“连儿童都不愿保护，美国算什么文明国家”

近日，美国得克萨斯州一小学发生枪击事件，造成至少19名儿童和2名成人死亡。《纽约时报》以“连儿童都不愿保护，美国算什么文明国家？”为题刊发了一篇评论文章。

无注释原文：

What Is a Country That Won’t Protect Its Children?

The New York Times

There is a cultural obsession nowadays with civility, with the idea that if everyone is mannered enough, any impasse or difference of opinion can be bridged. But these are desperately uncivil times. And there is nothing more uncivilized than the political establishment’s inurement to the constancy of mass shootings in the United States: 60 deaths in Las Vegas, 49 deaths in Orlando, 26 deaths at Sandy Hook, 13 deaths in Columbine, 10 deaths in Buffalo. Adults, schoolchildren, concertgoers, nightclub revelers, grocery shoppers, teachers.

The scale of death in Uvalde, Texas, is unfathomable. At least 19 children and two teachers are dead. These staggering numbers will not change one single thing.

Time and again we are told, both implicitly and explicitly, that all we can do is endure this constancy of violence. All we can do is hope these bullets don’t hit our children or us. Or our families. Or our friends and neighbors. And if we dare to protest, if we dare to express our rage, if we dare to say enough, we are lectured about the importance of civility. We are told to stay calm and vote as an outlet for our anger.

Incivility runs through the history of this country, founded on stolen land, built with the labor of stolen lives. The document that governs our lives effectively denied more than half of the population the right to vote. It counted only three-fifths of the enslaved population when determining representation. If you want to talk about incivility, let us be clear about how deep those roots reach.

The United States has become ungovernable not because of political differences or protest or a lack of civility but because this is a country unwilling to protect and care for its citizens — its women, its racial minorities and especially its children.

When politicians talk about civility and public discourse, what they’re really saying is that they would prefer for people to remain silent in the face of injustice. They want marginalized people to accept that the conditions of oppression are unalterable facts of life. They want to luxuriate in the power they hold, where they never have to compromise, never have to confront their consciences or lack thereof, never have to face the consequences of their inaction.

Gun violence is one of the problems with which they need not concern themselves because they believe these calamities will never affect them or their families. Instead, these politicians talk about protecting our Second Amendment rights — and they have reimagined the Second Amendment as something that will accommodate whatever the gun lobby wants, rather than what the Constitution actually says. With a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, the continued reinvention of the Second Amendment will likely flourish, unchecked.

When asked for solutions, Republicans talk about arming teachers and training them to defend their classrooms. We hear about how good guys with guns will valiantly stop mass shootings, even though there have been good guys with guns at several mass shootings and they have not prevented these tragedies.

These politicians offer platitudes and prayers and Bible verses. But they do not care to do what must be done to stop the next gun massacre or the average of 321 people shot a day in the United States — including 42 murders and 65 suicides. It is critical that we state this truth clearly and repeatedly and loudly. That we don’t let them hide behind empty rhetoric. That they know we see through their lies. They must know that we know who they truly are.

They called for civility again and again, as they did during protests after Black people were shot or killed by the police in Ferguson and Kenosha and Minneapolis and Louisville. They called for civility when a draft of a Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade leaked this month. The draft decision tells people of childbearing age that they have no bodily autonomy. It is barbaric.

In the wake of the leak, there were lawful, peaceful protests outside some of the justices’ homes. Journalists and politicians proceeded to fall all over themselves to condemn these protests as incivility — as if the protests were the problem. The Washington Post editorial board wrote that justices have a right to private lives, that public protests should never breach certain boundaries.

They call for civility, but the definition of civility is malleable and ever-changing. Civility is whatever enables them to wield power without question or challenge.

In March of last year, Senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut reintroduced the Background Check Expansion Act. The bill is common-sense legislation mandating federal background checks for all firearm purchases, including private sales and transfers. Nothing has happened with this bill. The vast majority of voters support background checks, but Republicans in Congress are preventing the bare minimum of gun legislation.

