美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-02-09

 A man holds a child at gunpoint after shooting and killing¹ a school bus driver which was our lead story tonight. And another man, walks into a Phoenix² office building and opens fire, hitting three killing one. Those are just two headlines from today, there've been many other recently, some far worse, of course. "Keep them honest" though, how big role if any does easy access to firearms play in violent crime like this. That's a question, crucially how do we really know what the true facts are, you know, our both sides building their cases on, on shaky factual ground. Today in testimony³ before the senate judiciary committee, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords who survived the Tucson massacre⁴ spoke⁵ of the need for action.

"Thank you for inviting⁶ me here today, this is an important conversation for our children, for our communities, for Democrats⁷ and Republicans, speaking is difficult, but I need to say something important. Violent is a big problem, too many children are dying, to many children, we must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now. You must act, be bold, be courageous⁸, Americans are counting on you. Thank you."

Well, she spoke from handwrite note which were posted on the facebook page, the gun reform group, that she and her husband, former astronaut, Mark Kelly, founded. He also testified along with the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre and others, commander Kelly at one point answering Mr.LaPierre's claim that background check don't need to be made universal.

"My wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today. If we had stronger background checks."

On the NRA position, though, and it's shared by many people that criminals would still be able to get and use firearms tha banning high capacity magazines would similarly not work, nor would with reinstating the ban on semiautomatic weapons. Such as the one used in Newtown, Aurora⁹ and elsewhere. Now there is just one problem, both sides on the gun debate, use the assault weapons ban, which was in effect from 1994 to 2004 to make there case. Listen.

"Independent studies, including one from the Clinton justice department, prove that it had no impact in lowering crime."

"The department of justice report assault weapons as a percentage of gun, of gun traces, which shows the 70% decline."

"While arm security works, gun bans do not."

"I've been as law enforcement for nearly 35 years, I've seen an explosion of fire power since the assault weapons ban expired, victims are being riddled¹⁰ with the mutiple gunshots."

"To reenact a law that according to the Department of justice did absolutely nothing to reduce gun violence."

"The 1994 assault weapon ban did not stop columbine, the justice department found the ban ineffective."

You might hear all those sides and say to yourself, all both sides can not be right. The problem is there is really no clear cut way of telling who is, not just because each side accuses the other of cherry picking the data. The real problem is that there simply not enough good research to draw solid conclusions. Take a look at where the nonpartisan congressional research services, concluded in a November report on the existing body of knowledge, and they quote, "none of the existing sources of statistics provide either comprehensive, timely or accurate data with which to assess definitively¹² whether there is a cause of connection between firearms and violent  And a big reason for that scarcity¹³ of good research, well, Congress under pressure from the gun lobby doesn't pay for it. Take a look from 1993 through 1996, Congress allocated¹⁴ about $2.5 million dollar annually¹⁵, so the Centers for Disease Control, the CDC, could study gun violence. But since 1996, the money has dried up, averaging just $100,000 a year over the last three years and a budget of nearly $6 billion. Now, having said all that, the lack of definitive¹¹ research has not stopped policy makers¹⁶ and community members from doing what they can with what they've got in the struggle against gun violence and learning as they go. Few know that better than long time New York City police commissioner¹⁷ Ray Kelly who joins me now.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

3 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

4 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

5 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。

6 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

9 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

10 riddled   

adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式)

参考例句：

• The beams are riddled with woodworm. 这些木梁被蛀虫蛀得都是洞。
• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

12 definitively   

adv.决定性地，最后地

参考例句：

• None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
• Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此，没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网

13 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

14 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

15 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

16 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。