PBS高端访谈:美国穆斯林少年自制时钟炸弹被捕后受邀到白宫

 　　GWEN IFILL: Fourteen-year-old Ahmed Mohamed, who was suspended from an Irving, Texas, school after officials mistook his school project for a bomb, spent another day out of school today.

　　Mohammed's arrest — he'd brought a homemade clock to school — stirred a global social media frenzy¹.

　　Hari's back with that.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: The hashtag #IStandWithAhmed went viral for a third straight day on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere. President Obama jumped in yesterday, too, inviting² him to visit with a tweet that read: “Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.”

　　For his part, the teen said he didn't plan to return to the school and was grateful for overwhelming support.

　　AHMED MOHAMED, Student: I brought the clock to impress my teacher. But when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her.

　　So — so, it was really sad that she took the wrong impression of it, and I got arrested for it later that day.

　　Thank you to all my supporters on Twitter, Facebook, all social media. Thank you all for helping³ me. I would have never got this far if it wasn't for you guys, and not just you guys, everybody.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Some perspective from a part of the American Muslim community.

　　Nihad Awad is the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has been working with Ahmed and his family.

　　Mr. Awad, thanks for joining us.

　　So, tell me about your contact with the family.

　　NIHAD AWAD, Council on American-Islamic Relations: Yes.

　　From the beginning, when this happened to the family, the family contacted our office in Dallas. And we recognized that this was another case of unfortunate Islamophobia and targeting of young people just because of their faith tradition, not because of their deeds or their behavior.

　　And we managed to tell his story. And his narrative⁴ now dominated the story, because the school officials, I think, failed him when they accused him, when they called the police on him. He was arrested. He was detained, interrogated⁵ without the presence of his parents. And this was totally unnecessary.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Mr. Awad, why do you think this story is resonating so much, even to non-Muslims around America?

　　NIHAD AWAD: Well, I think it's a human story.

　　This is a young genius inventor who wanted to impress everyone, and he wanted to do better. He wanted to build things to improve the world. I spoke⁶ to him yesterday, and he told me that he wants to create things. And his father told me that he fixes everything around the house.

　　So, at this young age, to have a brilliant teenager who is involved and has a passion in science and innovation, we should cherish this. And that's why I believe he was able to tell his story through his invention. He's young. He's cute, adorable, intelligent. And I think that got him a lot of support, definitely with the help of an advocacy organization like ours. We managed to also get his story out.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: So, are you advocating or counseling him to take legal action? And, if so, what's the basis of that action, against whom?

　　NIHAD AWAD: I think the most important thing is to restore his confidence.

　　The president has supported him, and he stood for him publicly. And he led by example. Mark Zuckerberg and other leaders in our society, in the industry, in the faith tradition have stood by him. And that was the most important thing, is to restore and reinstate his confidence and his dreams to change the world to be a better world.

　　The legal action, I think, is being considered. We just want to make sure that this story and this experience doesn't happen to other people.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Is this indicative or emblematic⁷ of actions against Muslims around the United States? Is that one of the reasons that people are paying attention to this, where they can see this in themselves?

　　NIHAD AWAD: Unfortunately, I have to say, yes, it is widespread.

　　There is a poisoned atmosphere of Islamophobia that has plagued our countries, cities and towns. It has filtered even through the school system. We hear many, many stories like this.

　　Luckily, Ahmed is clever. He was able to tell his narrative. But there are many untold⁸ stories nationwide. And we, as a nation, have to start a frank conversation.

　　And I urge our national leaders, religious leaders, at their homes, in their places of worship, everywhere, we have to fight against xenophobia, any kind of phobia, and just reward diversity, but not punish diversity or punish people just because of their faith traditions.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Finally, what would you like to see in — what would you like to see happen at the school, at the local police department?

　　NIHAD AWAD: I would like the school to look really at what happened.

　　And they shouldn't justify⁹ what they did. What they did was wrong. And they have sent the wrong message to teenagers nationwide, not only in their school. And I would like that to be the last story. But, unfortunately, knowing the history of our society, we learn, but sometimes slowly.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: All right, Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, thanks so much for joining us.

　　NIHAD AWAD: Thank you for having me.

1 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

2 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

5 interrogated   

v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• He was interrogated by the police for over 12 hours. 他被警察审问了12个多小时。
• Two suspects are now being interrogated in connection with the killing. 与杀人案有关的两名嫌疑犯正在接受审讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 emblematic   

adj.象征的，可当标志的；象征性

参考例句：

• The violence is emblematic of what is happening in our inner cities. 这种暴力行为正标示了我们市中心贫民区的状况。
• Whiteness is emblematic of purity. 白色是纯洁的象征。 来自辞典例句

8 untold   

adj.数不清的，无数的

参考例句：

• She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
• They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。

9 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？