时代周刊:无法挣脱的噩梦(2)

After Parkland, President Trump¹ offered a grab bag of solutions:

帕克兰枪击案后，特朗普总统提出了一系列的解决方案：

strengthen background checks, ban bump stocks, arm teachers.

加强背景调查，禁止炒股，武装教师。

Congress passed no new laws.

但国会并未通过任何新法。

The prospect² of political changes that might end our ongoing³ nightmare looks no better this time.

政府通过政治变革结束这一无休无止的噩梦的前景比之前也强不到哪里去。

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican and staunch gun-rights advocate,

德克萨斯州州长格雷格·阿博特——共和党人，同时也是一位坚定的枪支权利倡导者——

prayed with the families who had lost loved ones and promised action.

与失去亲人的家庭一起祈祷，还承诺他不会袖手旁观。

"This will never happen again in Texas," he said.

他说：“坚决杜绝德州再次发生这类事情。”

By Sunday, the focus was on designing schools with fewer entrances and exits.

一直到周日，政府都计划将重点放在设计出入口更少的新学校上。

COMMUNITIES REACT DIFFERENTLY to these tragedies.

民众对这些悲剧的反应也是各式各样。

In suburban⁴ Parkland, students ignited a national conversation around gun violence, helping⁵ to push legislation in Florida and beyond.

在帕克兰郊区，学生们围绕枪支暴力问题发起了一场全国性的大讨论，促使包括佛罗里达州在内的多个地区先后推出了相关的立法举措。

Oregon expanded a law banning those convicted of stalking or domestic violence from owning guns.

俄勒冈州也进一步拓宽了禁止犯有跟踪罪或家暴罪的人拥有枪支的法律规定。

Florida, Maryland and Vermont joined Rhode Island, Connecticut, California, Oregon, Washington and Indiana in establishing "red flag" policies,

佛罗里达州、马里兰州和佛蒙特州携手罗德岛州、康涅狄格州、加利福尼亚州、俄勒冈州、华盛顿州和印第安纳州制定了“红旗”（作警示危险信号之用）政策，

giving law enforcement the power to confiscate⁶ guns from people who make threats of violence online or in person.

该政策规定，执法部门有权没收在网上或当面威胁动武之人的枪支。

In Santa Fe, the largely rural community's reaction was more muted.

在以农村居民为主的圣达菲，人们的反应则温和一些。

Students and their parents, on the whole, stopped short of demanding stricter gun-control laws.

总体来看，这里的学生及其家长都没有要求政府实行更加严明的枪支管理法律。

But in the nearest large city, Houston police chief Art Acevedo echoed the Parkland kids' calls for action.

但在距离圣达菲最近的大城市休斯顿，警察局长阿特·阿塞韦多响应了帕克兰儿童要求采取行动的呼吁。

National polls show that roughly two-thirds of Americans believe there should be tighter gun restrictions⁷.

全国性的民调显示，大约三分之二的美国人都认为应该加强枪支管制。

A Quinnipiac University poll from February broke down that support by proposal:

昆尼皮亚克大学今年2月份的一项民意调查通过他们的提议打破了这一数据：

97% of Americans support universal background checks;

97%的美国人都支持普遍实行背景调查；

83% support mandatory⁸ waiting periods for firearm purchases; 67% support an assault-weapon ban.

83%的人支持强制设置购枪等待期；67%的人支持禁止攻击性武器的禁令。

But the politics are tricky⁹, and in the world of lobbying, there's plenty of money in intransigence¹⁰.

问题是，这方面的政治水很深，而且，在游说的世界里，不妥协还颇有钱途。

Two weeks before the shooting at Santa Fe High School, Trump addressed the annual convention of the National Rifle Association.

距离圣菲高中枪击案发生还有两周时，特朗普曾在全国步枪协会的年度大会上发表讲话。

Your Second Amendment¹¹ rights are under siege, he told the crowd,

“第二修正案保障给你们的权利已经陷入了重围，”他对人群说，

"but they will never, ever be under siege as long as I'm your President."

“但只要我还是你们的总统，你们的权利就绝不会再次面临这一问题。”

Will we ever wake from this ongoing horror?

我们真的就从这场无休无止的惊魂之梦中醒不过来了吗？

The story of the Santa Fe shooting seemed to end the same way it always does,

圣达菲枪击案的结尾和以往枪击案的结尾似乎并无不同——

with the inevitable¹² candlelit vigil and the images of tear-streaked teenagers burying their faces in their friends' necks.

一样是在烛光中守夜，一样是青少年泪眼婆娑地把脸埋在朋友肩上的画面。

There was no dramatic climax¹³, no indication that this time things will change.

没有戏剧性的高潮，也没有迹象表明这一次情况会有所改变。

By May 21, most of the TV trucks had left the school parking lot.

到5月21日，大部分电视卡车都已经离开了学校的停车场。

The teddy bears and drugstore bouquets¹⁴ piled on the school lawn had begun to wilt¹⁵ in the Texas sun.

在德克萨斯州骄阳的照耀下，堆积在学校草坪上的泰迪熊和从药店买来的花束也都开始变得无精打采。

All that was left was the haunting certainty that we will live through this again soon.

唯一剩下的便是不久之后我们肯定还会再次陷入这一噩梦的念头在脑海里挥之不去。

1 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。

2 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

5 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。

6 confiscate   

v.没收(私人财产)，把…充公

参考例句：

• The police have the right to confiscate any forbidden objects they find.如发现违禁货物，警方有权查扣。
• Did the teacher confiscate your toy?老师没收你的玩具了吗？

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

9 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

10 intransigence   

n.妥协的态度；强硬

参考例句：

• He often appeared angry and frustrated by the intransigence of both sides.他似乎常常为双方各不相让而生气沮丧。
• Yet for North Korea,intransigence is the norm.不过对朝鲜来说，决不妥协是其一贯作风。

11 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

12 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

13 climax   

n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点

参考例句：

• The fifth scene was the climax of the play.第五场是全剧的高潮。
• His quarrel with his father brought matters to a climax.他与他父亲的争吵使得事态发展到了顶点。

14 bouquets   

n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 )；（酒的）芳香

参考例句：

• The welcoming crowd waved their bouquets. 欢迎的群众摇动着花束。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• As the hero stepped off the platform, he was surrounded by several children with bouquets. 当英雄走下讲台时，已被几名手持花束的儿童围住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 wilt   

v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱

参考例句：

• Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。
• Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。