Freedom versus Safety|自由与安全的省思

Freedom versus Safety

  Friday, December 14, 2012 was a very sad day in American history. A 20-year-old gunman stole his mothers weapons and shot her in the head before he drove her car down to a local elementary school, murdered 20 students and six adults, and then turned the gun on himself. While that wasnt the first school shooting to happen in the US, its one of the worst in history and has forced a lot of pro-gun people to rethink their position.


  The police may never fully understand what went through Adam Lanzas mind when he decided to take the lives of innocent people in Newtown, Connecticut, but they do know that he carried two handguns and one military-style, semi-automatic assault rifle. Parents may not be able to comprehend how a mentally ill man could do such a heinous act, but they do know that he had easy access to weapons used in military warfare.


  In the US, the Second Amendment to the Constitution gives citizens the right to keep and bear arms. This amendment was adopted in 1791, but a lot of things have changed since then. Society has progressed at an unimaginable rate and the population of the US has exploded. There are many gun control laws, but it seems that these have very little effect on stopping mass killings. President Barack Obama gave a speech in Newtown saying that now was the time for something to be done about these random acts of violence. While there may be fierce opposition to new gun laws, Obama is right. Its time to stop the senseless killing of innocent people.


     1.     What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

(A) To describe tragic events that happened in the US.

(B) To get people to stop senseless killings.

(C) To explain why guns should not be sold to mentally ill people.

(D) To show that everyone in the US now opposes gun control.

     2.     What does the Second Amendment to the US Constitution guarantee?

(A) The right to shoot bears.

(B) The right to own guns.

(C) The right to learn how to shoot guns.

(D) The right to keep any gun that is given as a gift.

     3.     What is the authors opinion of gun laws?

(A) Its not the time to discuss them.

(B) They wont help solve any of the problems.

(C) Its time to make new ones to help stop violence.

(D) Its time to buy more guns in case there are stricter gun laws.


自由与安全的省思

  2012 12 14 日星期五是美国史上相当令人难过的一天。一个 20 岁的枪手偷了他母亲的武器并朝她的头部开枪,然后他便开着母亲的车到当地国小,杀害了 20 位学生以及 6 名成人,接着饮弹自尽。虽然这并不是第一起发生在美国的校园枪杀案件,但却是史上最凶残的案件之一,这迫使许多赞成持有枪械的民众重新思考其立场。


  警方可能无法完全理解亚当.蓝扎决定在康乃狄克州新镇杀害无辜人们时,脑中到底在想些什么,但他们确知他持有 2 把手枪以及 1 把军用半自动狙击步枪。家长们可能也没办法理解为什么一个患有精神疾病的人会做出如此凶残的行为,不过他们确知凶手非常容易便取得军事战争中所使用的武器。


  美国宪法第二修正案给予市民持有和携带武器的权利。此项修正案于 1791 年被采用,但从那时起,很多事情都起了变化。美国社会进步的速度令人无法想象,且人口也急速增加。有许多管制枪枝的法律存在,但似乎对于停止大屠杀的行为没有多大的影响。美国总统巴拉克.欧巴马于新镇发表演说时提到,现在是对这些任意的暴行采取行动的时候了。尽管人民对于新的枪枝法可能会有强烈的反对,但欧巴马的说法是正确的。该是停止滥杀无辜人民的时候了。


答案: 1.   A   2.   B   3.   C

 

  目前在许多州皆颁行儿童取得预防法(Child Access Prevention,简称 CAP),要求家长安全地储存枪枝,以让儿童接触枪枝的可能性尽量减到最低,亦同时无损成年人取枪的方便性。CAP 法力主枪枝主人应对儿童取得其未适当收藏的枪枝负起责任。在美国大部分的州,违反 CAP 法将被视为轻罪。于 1989 年颁行的佛罗里达州 CAP 法,允许将违法者以重罪起诉。研究表示,CAP 法与非意图性枪枝致死率减少百分之二十三有关,且与介于 14 17 岁用枪自杀案件的减少百分之十一有关。美国国家经济研究局亦发现,CAP 相关法对小孩与大人两者非致命枪伤发生率的减少百分之三十至四十有关。该研究亦表明,CAP 法在那些违反者判重罪的州非致命枪伤案件减少有着最高度的关联性,相形之下那些判轻罪的州 CAP 法所带来的冲击在统计上不是那么明显。所有的这些研究皆具相关性,其他潜在的促成因子皆不计入。根据来自美国疾病控制与预防中心从 2000 年到 2005 年直至可得出数据的最后一年计算,平均每天约有 3 个小孩死于枪枝意外。(数据源:维基百科)

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Freedom versus Safety|自由与安全的省思

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