VOA标准英语2010-Oklahoma City Remembers Bombing Victims 1

Thousands of search and rescue crews attend a memorial service in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Building was bombed by Timothy McVeigh who said his act was a protest against the overreach of the federal government (file photo)

It was the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the United States.  The April 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City killed 168 people.  Domestic terrorism is still a concern for law enforcement officials throughout the country.

At 9:02 AM, silence fell across the Oklahoma National Memorial and Museum grounds, once the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City.

At that moment 15-years earlier U.S. Army veteran and right-wing militia¹ extremist Timothy McVeigh delivered a highly explosive truck bomb to the site that claimed the lives of 168 people, including 19 children.

In a somber² ceremony, family and friends read the names of those who lost their lives on that fateful morning.

In front of a crowd that included survivors³ of the attack, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano paid tribute to victims of the deadliest act of domestic terrorism on U.S. soil.

"We honor the continued need for vigilance against the violent ideologies⁴ that led to this attack, so that we can recognize their signs in our communities and stand together to defeat them," said  Janet Napolitano.

The 15th anniversary commemoration of the Oklahoma City bombing comes at a time when domestic terrorism is a growing concern in the United States.

Right-wing militia movements, like the one Timothy McVeigh belonged to, are on the rise.  Nine members of the so-called Hutaree Militia in Michigan were arrested in late March, while allegedly planning an attack.

"These are people who are accused of trying to murder a cop in order to bring hundreds of law enforcement officials to the funeral, which they were going to attack with improvised⁵ explosive devices and missiles," said Mark Potok. "They were going to create their own little Armageddon."

Information Director Mark Potok, of the Southern Poverty Law Center that is based in Alabama, says hundreds of groups are on a watch list compiled annually⁶ by the SPLC.

"After 9/11, the attention of law enforcement in general turned overseas, and that seemed like a reasonable thing," he said. "But what we are looking at right now is a very resurgent movement.  The militias⁷ and the larger anti-government patriot⁸ movement has really exploded in the just the last year or so.  We count these groups, and we found a 244-percent increase in the number of groups in a single year, that is 363 new groups."

The latest rise of extremist movements in the United States occurs at a time when gun control laws are more lax, which concerns the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence Director of Federal Legislative⁹ Affairs Chad Ramsey.

"They have access to all sorts of dangerous weapons," said Chad Ramsey. "The assault weapon ban is gone.  They can arm themselves to the teeth with AK 47's, AR-15's, Uzi's, 50 caliber¹⁰ BMG's, they can arm themselves with just about any type of dangerous weapon you can think of now.

Not all militia organizations promote violence or efforts to overthrow¹¹ the government.  And as Mark Potok points out, they have every right to form and express their views.

"These groups by and large operate perfectly¹² legally under the Constitution," said potok. "It is not that they should all be thrown in prison for having what are very often strange ideas.  But the point is out of the milieu¹³ of these groups come the occasional killers¹⁴, the Timothy McVeighs, the Eric Rudolphs, the people who are really willing to go out there and blow up a building full of people."

Timothy McVeigh was executed in 2001 for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, his co-conspirator Terry Nichols is serving a life sentence without parole in federal prison. 

 

1 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

2 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 ideologies   

n.思想（体系）( ideology的名词复数 )；思想意识；意识形态；观念形态

参考例句：

• There is no fundamental diversity between the two ideologies. 这两种思想意识之间并没有根本的分歧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Radical ideologies require to contrast to their own goodness the wickedness of some other system. 凡是过激的意识形态，都需要有另外一个丑恶的制度作对比，才能衬托出自己的善良。 来自辞典例句

5 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

6 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。

7 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

8 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

9 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

10 caliber   

n.能力；水准

参考例句：

• They ought to win with players of such high caliber.他们选手的能力这样高,应该获胜。
• We are always trying to improve the caliber of our schools.我们一直在想方设法提高我们学校的水平。

11 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

12 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

13 milieu   

n.环境；出身背景；(个人所处的)社会环境

参考例句：

• Foods usually provide a good milieu for the persistence of viruses.食品通常为病毒存续提供了一个良好的栖身所。
• He was born in a social milieu where further education was a luxury.他生在一个受较高教育就被认为是奢侈的社会环境里。

14 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。