美国国家公共电台 NPR--People across the country offer their opinion of the House Jan. 6 hearings

People across the country offer their opinion of the House Jan. 6 hearings

Transcript¹

We hear from people in Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle and Lancaster, Pa., about their reaction to the Jan. 6 hearings. There have been eight hearings so far.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Members of then-Vice President Mike Pence's Secret Service detail feared for their lives during the January 6 Capitol riot. Pence refused to leave the Capitol because the electoral votes hadn't been counted, even though a mob had started to chant hang Mike Pence. An unidentified White House security official testified that some members of Pence's Secret Service team called their family members to say goodbye.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

We asked people across the country what they make of the hearings.

LAURA GRANRUTH: I never, ever imagined that democracy would be at the level of risk that it is.

FADEL: Laura Granruth is a college professor in Millersville, Pa. She's a lifelong Democrat². And she's listened to all of the hearings.

GRANRUTH: I'm really disappointed that some ears can't hear this. It astounds³ me that lifelong Republicans and conservatives can't seem to hear this message because of their fealty⁴ to a man.

MARTIN: The man she's referring to there is former President Donald Trump⁵. According to the latest poll from NPR, PBS NewsHour and Marist, a majority of Americans believe he shares responsibility for the attacks on the Capitol. Saden Harroun (ph) of Los Angeles has made up her mind.

SADEN HARROUN: I want them all prosecuted⁶. Don't attack the country in the name of a coup⁷. That's why it's a democracy and you vote.

FADEL: She said she was horrified⁸ by the events of January 6. James Toliver (ph) of Seattle said he learned some things from the hearings. And he said, some cases, it was worse than he'd previously⁹ thought.

JAMES TOLIVER: I was really surprised about how professional they were and how sloppy¹⁰ they were. They were messy, dude. I mean, my grandson could probably lie better than what they were doing. The whole thing was just completely - and how they thought they were going to get away with it.

FADEL: Kemay Robinson (ph) lives in Houston, and while she supports the fact gathering¹¹ the committee's doing, she didn't expect the hearings to change many people's minds.

KEMAY ROBINSON: I think that a lot of people are very stayed in their ways. And because people have so many options of what to watch and they're so kind of, like, keyed into the things that they already watch, it's kind of, like, confirmation¹² bias¹³ sometimes.

FADEL: Alicia Strange (ph) in Lancaster, Pa., agrees.

ALICIA STRANGE: I don't think anything will come of it. And it'll probably just be a further waste of taxpayer¹⁴ dollars.

MARTIN: Alicia has watched some of the hearings. Her friend, Tamika Holmes (ph), has kept up on social media. They both think former President Trump should be prosecuted.

STRANGE: Absolutely.

TAMIKA HOLMES: Oh, yeah, he should definitely be held accountable.

STRANGE: He enticed¹⁵ it, so - he encouraged these people to do those things, so why not?

MARTIN: When pollsters ask whether January 6 was a threat to democracy, people are split down the middle.

FADEL: Houston resident Jeff Veller (ph) is so skeptical¹⁶ about the actual politics around the hearings, he hasn't tuned¹⁷ in at all. And despite not watching any of the testimony¹⁸ or listening to the evidence presented, he's dismissed the hearings.

JEFF VELLER: It's not a real trial. It's fake. It's all about Democrats¹⁹ trying to keep their power. That's all it is. They have power right now. And they want to stay in power. That's the only way they can do it.

MARTIN: Freda Tepfer (ph) is active in county-level politics in Erie, Pa. She says she's old enough to remember the Watergate hearings, which she called boring, procedural. That's not how she characterizes the January 6 hearings.

FREDA TEPFER: These are designed to be as easy to consume as possible. I hope some people have their minds changed, you know? I hope there are some people who have not been thoroughly²⁰ brainwashed by Donald Trump.

MARTIN: Again, the co-chair of the House panel, Liz Cheney, says more hearings will be held this fall, just a couple months before the midterm elections.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 astounds   

v.使震惊，使大吃一惊( astound的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She is an elderly woman whose brio astounds everyone. 她是个年逾中年的妇女，但她的精力充沛使大家惊异。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The incident astounds both China and foreign countries. 这个事件震惊中外。 来自互联网

4 fealty   

n.忠贞，忠节

参考例句：

• He swore fealty to the king.他宣誓效忠国王。
• If you are fealty and virtuous,then I would like to meet you.如果你孝顺善良，我很愿意认识你。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 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》。

7 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

8 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

13 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

14 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

15 enticed   

诱惑，怂恿( entice的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He enticed his former employer into another dice game. 他挑逗他原来的老板再赌一次掷骰子。
• Consumers are courted, enticed, and implored by sellers of goods and services. 消费者受到商品和劳务出售者奉承，劝诱和央求。

16 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

17 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

19 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。