VOA慢速英语2016 加州将投票是否废除死刑

AS IT IS 2016-09-19 Californians to Vote on Ending Death Penalty 加州将投票是否废除死刑

Californians will vote in November on whether to stop using execution as a form of punishment, or reform the legal process leading up to the death sentence.

加州将在十一月进行投票，决定是否停用死刑的惩罚，或改革判决死刑的法律程序。

The state of California currently has about 750 people on death row. A lot of them were sentenced to die many years ago, but their cases are still being appealed in the courts.

加利福尼亚州的死囚牢房里目前约有750人。他们中有很多人多年前就被判处死刑，但是他们还在向法院提出上诉。

Death penalty process broken

死刑过程被分裂

Activists² on both sides of the issue agree that the current system needs to be fixed³. Two competing ballot⁴ measures attempt to do this.

再这个问题上的双方活动家都认为需要修改当前的系统。两种竞争投票的方式都是为了做到这一点。

Proposition 62 would permanently⁵ abolish the death penalty in California. If it became law, death row prisoners would have their sentences changed to life in prison with no possibility of being released.

62号提案永久取消加利福尼亚州的死刑。如果这个法案成为法律，死刑犯的判决将发生改变，改为终身监禁，没有被释放的可能性。

Proposition 66 would try to speed up executions by reforming parts of the appeals process. The changes would set time limits on court appeals and make more lawyers available to dispute death penalty rulings.

66号提案则试图通过改革部分申诉程序以加速死刑的执行。这些改变是规定向法院上诉的时间限制，让更多的律师参与死刑的判决。

Paula Mitchell is with Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California. She says Californians have spent way too much on executions since the state brought back the death penalty in 1978.

保拉·米切尔是位于美国加利福尼亚州洛杉矶的洛约拉法学院的学生。她说，自从1978年国家恢复死刑后，加州在处决上花费太多了。

Billions spent since 1978

自1978年以来花费了数十亿美元

“California taxpayers⁶ have spent $5 billion. The state has executed 13 people. Roughly 100 have died on death row before their appeals were finished or before the state could execute them.”

“加州纳税人花了五十亿美元。国家处决了13个人。大约有100人??在上诉完成前或州政府处决他们之前就已经死在囚牢房里。“

Actor and activist¹ Mike Farrell says the death penalty has killed innocent people. He claims it is used only against poor people and the poorly defended. “It entraps⁸ and kills the innocent. There is simply, in my view, no justice and no justification⁹ for it.”

演员兼社会活动家迈克·法雷尔说，死刑杀害了无辜的人。他声称这仅仅是适用于贫困人口和辩论不佳的人。 “它诱捕并杀死无辜者。简单的说，在我看来，死刑不代表没有正义，也没有理由存在。”

Former football player Kermit Alexander supports capital punishment. His mother, sister and two nephews were murdered in Los Angeles in 1984. But Alexander said he believes it should only be for justice, not revenge. The man found guilty of killing¹⁰ his family is still on death row, waiting in jail after more than 30 years.

前足球运动员亚历山大·克米特支持死刑。1984年他的母亲、姐姐和两个侄子在洛杉矶被杀害了。但亚历山大表示，他认为死刑应该只是用于维护正义，而不是用来报复。因杀害他的家人而获罪的人仍然在死囚牢中，在监狱里等待了30多年。

In addition to California, 30 other American states have the death penalty. But it is rarely carried out in the United States.

除了加州之外，美国有30个州保留死刑。但是在美国很少执行死刑。

Sharp decline in U.S. executions

美国死刑的执行数急剧下降

The rate of U.S. executions has fallen sharply over the past seven years. In 2009, 52 executions were carried out, according to the Washington D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center. In 2015, there were 28 executions. This year, there have been 15.

在过去七年里，美国死刑处决率已大幅下跌。华盛顿特区的死刑信息中心声称，2009年执行了52宗死刑。到2015年，只有28次处决。今年以来，已经有15次了。

Many government lawyers say the punishment should be kept for people who carry out the very worst crimes.

许多政府律师说，应该对犯下弥天大罪的犯人保留死刑。

Mike Hestrin is District Attorney for Riverside County, California. “I think it is a tool that we prosecutors¹¹ need, and that the justice system needs, in order to appropriately punish people that commit outrageous¹² and heinous¹³ crimes.

迈克·何思成是加利福尼亚州河滨县的地方检查官。 “我认为这是我们检察官需要的工具，也是司法系统适当地惩罚那些犯下令人发指和滔天罪行的人的需要。

Hestrin added that executions are also a way for society to express anger at the crimes committed.

何思成补充说，死刑也是社会对犯罪的愤怒的一种表达方式。

Critics like Mike Farrell note that the United States is one of only a few democratic nations to keep the death penalty. “I think it corrupts¹⁴ the society. And I think it demeans us as people.”

迈克·法雷尔等评论家注意到，美国是仅有的保留死刑的几个民主国家之一。 “我认为这会破坏社会。而且我认为它贬低我们人类。”

Californians will vote on the issue November 8.

加州将在11月8日为此进行投票。

Words in This Story

penalty – n. punishment for breaking a rule or law

death row – n. part of a prison where prisoners who will be killed as punishment for their crimes live until they are killed

abolish – v. officially end something

entrap⁷ – v. to lure¹⁵ someone into doing something by deception¹⁶

revenge – n. the act of doing harm to someone in order to get even

heinous – adj. very bad or evil

demean – v. to lower in character, status or reputation

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

4 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。

5 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

6 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

7 entrap   

v.以网或陷阱捕捉，使陷入圈套

参考例句：

• The police have been given extra powers to entrap drug traffickers.警方已经被进一步授权诱捕毒贩。
• He overturned the conviction,saying the defendant was entrapped.他声称被告是被诱骗的，从而推翻了有罪的判决。

8 entraps   

v.使陷入圈套，使入陷阱( entrap的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

9 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

10 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。

11 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。

12 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

13 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。

14 corrupts   

（使）败坏( corrupt的第三人称单数 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The unrighteous penny corrupts the righteous pound. 不正当得来的便士使正当得来的英镑也受到玷污。
• Blue cinema corrupts the souls of people. 黄色电影腐蚀人们的灵魂。

15 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

16 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。