VOA标准英语2008年-Inner Cities Take a New Look at 'Snitching'

Last year, the CBS Television program 60 Minutes asked several Americans whether they would call the police if they witnessed a crime. Most said yes, of course they would.
　
Silence is the Code of the Street in some neighborhoods. Those who snitch can be in real danger

But the answer in inner cities is often quite different. There, helping¹ the police can be considered snitching, a violation² of the so-called Code of the Streets. Those who snitch, even more than criminals, are condemned³ and can face deadly reprisals⁴.

In 2004, a rap musician from Baltimore, Maryland, produced a controversial music video called "Stop Snitching." In it, young men claiming to be drug dealers⁵ threatened violence against anyone who, to use another street expression, ratted out – or identified – a criminal to the police.

This video got nationwide attention because a professional basketball star, Carmelo Anthony, also appeared on it. Anthony said he was only hanging around and had let a friend put him in his video.

Stop Snitching T-shirts that looked like they were riddled⁶ with bullet holes soon became fashionable among urban youths across the country.
　
Often many eyes see crimes being committed. But that does not mean that many reports of those crimes or identification of criminals follows

Those who defend the notion that people should keep their mouths shut about crimes they witness say that police are often the enemy – harassing⁷ or falsely accusing minorities. They say snitches looking for reward money often finger innocent people.

Reacting to the Stop Snitching furor⁸, the Baltimore police created their own video and T-shirts with the message, "Keep Talking."

And last month, in an impoverished⁹ Washington, D.C., neighborhood that had been rocked by a recent wave of street killings¹⁰, residents held a mock funeral for what they called the myths of snitching.

A murderer is someone to be feared, not respected, one citizen said. Another told the Washington Post that people who will not stand up and protect their communities lose the right to complain about neighborhood violence.

 

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

3 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

4 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

6 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》

7 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

8 furor   

n.狂热；大骚动

参考例句：

• His choice of words created quite a furor.他的措辞引起了相当大的轰动。
• The half hour lecture caused an enormous furor.那半小时的演讲引起了极大的轰动。

9 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。