VOA标准英语2012--Occupy Movement Seeks Renewed Physical Presence

Occupy Movement Seeks Renewed Physical Presence

“This is god     our park! This is our park! The real people’s park! It’s a real public park," screamed a protester.

This impassioned Occupy Wall Street protester recently denounced New York police as bullies¹ for enforcing a regulation that limits the size of signs in public parks. At issue was this long banner. Protesters say the regulation applies to commercial vendors², not public expression.

The standoff took place Wednesday in Union Square Park, after police forcibly dispersed³ an attempt by protesters a few days earlier to reoccupy Zuccotti Park, about three kilometers away, where the Occupy movement began last September.

Sherman Jackson, an Occupy media representative, says confrontations⁴ with police over territory draw media focus away from the movement’s core message of corporate⁵ greed and income inequality. Jackson says he defers⁶ to those who support a physical presence, but thinks it is not necessary.

“The fact is that we use social media, we use Twitter, we use Facebook, we e-mail, we text one another, and we can muster⁷ a couple of thousand people within an hour to gather at any spot that we ask them to gather at," said Jackson.

Protester and saxophonist Dave Intrator says a physical presence is essential. He adds that the act of human beings assembling in a public space to talk politics, exchange ideas and to play music has become an exotic luxury. He claims that peaceful gatherings⁸, though often noisy and messy, threaten corporate interests that see the world in terms of efficiency and profits.

“This in itself is an ideal of freedom, which is under attack in our modern, branded, corporatized, pre-formatted world," said Intrator. "And so, with respect to this concept of freedom, having this space is central to Occupy.”

Meanwhile, Zuccotti Park is again filled with tourists and people eating lunch. But a substantial police presence and barricades⁹ stacked at the ready betray lingering tension between protesters and law enforcement. Attorney Gary Darche says that tension made him think twice about going to the park.

“It’s not a comfortable situation between the security forces and I don’t know who’s coming and who’s going, who’s taking my picture," said Darche. "For all I know - maybe I sound paranoid - you could be someone from some organization. I don’t know.”

While protesters have moved to another location, a portable police tower maintains a vigil over Zuccotti Park. As for the disputed sign at Union Square Park, protesters complied with police demands not to display it; they simply cut it in half and stood side by side holding each end. 

1 bullies   

n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负

参考例句：

• Standing up to bullies takes plenty of backbone. 勇敢地对付暴徒需有大无畏精神。
• Bullies can make your life hell. 恃强欺弱者能让你的日子像活地狱。

2 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

4 confrontations   

n.对抗，对抗的事物( confrontation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At times, this potential has escalated into actual confrontations. 有时，这一矛盾升级为实际的对抗。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• These confrontations and uncertainties were bing played out for the first time on a global scale. 所有这一切对抗和不稳定，第一次在全球范围内得到充分的表演。 来自辞典例句

5 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 defers   

v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的第三人称单数 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• She never defers to her parents' opinions. 她从来不听从父母的意见。 来自辞典例句
• Even in Iraq, America defers to the elected government. 即使在伊拉克，美国也要遵从他的民选政府。 来自互联网

7 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

8 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

9 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。