CNN 2011-01-15

Of course, in and around Atlanta roads, as you heard from Rob, are treacherous¹. Businesses are shut down. Schools are still closed.

Our Martin Savidge is in the elements paralyzing the city.

Officials knew Atlanta wasn't prepared for the storm. In fact, over the years the city has made a conscious decision not to be ready.

Historically, what's been the attitude of the city when it comes to snow or ice?

Well, I mean, when I was a boy growing up here it was, it was a day off. A day or two off but now that I'm mayor that's fundamentally different.

Atlanta has relied on two basic facts. Southern snowstorms are rare and the best way to get rid of the snow is to simply let it melt. That logic² fails about once a decade. This time, the city remained shut down for days as roads became impassable. In fact, the roads are still so bad I couldn't get to the experts I wanted to interview so I called them.

Do we have any idea of what this snow event for the city of Atlanta may cost?

No, not right now.

All right. Nasty stuff. Martin Savidge there. So Atlanta leaders say they have seized upon one strategy that's used by snow-challenged cities in the north. They have scrambled³ to higher and mobilized private contractors⁴ to try and clear those streets.

The parents of the accused Tucson shooter are breaking their silence. Jared Loughner's mom and dad have been in seclusion⁵ since the weekend shooting but now they have penned a statement saying they're just as perplexed⁶ as everyone else, saying this, quote, "We don't understand why this happened. It may not make any difference but we wish that we could change the heinous⁷ events of Saturday. We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so very sorry for their loss." End quote.

Six people died in the weekend shooting, 14 others are hurt including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Now friends of the Loughner family are speaking up saying Jared was a good kid but something changed.

He was a great kid. I don't know what happened to him. I don't even recognize him now. But we'll probably never know what happened to him. He was never like that as a kid. He was brought up good. His family was always good to him. He was, everyone was good to him. He was good to everyone.

Meanwhile, a grief-stricken Tucson tries to recover. A Catholic Church held the first official religious service in honor of the victims last night calling it a mass healing for our community.

President Obama heads to Tucson later on today to mourn with the jolted⁸ city. He arrives in Arizona this afternoon. He'll speak at a memorial event and meet with the victims' family members.

Meanwhile, doctors for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords say she is showing signs of improvement after taking a bullet to the brain. She's reportedly able to breathe on her own now.

Her office released these two photos from inside her hospital room giving us an intimate look at her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, sitting beside her and holding her hand.

Well, some say that a heated political climate factored in to the Tucson attack and now Sarah Palin is weighing in. She's accusing her critics of blood libel. Her words.

In a new video posted to her Web site this morning, the former Alaska governor has been criticized using crosshairs on a map showing districts where she wanted the GOP to win midterm elections.

Representative Gabrielle Giffords' district was on that graphic⁹.

There are those who claim political rhetoric¹⁰ is to blame for the despicable attack of this deranged¹¹, apparently¹² apolitical criminal.

And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it last heated? Back in those calm days when political figures literally¹³ settled the differences with dueling¹⁴ pistols? In an ideal world, all discourse¹⁵ would be civil and all disagreements cordial. But our founding fathers knew they weren't designing a system for perfect men and women. If men and women were angels, there would be no need for government.

Our founders¹⁶' genius was to design a system that helps settle the inevitable¹⁷ conflicts caused by our imperfect passions in civil ways. So we must condemn¹⁸ violence if our republic is to endure.

Palin also says that, quote, "Acts of monstrous¹⁹ criminality stand on their own, they begin and end with criminals who commit them." Her words.

1 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

2 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

3 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 seclusion   

n.隐遁，隔离

参考例句：

• She liked to sunbathe in the seclusion of her own garden.她喜欢在自己僻静的花园里晒日光浴。
• I live very much in seclusion these days.这些天我过着几乎与世隔绝的生活。

6 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

7 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

8 jolted   

（使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• She was jolted out of her reverie as the door opened. 门一开就把她从幻想中惊醒。

9 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

10 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

11 deranged   

adj.疯狂的

参考例句：

• Traffic was stopped by a deranged man shouting at the sky.一名狂叫的疯子阻塞了交通。
• A deranged man shot and killed 14 people.一个精神失常的男子开枪打死了14人。

12 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

13 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

14 dueling   

n. 决斗, 抗争(=duelling) 动词duel的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• More light-hearted But somewhat puzzled, Vladimir prepared to meet Eugene on the dueling ground. 弗拉基米尔心里轻松了一些，但仍感到有些困惑，在这种心情下，他准备去决斗场地迎战叶甫盖尼。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• They had been dueling for hours and finally called a draw. 他们一直决斗了数小时，最后打成平局。

15 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

16 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

17 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。

18 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。

19 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！