VOA慢速英语2015 In Boston Marathon Bombing Trial, a Search for Justice and Closure

 

AS IT IS 2015-01-08 In Boston Marathon Bombing Trial, a Search for Justice and Closure

A court in Boston, Massachusetts is making final preparations for the trial of suspected bomber¹ Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He is accused of terrorism and other crimes in connection with the deadly bombing at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. His older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was also suspected in the attack. He was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police four days later.

Court officials began questioning possible jurors on Monday. The jury selection process could take several weeks.

The Tsarnaevs are ethnic² Chechens. The two brothers had lived with their family near Boston for more than 10 years.

VOA reporters Fatima Tlisova and Mike Eckel investigated the lives of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

I’m Caty Weaver³. Today, Jonathan Evans and I tell you what the reporters found.

Some recent history

Both young men were considered loving and peaceful by the people around them. Just weeks before the bombing, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his wife and daughter visited another Chechen family in New Hampshire. Madina and Musa Khadzhimuradov had fled Chechnya in the early 2000s.

They said that during the visit, Tamerlan seemed to enjoy playing with his little girl.

Musa Khadzhimuradov told VOA:

“We didn’t talk about war or religion, nothing. He was happy. Maybe he had a double life or something, but he was playing with his child.”

But legal documents and reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation⁴ suggest that he was plotting something destructive.

At least twice before April 15, Tamerlan had visited a Manchester firing range, where people train to shoot guns. On March 20, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev joined his brother at the firing range.

Tamerlan had also traveled to the New Hampshire town of Seabrook to buy fireworks and gather gunpowder⁵. Investigators⁶ say he stopped at a store called Phantom⁷ Fireworks. They say he left with 48 mortars⁸ and almost four kilograms of low explosive powder.

Store employee April Walton spoke⁹ to VOA about Tamerlan’s visit. She said he asked her for the loudest, most powerful fireworks they sold.

The Grand Jury indictment¹⁰ says that Tamerlan went online around April 5, and ordered electronic parts that could be used to make bombs. The parts arrived at the Tsarnaev’s apartment home by mail.

Strange behavior noted¹¹ at local mosque¹²

In recent years, some members of the Tsarnaev family had begun talking about their religious beliefs. The leader of the mosque they attended told VOA of two strange incidents during prayer services. Imam Fenni said that in November of 2012 Tamerlan Tsarnaev stood up and interrupted a guest speaker. The speaker was talking about the importance of Muslims in America accepting public holidays like Thanksgiving. Tamerlan angrily told the gathering¹³ that the speaker was wrong.

Imam Fenni said a similar incident took place in January of 2013. He said Tamerlan again angrily interrupted a guest speaker.

In January of 2012, Tamerlan had gone on a six-month-long trip to Russia’s North Caucasus area. He spent some of his time in Dagestan. The Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Tamerlan had been in contact with two wanted militants¹⁴ during the visit.

Novaya Gazeta reporter Irina Gordienko told VOA, “People in Dagestan told me he dressed strangely, his behavior was unusual. He wasn’t very knowledgeable¹⁵ about Islam.”

Back home in the United States, Tamerlan Tsarnaev held short-term jobs and took a few college classes. He boxed for a while but his career in the sport did not take off.

A close family friend said “He didn’t seem to know where he was going.”

The FBI questioned Tamerlan in 2011 at the request of Russian security officials. They had been watching his reported interactions with Chechen radical¹⁶ groups.

An FBI statement says the Russians reported that Tamerlan “was a follower¹⁷ of radical Islam.”

The youngest Tsarnaev

Friends and family say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev acted differently than his older brother. Dzhokar was seen as intelligent but quiet. Friends say he seemed to follow Tamerlan’s lead.

Dzhokhar’s suspected involvement in the Boston Marathon bombing was even more of a shock. Friends and people who know him say Dzhokhar caused no concern to neighbors, friends, school, or law enforcement before April 15, 2013.

A family friend said “Dzhokhar kept to himself, he was smart. He made his own choices. He wasn’t the center of attention; he was always off to the side.”

In the months before the bombing, the Tsarnaev home was occupied only by Tamerlan, his wife and their daughter. The parents of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar were both living in Russia. Dzohkhar was attending school at University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth.

A few signs of trouble

Investigators say there were suggestions that Dzhokhar was exploring violent acts when he was a student at the University of Massachusetts. In the spring of 2013, he reportedly downloaded to his computer several books and documents that supported radical Islamist ideas.

One was an article called: “How to Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.” Pressure cookers were used in the Marathon bombing.

After his arrest, investigators entered Dzhokhar’s college dormitory room. They examined his computer and found a backpack containing fireworks that had been emptied of gunpowder.

The night of April 15, Dzhokhar sent a friend — the son of a Boston-area Chechen immigrant — a text message. It asked the friend if he was at the marathon and if he was OK.

A hunt for the suspects

On April 18, as police widened their search for the bombers¹⁸, the brothers reportedly shot and killed a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hours later, as the hunt continued, Dzhokhar sent another text message to a college classmate saying: “If you want u can go to my room and take what you want.”

In the early hours of April 19, police shot and killed Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the community of Watertown, Massachusetts. Dzhokhar was wounded. He hid in a boat parked in a backyard driveway.

Inside the boat, he wrote several messages, documents say. One reportedly reads:

“The U.S. Government is killing¹⁹ our innocent civilians²⁰; I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished; We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all; Now I don't like killing innocent people it is forbidden in Islam.... stop killing our innocent people and we will stop.”

Trial as closure

The trial in Boston will likely be closely followed by Americans. For some, it will be a simple hope for punishment of a bomber.

For others, it might be a chance to learn why a well-liked, successful 19-year-old college student decided²¹ to launch a horrific attack at a beloved sporting event.

One childhood friend said, “I want to know why he did it. I want to know why he would go out of his way, what did he need when he already has everything.”

Federal prosecutors²² have indicated they will seek the death sentence if Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is found guilty.

His defense²³ lawyers are expected to argue that he acted under the influence of his older brother and is less responsible for the act.

The trial will renew pain for the victims of the bombing and for the Chechen refugees who have fled to the United States. Many of them dreamed of rebuilding their lives in peace. The Boston Marathon bombings destroyed that dream for many.

1 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 gunpowder   

n.火药

参考例句：

• Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶，火药传入欧洲。
• This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

8 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

9 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。

10 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

11 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。

12 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

13 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

14 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

15 knowledgeable   

adj.知识渊博的；有见识的

参考例句：

• He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
• He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。

16 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

17 follower   

n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒

参考例句：

• He is a faithful follower of his home football team.他是他家乡足球队的忠实拥护者。
• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。

18 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 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。

20 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

21 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。

22 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

23 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。