚；阴凉处；鞠躬的人

参考例句：

• If Mr Bowers is right, low government-bond yields could lose their appeal and equities could rebound. 如果鲍尔斯先生的预计是对的，那么低收益的国债将会失去吸引力同时股价将会反弹。 来自互联网

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

7 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

8 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

9 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。