听播客学英语 243 悲惨事件

 　　A few days ago, the newspapers reported a tragic¹ incident in Manchester.

　　Kally, a 15-year old girl, had split² up from her boyfriend Josh, who was 18. A few days later, Josh came round to Kally’s house. People nearby heard Kally and Josh arguing. Then they heard two gunshots, and then a third. Kally was found dead on the doorstep of her home. Josh was found dying a short distance away. It appears that Josh, upset that Kally had split up from him, had shot her and then turned the gun on himself.

　　Kally had been in the middle of her GCSE exams at school. One of her friends told the newspapers. “She was in the top set for everything. She was beautiful. She had blue eyes and blonde hair and was naturally pretty. She hadn’t decided³ what she wanted to be, but she was very intelligent.”

　　Detectives are investigating how Josh managed to get hold of the shotgun. Shotguns are guns which fire lots of little pellets or shot. They are often used by farmers to shoot rabbits and other pests on their farm. In Britain, you need a licence to own a shotgun. The area where Kally and Josh lived has suffered from a number of other gun crimes in the past few years, although overall gun crime has fallen in Manchester.

　　Note: “GCSE” stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education. Children in England do their GCSE exams at the end of Year 11, when they are 15 or 16 years old.

　　“Kally was in the top set for everything” means that in all her school subjects she was in the group of the most able students.

　　“to get hold of” means “to obtain”

1 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

2 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

3 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。