VOA标准英语2010年-Random Acts of Deadly Violence Haunt t

A police officer near the Hartford Distributors in Connecticut on Aug. 3, 2010, where eight people were killed by a fellow worker who'd just been fired from his job. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

There have been a number of deadly workplace shootings around the United States this year.

Most recently, in Connecticut, a beer-truck driver who, his company said, was caught stealing on a surveillance tape, was asked to resign. He listened quietly, walked to the lunchroom, pulled a handgun from his lunchbox and began shooting other workers — eight fatally — before killing¹ himself as well.

What goes on behind these postal² boxes? Routine sorting and such, usually. But from time to time, a disgruntled employee goes postal and vents³ pent-up anger with violence.

Other disgruntled employees have been tied to a string of violent workplace deaths.  In post offices, insurance companies, attorneys' offices, automobile⁴ assembly plants — even a tightly secured U.S. Army base in Texas — the story has been the same: A raging worker bursts in and shoots coworkers, bystanders, and usually himself. 

In fact, homicide is the second-leading cause of death on the job, after highway accidents. More than 750 Americans each year die at the hands of people who occupy a nearby desk or workbench.

Workplace violence even has a nickname. It's called going postal. 

What sends resentful and enraged⁵ employees over the edge? Explanations vary and are sometimes hard to come by, since workplace shooters frequently take their own lives as well as many others'.

The term traces to a cold Michigan morning in 1991, when a worker who had been fired from his post-office job stormed the facility and shot four supervisors⁶ and himself to death.

What triggers such rage? In the recent case, the truck driver, who was black, complained to friends and family that co-workers were racists who taunted⁷ him and gave him the worst assignments. In the post-office incident, friends said the shooter snapped under a demanding and highly stressful work environment.

California psychologist Michael Mantell has written that deadly workplace shooters are often socially isolated⁸ loners who think poorly of themselves. They see themselves as victims, complain about their jobs constantly, and blow up at the slightest perceived insult.

But take away that job, and these human time bombs have nothing — nothing to lose, nothing to live for, and nothing to stop them from seeking revenge.

1 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。

2 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

3 vents   

（气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩

参考例句：

• He always vents his anger on the dog. 他总是拿狗出气。
• The Dandelion Patch is the least developed of the four active vents. “蒲公英区”在这四个活裂口中是发育最差的一个。

4 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

5 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

6 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

7 taunted   

嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落

参考例句：

• The other kids continually taunted him about his size. 其他孩子不断地耻笑他的个头儿。
• Some of the girls taunted her about her weight. 有些女孩子笑她胖。

8 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。