美国国家公共电台 NPR After Parkland, Young Voters Were Galvanized, Activists Vow To 'Continue To Organize'

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Shootings like the one we've just been hearing about are part of what has jarred many young people into political awareness¹. After the shooting in Parkland, Fla., students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School took the lead in the debate over gun violence. They aimed to mobilize young voters and change the face of the midterm elections. How did that work out? Here's NPR's Brakkton Booker.

BRAKKTON BOOKER, BYLINE²: Alessia Modjarrad is a freshman³ at Indiana University and a first-time voter. She worked hard to get what she calls common sense gun candidates elected.

ALESSIA MODJARRAD: Unfortunately, Liz Watson, the campaign I was volunteering for, and Senator Joe Donnelly both lost a seat.

BOOKER: Democrat⁵ Liz Watson, running for the U.S. House, fell short trying to unseat Indiana Republican Trey Hollingsworth. And Democrat Joe Donnelly's Senate seat flipped⁶ when the GOP's Mike Braun bested him. She's also bummed⁷ about another race a thousand miles away.

MODJARRAD: If we're talking about the Texas Senate race, man, poor O'Rourke.

BOOKER: That's Beto O'Rourke, the Democrat who lost to Republican Ted⁴ Cruz. Modjarrad is excited that Democrats⁸ will control the House in the next Congress, which she hopes will pass further gun control laws.

MODJARRAD: I think that if the Democrats want to keep not only the support from young voters but this enthusiasm from young voters, that they're going to need to work with young voters to start drafting gun sense legislation.

BOOKER: According to data released yesterday from CIRCLE, a political research and engagement center at Tufts University, initial estimates show nearly a third of 18 to 29 year olds cast a ballot⁹ this year. Those figures are not definitive¹⁰. But if they hold true, it would mean millions more young people showed up to the polls than in 2014. John Della Volpe has a theory why - gun violence.

JOHN DELLA VOLPE: It is a central motivating factor in the awakening¹¹ of this generation for sure.

BOOKER: Della Volpe is the director of polling at Harvard's Institute of Politics. He says in surveys he conducted with young people weeks before the election, gun control was a top issue.

DELLA VOLPE: I don't mean to say it's only about school shootings, it's only about guns. But that's one factor that, I think, kind of opened the door for them to consider other issues.

BOOKER: He says the March For Our Lives movement helped register young voters and kept the gun issue alive throughout 2018. Matt Deitsch is a graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas. That's the Parkland, Fla., high school where 17 people were killed in February. He's frustrated¹² no major gun laws have passed on a federal level and that so many shootings have taken place since the one at his alma mater.

MATT DEITSCH: People shouldn't be dying in America because they're going to go to a Madden tournament or go grocery shopping or just be Jewish or just be black in America. But that is happening because we have complacent¹³ leadership.

BOOKER: Deitsch, the chief strategist for March For Our Lives, says the gun control fight doesn't end with the election.

DEITSCH: I think a lot of our work is going to be continue to organize. We have to hold this Congress accountable.

BOOKER: But gun control wasn't the top issue in the midterms among voters overall. Exit polls conducted by the AP and ABC found it lagged far behind health care, immigration and the economy. Brakkton Booker, NPR News, Washington.

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1 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

4 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

7 bummed   

失望的，沮丧的

参考例句：

• I was really bummed out that there were no tickets left. 没有票了，我非常恼火。
• I didn't do anything last summer; I just bummed around. 去年夏天我游手好闲，什么正经事也没做。

8 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》

9 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

10 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。

11 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

12 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 complacent   

adj.自满的；自鸣得意的

参考例句：

• We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
• She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。