The horror
恐怖（陈继龙 编译）
Oct 5th 2006 | WASHINGTON, DC
From The Economist print edition
（1）TO JOURNALISTS, three of anything makes a trend. So after three school shootings in six days, speculation about an epidemic of violence in American classrooms was inevitable, and wrong.Violence in schools has fallen by half since the mid-1990s; children are more than 100 times more likely to be murdered outside the school walls than within them.
在新闻记者看来，任何事情发生三次就代表了一种趋势。因此，在6天之内发生3起校园枪击事件后，就必然会有人推断美国校园暴力开始泛滥了，但这种推断并不准确。上世纪中期以来，校园暴力已经减少了一半；孩子们在校外被杀害的可能性要比在校内要高出100多倍。
Of course, that average is not wholly comforting. Most children who are murdered are murdered by someone they know. But most parents know with certainty that neither they nor their friends or relations are killers, so their worriesf_______①on strangers. （2）Their fears are inevitably stoked[1] by the breathless coverage of school shootings.
On September 27th a 53-year-old petty criminal, Duane Morrison, walked into a school in Bailey, Colorado, with two guns. He took six girlsh_______②,preferring the blondes,molested[2]some of them, and killed one before committing suicide as policestormed[3]the room.
9月27日，犯罪情节较轻、现年53岁的杜安纳•莫里森携带两支枪走进科罗拉多州贝利的一所学校，挟持了6名女孩（均为金发碧眼）作为人质，对其中的一些女孩进行了性骚扰，并在警方冲进教室后准备自杀前杀害了一名女孩。
On September 29th a boy brought two guns into his school in Cazenovia, Wisconsin. Prosecutors say that 15-year-old Eric Hainstock may have planned to kill several people. But staff acted quickly when they saw him with a shotgun, calling the police and putting the school into “lock-down”. The head teacher, whoc_______③him in a corridor, was the only one killed.
9月29日，一名少年携带两支枪进入了位于威斯康星州卡泽诺维亚他所就读的学校。检察人员称，现年15岁的艾里克•哈因斯多克原企图射杀数人，但当工作人员看到他携有一支霰弹枪后迅速采取了行动，一边报警，一边下令全校进入“一级防范禁闭状态”。与之在一间走廊中对峙的学校校长是唯一遇害的人。
And on October 2nd a 32-year-old milk-truck driver, Charles Roberts, entered a one-roomAmish[4]school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. His suicide notes mentioned recurring dreams of molesting children, but it is unclear whether he did so. He lined the girls up, tied their feet and, after an hour, shot them, killing at least five. He killed himself as police broke into the classroom.
10月2日，32岁的送牛奶卡车司机查尔斯•罗伯茨闯进了位于宾夕法尼亚镍矿地区的一所仅有一间教室的安曼教会学校。他在自杀遗言中提到自己多次梦见猥亵儿童，不过他到底有无干过这种事尚不清楚。他将女孩们排成一列，捆住她们的脚，并在一个小时后向她们开枪射击，至少打死5人。当警察破门而入时他便开枪自杀了。
What to make of such horrors? Some experts see the Colorado and Pennsylvania cases as an extremem_______④of a culture of violence against women. Both killers appeared to have a sexual motive, and both let all the boys in the classroom go free. （3）But it is hard to extrapolate[5] from such unusual examples, and one must note that violence against women is less than half what it was in 1995.
Other experts see all three cases as symptomatic of a change in the way men commit suicide. Helen Smith, aforensic[6]psychologist, told a radio audience “men are deciding to take their lives, and they're not going alone anymore. They're taking people down with them.” True, but not very often.
有的专家则认为这三宗案例预示着男人自杀方式的一种变化。法律心理学专家海伦•史密斯在接受一家电台采访时说，“男人决定结束自己生命的时候，不再希望一个人独行，于是就杀死别人来陪伴自己。”话是没错，可这种情况毕竟不常见。
Gun-control enthusiasts think school massacres show the need for tighter restrictions. It is too easy, they say, for criminals such as Mr Morrison andj_______⑤such as Mr Hainstock to obtain guns. （4）Gun enthusiasts draw the opposite conclusion: that if more teachers carried concealed handguns, they could shoot potential child-killers before they kill.
积极支持枪支管控的人士认为，校园杀人事件表明更为严格的限制枪支的措施是有必要的。他们说，对于像莫里森这样的犯罪分子和像哈因斯多克这样的青少年而言，获取枪支再容易不过了。然而，积极反对禁枪的人却得出了截然相反的结论：假如更多的老师能身藏枪支的话，就可以在凶手可能杀害儿童之前打死凶手。
George Bush has now called for a conference on school violence. Will it unearth anything new, or valuable? After the Columbine massacre in 1999, the FBI produced a report on school shooters. （5）It concluded that it was impossible to draw up a useful profile of a potential shooter because “a GREat many adolescents who will never commit violent acts will show some of the behaviours” on any checklist[7] of warning signs.
乔治•布什现已准备召开有关校园暴力的会议。这次会议会发现什么有新意、有价值的情况吗？1999年科隆比纳惨案发生后，联邦调查局撰写了一份关于校园枪手的报告，认定不可能仅从外在表现来判断一个人是否可能为凶手，因为“很多从来都不会作出暴力举动的青少年也会有某些越界（应当受到警告的）表现”。
[QUIZ]
1. 根据上下文和英文释义，补全单词：
①f_______（v.to give special attention to one particular person or thing）
②h_______（n.someone who is kept as a prisoner by an enemy so that the other side will do what the enemy demands）
③c________（v.to face someone in a threatening way, as though you are going to attack them）
④m________（n.a very clear sign that a particular situation or feeling exists）
⑤j________（v.young people who are not yet adults）
2. 英译汉（将划线部分英文翻译成中文）：
[NOTES](LONGMAN)
1. stoke v. (stoke fear/anger/envy etc)to cause something to increase 使增长，助长，增添
2. molest v.to attack or harm someone, especially a child, by touching them in a sexual way or by trying to have sex with them[= abuse]伤害，骚扰，调戏（儿童）
3. storm v.猛攻，突袭
4. Amish 安曼教派：17世纪晚期从门诺教派脱离出来的一个再洗礼派正统教派，现在主要存在于美国宾夕法尼亚州东南部
5. extrapolate v.to use facts about the present or about one thing or group to make a guess about the future or about other things or groups推论，推断
6. forensic adj.relating to the scientific methods used for finding out about a crime 法庭的，法院的，与犯罪行为论证方法有关的
7. checklist n.a list that helps you by reminding you of the things you need to do or get for a particular job or activity清单，一览表
[KEY TO QUIZ]
1. ①focus （on）关注
②hostage 人质
③confronted 对抗，面对
④manifestation 表现
⑤juveniles 青少年
2.（见译文，仅供参考，欢迎指正）
