Unit Twenty-one
Curb Juvenile Violent Crimes
　　THE PRESIDENT: Good Morning. This weekend Americans are praying for the people who lost their lives and for those who were wounded when a 15-year-old boy with semi-automatic weapons opened fire in Springfield, Oregon, this Thursday.
　　Like all Americans, I am deeply shocked and saddened by this tragedy, and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Like all Americans, I am struggling to make sense of the senseless, and to understand what could drive a teenager to commit such a terrible act. And like all Americans, I am profoundly troubled by the startling similarity of this crime to the other tragic incidents that have stunned America in less than a year’s time – in Paducah, Kentucky; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Pearl, Mississippi; and Edinboro, Pennsylvania.
　　We must face up to the fact that these are more than isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a changing culture that desensitizes our children to violence; where most teenagers have seen hundreds or even thousands of murders on television, in movies, and in video games before they graduate from high school; where too many young people seem unable or unwilling to take responsibility for their actions; and where all too often, everyday conflicts are resolved not with words, but with weapons, which, even when illegal to possess by children, are all too easy to get.
　　We cannot afford to ignore these conditions. Whether it’s gang members taking their deadly quarrels into our schools, or inexplicable eruptions of violence in otherwise peaceful communities, when our children’s safety is at stake we must take action –and each of us must do our part.
　　For more than five years we have worked hard here in our administration to give parents and communities the tools they need to protect our children and to make our schools safe – from tighter security to more police to etter prevention. To promote discipline and maintain order, we ae encouraging and have worded hard to spread curfews, school uniforms, tough truancy policies. We instituted a zero tolerance for guns in schools policy. It is now the law in all our 50 states.
　　This year, Congress has an opportunity to protect our children in our schools and on our streets by passing my juvenile crime bill, which will ban violent juveniles from buying guns for life, and take other important steps. We shouldn’t let this chance pass us by.
　　But protecting our children and preventing youth violence is not a job that government can, or should, do alone. We must all do more – as parents, as teachers, as community leaders – to teach our children the unblinking distinction between right and wrong, to teach them to turn away from violence, to shield them from violent images that warp their perceptions of the consequences of violence. And wwe must all do more to recognize nad look for the early warning signals that deeply troubled young people send before they
explode into violence.
　　This weekend, we grieve with the families of Springfield, Oregon. We may never understand the dark forces that drive young people to commit such terrible crimes, but we must honor the memories of the victims by doing everything we possibly can to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future, and to build a stronger, safer futue for all our children.
-- Bill Clinton
victim n.犧牲品,受害者 v. 1.捕食 2.折磨,使煩惱
profound a.1.深度的,深切的,深遠(yuǎn)的 2.知識(shí)淵博的,見(jiàn)解深刻的3.深?yuàn)W的
startle vt.使驚嚇,使吃驚
[聯(lián)想詞]
reassure vt.安慰,使放心
tragic a.1.悲慘的 2.悲劇(性)的
[聯(lián)想詞]
comic a.喜劇的,滑稽的
climax n.高潮,最令人興奮的部分
stun (stunned;stunning) vt.1.使震驚 2.把…打昏,使昏迷
desensitize vt.使麻木不仁,使無(wú)情
deadly a.1.致死的,致命的 2.不共戴天的,殊死的 3.極度的,十足的 ad.非常,極度地
explicit a.1.明確的,明晰的,詳述的 2.直言不諱的
inexplicable a.無(wú)法說(shuō)的,費(fèi)解的,莫名其妙的
erupt vi.1.噴發(fā) 2.爆發(fā)
eruption n.1.噴發(fā),爆發(fā) 2.噴出物 3.發(fā)疹,疹
[聯(lián)想詞]
eject vt.1.驅(qū)逐,逐出 2.噴射,排出 3.彈出
outbreak n.爆發(fā)
curfew n.宵禁(時(shí)間),宵禁令
truancy n.1.逃學(xué),曠課 2.逃避責(zé)任,玩忽職守
truant n.1.逃學(xué)者 2.逃避責(zé)任者 a.1.逃學(xué)(者)的 2.逃避責(zé)任(者)的
tolerant a.寬容的,容忍的
tolerance n.1.寬容,容忍 2.忍耐
[聯(lián)想詞]
bias n.偏見(jiàn),偏心,偏袒 vt.使有偏見(jiàn)
juvenile a.1.少年的 2.幼稚的,不成熟的 n.未成年人,少年
adolescent n.青少年 a.青春期的,青少年的
blink vi.1.眨眼睛 2.閃亮,閃爍 n.眨眼睛,一瞬間
unblinking a.1.不眨眼的 2.不露感情的,不動(dòng)聲色的 3.無(wú)畏的
warp vt.1.使變形,使彎曲 2.歪曲,使反常,使有偏見(jiàn) vi.變形,彎曲
[聯(lián)想詞]
distort vt.1.歪曲,曲解 2.扭曲,使變形 vi.變形
grieve vi.感到悲痛,傷心 vt.使傷心,為…而傷心
grief n.1.悲傷,悲痛 2.悲傷的事,悲痛的緣由
[聯(lián)想詞]
misery n.1.痛苦,苦難,苦惱 2.悲慘的境遇,貧苦
agony n.(極度的)痛苦,創(chuàng)痛
wretched a.1.極不愉快的,難受的,可憐的 2.令人苦惱,討厭的
rejoice vi.感到高興,充滿喜悅
curb vt.控制,約束 n.1.控制,約束 2.路緣
[聯(lián)想詞]
hamper vt.阻止,妨礙,抑制
hinder vt.1.壓制,鎮(zhèn)壓 2.禁止發(fā)展,查禁 3.抑制
repression n.壓抑,壓制,鎮(zhèn)壓
occur vi.1.發(fā)生,出現(xiàn),存在 2.被想起,被想到
recur vt.再發(fā)生,重現(xiàn)