美国国家公共电台 NPR--A mother and son reflect on school shooter drills

A mother and son reflect on school shooter drills

Transcript¹

A Texas mother and son discuss the active shooter drills he's lived with throughout his grade school years.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And it's time now for StoryCorps, which we hear each Friday. The elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, has families around this country searching for answers, and today we hear a conversation between a mother and son who live a few hundred miles away from Uvalde in Houston. Back in 2018, 10-year-old Dezmond Floyd and his mother, Tanai Benard-Turner, came to StoryCorps to talk about the active shooter drills in Desmond's fifth-grade classroom.

DEZMOND FLOYD: The class is supposed to stand on the back wall, but I decided² to stand in front of the class because I want to save my friends.

TANAI BENARD-TURNER: Do you know why it's hard for me to accept that?

DEZMOND: Because I'm such a young age. You shouldn't have to worry about that.

BENARD-TURNER: Right. You're 10, and you're that 10-year-old who doesn't clean their room (laughter). And there is no handbook³ for this. This is why the conversation always ends between you and I in dead silence - because I'm a mother, and I don't know what to say.

INSKEEP: OK, that was 2018. Today Desmond is 14 and recently came back to StoryCorps with his mom.

BENARD-TURNER: So how does it feel listening to that recording⁴?

DEZMOND: Now that I'm in high school, I kind of realize the reality of active shooter drills. And it's kind of emotional⁵ because I'm sitting next to my friends, just waiting for a teacher to fake⁶ banging⁷ on the door. Like, once I thought about, what would be the last word I said to this person sitting next to me? Or what would they say if they were calling out for help for me? Would I play dead? Would I hide in their blood? You know, it's a drill, but there's time during - it's like, one day there's a possibility this is going to be real life.

BENARD-TURNER: This is my first time ever hearing some of this. So you're telling me you've actually thought about what your last words would be to your neighbor in the middle of a drill.

DEZMOND: Yes.

BENARD-TURNER: I would have never - I mean, like, that's hurtful as a parent to think that, at 14, your thought process has to be, what would I do? And I feel like the conversation that we had four years ago is the same conversation that we're having now.

DEZMOND: These are life lessons now, and you take them into the real world. It's walking into a store and being prepared - like, which door can I escape out of if this were to happen, you know? School is supposed to be where we learn, where we have fun and your parents wondering, what grades did you get? What tests did you take? Not what drills did you do today? This isn't normal at all.

BENARD-TURNER: I pray over you every night and pray that you are not the next victim of anything. And I pray that you're never the hero of anything. You know, it's like, when does the stop?

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: Tanai Benard-Turner with her 14-year-old son Dezmond Floyd in Houston. The conversation will be archived at the Library of Congress⁸.

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 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 handbook   

n.手册，便览，指南

参考例句：

• Her mother bought a handbook of English grammar for her last Sunday.上星期天她母亲给她买了一本英语语法手册。
• None of them has got a handbook to tourists.他们谁也没搞到旅游指南。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

6 fake   

vt.伪造，造假，假装；n.假货，赝品

参考例句：

• He can tell a fake from the original.他能分辨出赝品和真品。
• You can easily fake up an excuse to avoid going out with him.你可以很容易地编造一个借口而不与他一同外出。

7 banging   

vt.猛击，猛撞（bang的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• The baby was banging the table with his spoon. 小宝宝用调羹敲打着桌子。
• Stop banging around, children, Father is trying to sleep. 孩子们，别到处乱敲！爸爸想睡觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。