VOA慢速英语2024--Should Buildings Where Deadly Shootings Happened Be Destroyed?

 

Should Buildings Where Deadly Shootings Happened Be Destroyed?

Deadly mass shootings have affected¹ many American communities in recent years. These communities have had to face a decision: Do they keep the buildings where the bloodshed happened? Or do they tear them down?

One example recently happened in Parkland, Florida. That is where, in February 2018, a gunman killed 14 students and three adults and wounded 17 others after opening fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Earlier this month, heavy equipment began tearing down, or demolishing³, the three-story building where the victims died.

Community members in Parkland who spoke⁴ to the Associated Press (AP) said they felt the destruction of the building was a necessary step. Former student Bryan Lequerique said, “It’s something that we all need. It’s time to bring an end to this very hurtful chapter in everyone’s lives."Eric Garner⁵ is a broadcasting and film teacher at the school. He told the AP, “For 6? years we have been looking at this monument to mass murder that has been on campus every day.”

Other places have considered similar decisions.

Uvalde, Texas, is where a mass shooting in May 2022 claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers. Officials there decided⁶ to destroy Robb Elementary School and build a new school. The community also chose to build a memorial to the shooting victims.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Tree of Life synagogue was torn down to make room for a new spiritual center and memorial. The October 2018 shooting at the Jewish religious center killed 11 people. Other communities have made similar choices to demolish² buildings where mass shootings happened.

But the Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo⁷, New York, and the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, both reopened after mass killings⁸. Both places experienced race-linked mass shootings.

Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, still stands. The school’s library, however, where much of the bloodshed happened, was replaced. The Columbine shooting in 1999 left 15 people dead.

“Finding a balance between its function as a high school and the need for memorialization has been a long process,” former Columbine student Riley Burkhart wrote earlier this year in an essay looking back at the shooting.

Experts say such decisions involve more than just emotion and tragedy. Sometimes, it is simply a question of resources; not all school districts can afford to tear down and rebuild. And sometimes it is about not wanting to give those who might support the shooter a place to center their attention.

Daniel Fountain is a professor of history at Meredith College in North Carolina. He told the AP he thinks it is a good idea to tear down buildings that could be used by individuals who might support the shooters or their cause and to somehow “celebrate” the deaths.

Another reason why people might want to destroy such buildings has to do with ideas about mental health.

"There are changing norms about things like trauma⁹ and closure that are at play that today encourage the notion of demolishing these spaces," said Timothy Recuber. He is a sociologist¹⁰ at Smith College in Massachusetts.

To some people, keeping a building standing¹¹ can send a message of defiance¹². To them, leaving a structure standing does not mean the community is accepting a tragedy. Instead, it can show that people are ready to move on.

But to others, the possibility that people could face trauma again by seeing the building is most important. Why, for example, should a building where people met violent deaths be left standing?

Jennifer Talarico is a psychology¹³ professor at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. She has studied how people form personal memories of public events. She noted¹⁴ that, since these decisions can be complex and involve different groups, they are often not easy to make.

“It’s not a simple choice of should we knock it down or renovate¹⁵ or let it be," Talarico said.

 

Words in This Story

story – n. one floor of a building

function – n. the purpose of something or someone

essay –n. a moderately short piece of writing expressing a person’s thoughts about one subject

trauma – n. severe shock caused by a bad experience

encourage – v. to talk or behave in a way that gives someone confidence to do something

defy – v. to refuse to obey someone or something

renovate – v. repair or decorate a building that is old or in bad condition

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

3 demolishing   

v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings. 这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。 来自《用法词典》
• Conventional demolishing work would have caused considerable interruptions in traffic. 如果采用一般的拆除方法就要引起交通的严重中断。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

6 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。

7 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

8 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

9 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

10 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

13 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 renovate   

vt.更新，革新，刷新

参考例句：

• The couple spent thousands renovating the house.这对夫妇花了几千元来翻新房子。
• They are going to renovate the old furniture.他们准备将旧家具整修一番。