VOA标准英语2014--弗格森案和纽约事件有损美国的国际形象

 

Ferguson, New York Incidents Harm US Image Abroad 弗格森案和纽约事件有损美国的国际形象

 LONDON—

Race relations in the United States are back on the global agenda after recent decisions not to indict¹ police officers in the deaths of two African Americans in two separate cases: one in Missouri and the other in New York. Some people say the cases have hurt the image of the United States and maybe its ability to project its values.

The decisions in Ferguson, Missouri and in New York City sparked widespread protests and global news coverage². Protests continued for days all around the United States, and inspired support across the world, including at this protest in London.

At the city’s King’s College, American Studies students have been talking about the issue in their classes.

“It’s not a good thing,” said Xiang Yingchao, a 23-year-old economics student from China, who has studied in the United States. “A lot of Chinese press, they said, like, ‘Oh, in the U.S. they always advocate human rights, but look at them. It’s like they have two standards of human rights.’”

These students study America, and all have visited.

Police brutality³

They see the incident in New York as a clear case of unpunished police brutality, but view the Ferguson incident as less clear cut. But 53-year-old masters’ degree student Paul Zimmerman of London said the details are not as important as the broader point.

“There’s an assumption that somehow there’s something that has gone on that isn’t quite right. Maybe they’ve come up with the right conclusion, but in a sense that doesn’t really matter,” he said.

24-year-old classmate Mark Eastwood from northern England agreed. “I would say it’s exposed a broader issue. It’s more, for me, the story of Ferguson and what’s happened in New York in the last week or so, is more about the issues of structural⁴ racism,” said Eastwood.

There’s also a sense of disappointment that the election of Barack Obama does not mean all of America’s racial issues have been solved.

“Electing a black president, in theory, is transformational but there’s a lot that needs to happen to correct many, many years of systemic unfairness,” said Zimmerman.

“One black president cannot change these things. They have to change their justice system, even their laws,” said Xiang.

Overseas reaction

Their teacher, Joshua Simon, said some of his students see two aspects to the stories from Ferguson and New York.

“They’re thinking of it as a pretty shocking demonstration⁵ of the remaining racial injustices⁶ in the United States and [also] a pretty encouraging sign that the population in the United States isn’t going to take these events lying down," said Simon.

The emotional scenes of the funerals added to the public reaction overseas. Simon said many people give the United States well-deserved credit for progress on race relations. He said the recent incidents, though, have shifted the focus to how much work remains⁷ to be done, while also making the U.S. aspiration⁸ to be "a moral leader" more difficult.

1 indict   

v.起诉，控告，指控

参考例句：

• You can't indict whole people for the crudeness of a few.您不能因少数人的粗暴行为就控诉整个民族。
• I can indict you for abducting high school student.我可以告你诱拐中学生。

2 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

3 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

4 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 aspiration   

n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出

参考例句：

• Man's aspiration should be as lofty as the stars.人的志气应当象天上的星星那么高。
• Young Addison had a strong aspiration to be an inventor.年幼的爱迪生渴望成为一名发明家。