VOA标准英语2013--Gun Violence Inflicts Emotional Toll on Victims' Families

 

Gun Violence Inflicts¹ Emotional Toll² on Victims' Families

Oliver Smith’s son was a police officer, shot execution style by three men during a robbery.

He’s meeting with the Maryland Crime Victims’ Resource Center to write his victim's impact statement for one of the men’s appeals.

The walls in this room are a testament³ to victims of past crimes, including Oliver Smith, Jr.

Young and old, they are a handful of the 30,000 people who die from gun violence in the United States every year.

Smith said that for surviving families of gun violence, there is just no such thing as “closure.”

“How do I put ‘closure’ on my son? The best thing we can hope for is how to get through this, not over it. The three men, they’re in jail, but we’re incarcerated⁴ right along with them,” he said.

Russell Butler, who heads the center, said gun violence affects families on a material level because a family may lose its sole bread winner, or face legal bills.

But the biggest impact to their lives, he said, is the emotional one.

“I think it’s the depression. I think it’s the mental health issues. Normally, children bury their parents. So in a case like Oliver, you have a parent burying a child and not for some disease, but for being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Butler.

Nadyne Jeffries’ 16-year-old daughter, Brishel, also was in the wrong place at the wrong time in 2010.

She was killed with an AK-47 assault rifle in a gang-related shooting in Washington that left three people dead and nine injured.

“She was such a pretty child,” she said.

Jeffries bristles⁵ at what she said is lack of action on gun control.

“I just feel like the government has ignored so much that, had things been done differently years ago, that could have saved Brishel and other victims. It could have saved the children at Newtown, it could have saved people you don’t even hear stories about,” said Jeffries.

“That’s my baby boy. Oliver Wendell Smith Junior,” said Smith pointing to a photo of his son on the wall.

Smith now helps other parents cope with the loss of their children. He grieves every time there’s another shooting. But he focuses on the here-and-now, and keeps his son’s memories alive for his grandson.

“I have a lot of things saved for him. He’s 21 years old now. And when he’s ready I’ll sit down and I’ll talk about the career - the short career - that his father had and the man that his father is.”

Beyond the emotional toll, there is a material price of gun violence in America.

A report last year from Johns Hopkins University said the cost in terms of lost productivity and medical expenses, alone, was nearly $32 billion a year. 

1 inflicts   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Bullfrog 50 Inflicts poison when your enemy damages you at short range. 牛娃50对近距离攻击你的敌人造成毒伤。
• The U.S. always inflicts its concept of human nature on other nations. 美国总是把自己的人权观念强加于别国。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

4 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

5 bristles   

短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the bristles on his chin 他下巴上的胡楂子
• This job bristles with difficulties. 这项工作困难重重。