英国新闻听力 对巴基斯坦白沙瓦大屠杀的思考

Of all the horrors we’ve seen in the international conflict with radical¹ Islam, Wednesday’s massacre² at the army school in Peshawar must be among the most ghastly. When defenseless women and children are targeted on this scale, we’ve reached a new level of barbarism.

How did we get here? Without detracting from the attack’s distinctive³ horror, it stems from a spiral of violence and escalating⁴ conflict. When did it all start: the Pakistani army’s campaign against the Taliban? The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? 9/11? The legacy⁵ of occupation and empire that stretches back over centuries? The causes are endless: perhaps that’s the nature of conflicts. And the solutions are doubtful. The Pakistani army may be victorious⁶, but at what cost, and with what consequences? Perhaps this war will spread, or merge⁷ into the region’s other conflicts; or perhaps the barbarism will just continue to escalate⁸.

Reflecting on the conflicts of his own time, the Buddha⁹ alighted on a singular term for what he observed: proliferation. Causes multiply into diverse effects, especially when ideology¹⁰ and beliefs magnify them. He made sense of this by noting the parallel with what happens in our minds: one irritable¹¹ thought begets¹² another, which becomes a compelling narrative¹³ about what’s happening; and, soon enough, we act.

This psychological approach led the Buddha to locate the ultimate causes of war and conflict in the minds of individual human beings. We’ll do anything to banish¹⁴ unpleasant feelings and put things right when we feel they’re wrong, even if that leads us to act in ways we’d otherwise condemn¹⁵. That’s how otherwise decent people come to justify¹⁶ the use of torture.

In the Buddhist¹⁷ view, nothing good can result when we’re driven by hatred¹⁸, anger and the desire for revenge. Blood will have blood. This doesn’t mean that force should never be used or that wars are never justified¹⁹; but it’s a strong caution to check the impulse to act out of anger, to note the moral distortion that rigid²⁰ ideology can bring, and to allow space for other wiser responses that come when we put anger aside.

Proliferation ends, the Buddha suggested, when we learn to tolerate pain, rather than reacting to it, and when patience and forgiveness give us the mental space to act with love. For me, that’s the ultimate challenge of the barbarity in Pakistan. The world is good at creating warmongers²¹. Peacemakers have to make themselves.

在我们所看到极端伊斯兰教国际冲突带来的所有恐怖事件中，周三白沙瓦军事学校的大屠杀肯定是最令人发指的。当毫无抵抗力的妇女、孩子被大规模屠杀时，这个世界的野蛮程度也就达到新的水平。

怎么会发生这样的惨案呢？除了袭击案本身的恐怖外，这一悲剧是由不断升级的暴力和冲突造成的。这一切是从何时开始的？从巴基斯坦军队对塔利班作战开始吗？从阿富汗和伊拉克战争开始吗？还是从911事件开始？亦或是从若干世纪以来的占领和帝国而来？原因太多而找不到源头，可能这就是冲突的性质。而解决方法令人怀疑，巴基斯坦军队可能胜利了，但为此所付出的代价呢？这一切带来的后果呢？可能这场战争会蔓延或并入该地区其他冲突之中，或许野蛮行径将继续升级。

佛陀通过反思他那个时代的冲突，偶然发现他观察到的一个词：proliferation(增值，繁殖，扩散)。各种原因相结合造成多种结果，尤其是当思想意识和信念扩大了这些结果。他弄懂了这一现象，指出了伴随我们思想带来的东西：不安的思想会导致另一个不安的思想，这种思想就成为现实强有力的叙述，很快，我们就为此做出行动。

这种心理范式让佛陀从个人心理中发现了导致战争和冲突的根本原因，我们会做一切事情来消除不好的感觉，当事情不对头时我们会拨乱反正，即使这回导致我们去做些其他时候我们会加以谴责的行为，这也就是为什么有时正派人士会为酷刑的使用进行辩护。

在佛陀看来，当我们被仇恨、愤怒和报复的欲望驱使时，是无法促成好的结果的。血债血偿，这并不意味着永远不该使用武力，或者发动战争永远是不正当的，但我们一定要提醒自己，检查我们因愤怒而做出的冲突举动，要注意僵化的思想意识可能带来的道德扭曲，当我们把愤怒放在一边时，给明智的应对让出空间。

佛陀说，当我们学会容忍痛苦，而不是以牙还牙时，当耐心和原谅给我们以善举的心理空间时，proliferation(增值，繁殖，扩散)就会终止。对我来说，这就是巴基斯坦野蛮行径所面临的最终挑战，这个世界善于制造好战者，而缔造和平者必须自我创造。

1 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

2 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！

3 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

4 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

5 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

6 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

7 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

8 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

9 Buddha   

n.佛；佛像；佛陀

参考例句：

• Several women knelt down before the statue of Buddha and prayed.几个妇女跪在佛像前祈祷。
• He has kept the figure of Buddha for luck.为了图吉利他一直保存着这尊佛像。

10 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

11 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

12 begets   

v.为…之生父( beget的第三人称单数 )；产生，引起

参考例句：

• It begets at least seven standard type offspring from such matings. 这类交配中生下至少七个标准型后代。 来自辞典例句
• Violence begets violence until the innocent perish with the guilty. 暴力招致暴力直到这因罪行而无缘无故的毁灭。 来自电影对白

13 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。

14 banish   

vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除

参考例句：

• The doctor advised her to banish fear and anxiety.医生劝她消除恐惧和忧虑。
• He tried to banish gloom from his thought.他试图驱除心中的忧愁。

15 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

16 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？

17 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

18 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

19 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

20 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

21 warmongers   

n.战争贩子( warmonger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The speech hits out at warmongers. 演讲猛烈地抨击了战争贩子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The imperialist warmongers stand condemned by the people of the whole world. 帝国主义的战争贩子受到全世界人民的谴责。 来自互联网