本文音频及原文摘自杂志The Economist 2016年第39期，United States版块。

Chicago schools

Amid growing violence, Chicago now escorts one in five students to school

Sep 24th 2016

Nearly 400,000 public-school students made their way through the streets of Chicago[芝加哥] to attend their first day of school on September 6th. For some, the journey can be perilous[1]. As these students walked through streets plagued[2] by gang violence[帮派暴力;群体暴力事件], they were joined by 1,300 security guards in yellow vests[黄色背心/马甲] stationed along predefined routes in the city’s most dangerous neighbourhoods.

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These “community watchers” are part of a programme designed to protect Chicago students as they travel to and from school. The initiative began in 2009, after a 16-year-old honour-roll[光荣榜;荣登杰出学生榜] student was beaten to death in the street. This school year 142 schools with a total of 75,000 students have safe routes. Since the start of 2016 Chicago has recorded over 500 murders, more than New York and Los Angeles combined and a 50% increase over the same period last year. Figures compiled by the Chicago Tribune[芝加哥论坛报] reveal 33 of these victims were under 17.

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[1]perilous ['perɪləs]

extremely dangerous 非常危险的

The country roads are quite perilous.

这些乡间道路很危险。

[2]plague [pleɪg]

to cause worry, pain, or difficulty to someone or something over a period of time 不断困扰；折磨；使受煎熬

Financial problems have been plaguing their new business partners.

财政问题一直困扰着他们的新商业合作伙伴。

My shoulder's been plaguing me all week.

我的肩膀整个星期都很难受。

to annoy someone, especially by asking repeated questions （尤指因不停提问而）使烦恼，打搅

The children plagued him with questions all through lunch.

吃午饭时孩子们不停地问他问题，使他很烦。

He's been plaguing me for a loan of the book.

他总是缠着我向我借那本书。

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犯罪率惊人 美国芝加哥急招新人充实警力

美国芝加哥市警察局长埃迪·约翰逊21日宣布，鉴于犯罪率飙升、治安形势严峻，芝加哥将新招募近1000名警察，充实警察队伍。

芝加哥目前有全职警察12656人。在枪支犯罪和杀人案增多的背景下，他们中的许多人被要求加班加点，但这并非长久之计。约翰逊在当天举行的新闻发布会上说，警方今后两年将招募970名新人，力争使芝加哥警察队伍在2018年年底扩充至13535人。这些新人中大多数将被安排至巡逻和侦查岗位。

按约翰逊的说法，这些新鲜血液会提升芝加哥警方应对城市犯罪问题的能力。然而，对于芝加哥市政府如何在长期财政短缺窘境下拿出钱给新招募警员发工资，约翰逊避而不答。

今年以来，芝加哥的枪击和杀人案件激增，仅8月一个月就发生90起杀人案。今年年初至今，这座城市出现的杀人案已经超过500起，比去年全年的同类型案件总数还要多。照这样下去，芝加哥今年全年的杀人案将自2003年以来首次超过600起。

更糟糕的是，在这些大多因黑帮缠斗和毒品交易而引发的杀人案中，警方的破案率只有不到40%。

芝加哥的枪击案数量同样令人触目惊心。今年年初至今，这座城市已发生超过2500起枪击案，比去年同期足足多出700起。

纽约大学法学院布伦南司法研究中心近期发布的报告显示，今年全美范围内的谋杀率预计将增加１３％，而芝加哥的增幅最大，达到４７％。

新闻来源：http://t.cn/Rc8mCXZ

以上言论不代表本人立场。

原文摘自The economist，仅外语学习之用。

其中生词解释来源于Cambridge Dictionaries

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