Their obstruction is vile malfeasance. These are not people who value life, no matter what they say. They value power and control. This too we must state clearly and loudly and repeatedly.

There have been at least 213 mass shootings in the first 145 days of 2022. The politicians on both sides of the aisle who have enabled this convey no real sense of understanding or caring about the incivility of children practicing active-shooter drills and wearing bulletproof backpacks to school. They care nothing, it seems, about children being instructed to throw things at a gunman who might enter their classroom. They care about nothing but their own political interests.

On Tuesday morning, at least 19 children’s parents woke them up and helped them brush their teeth, fed them breakfast, made sure they had their little backpacks packed. They held their children’s small hands as they walked or drove them to school. Those children were alive when their parents waved to them and handed them their lunches and kissed their cheeks. Their lives were precious, and they mattered.

The greatest of American disgraces is knowing that no amount of rage or protest or devastation or loss will change anything about this country’s relationship to guns or life. Nothing will change about a craven political system where policy is sold to the highest bidder. Language is inadequate for expressing this lack of civility.

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为纽约时报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

连儿童都不愿保护，美国算什么文明国家

What Is a Country That Won’t Protect Its Children?

The New York Times

There is a cultural obsession nowadays with civility, with the idea that if everyone is mannered enough, any impasse or difference of opinion can be bridged. But these are desperately uncivil times. And there is nothing more uncivilized than the political establishment’s inurement to the constancy of mass shootings in the United States: 60 deaths in Las Vegas, 49 deaths in Orlando, 26 deaths at Sandy Hook, 13 deaths in Columbine, 10 deaths in Buffalo. Adults, schoolchildren, concertgoers, nightclub revelers, grocery shoppers, teachers.

现在有一种痴迷于文明举止的文化，认为如果每个人都足够有礼貌，任何僵局或意见分歧都可以弥合。但现在是文明严重缺失的时代。没有什么比政治体制允许美国发生持续不断的大规模枪击事件更野蛮的了：拉斯维加斯60人死亡，奥兰多49人死亡，桑迪胡克小学26人死亡，哥伦拜恩13人死亡，布法罗10人死亡。死者包括成人、学童、音乐会观众、夜店狂欢者、杂货店购物者、教师。

obsession表示“迷恋，痴迷，着魔”，英文解释为“an extreme unhealthy interest in something or worry about something, which stops you from thinking about anything else”，如：an unhealthy obsession with being thin 对瘦的病态追求。

impasse /æmˈpæs/ 表示“绝境；僵局”，英文解释为“a situation in which progress is impossible, especially because the people involved cannot agree”举个🌰：

The dispute had reached an impasse, as neither side would compromise.

由于双方都不肯让步，争端陷入僵局。

-goer，这个用法很常见，表示“常去...的人；...迷”，如：cinema-goer 或者movie-goer可以表示影迷，电影观众。还有诸如gym-goer, shopping-goer, ...

reveler /'revələ/ 表示“欢宴者，狂欢者；饮酒狂欢者；摆设酒宴者”，英文解释为“someone who dances, drinks, sings, etc. at a party or in public, especially in a noisy way”。

The scale of death in Uvalde, Texas, is unfathomable. At least 19 children and two teachers are dead. These staggering numbers will not change one single thing.

得克萨斯州尤瓦尔迪的伤亡之惨重令人难以想象。至少有19名儿童和两名教师丧生。数字惊人，却不会改变任何事。

表示“无法理解的；难以理解的”，英文解释为“impossible to understand”举个🌰：

For some unfathomable reason they built the toilet next to the kitchen.

不知道为什么，他们把卫生间建在了厨房隔壁。

表示“令人震惊的”，英文解释为“Something that is staggering is very surprising.”如：a staggering $20 million in short- and long-term debt 令人震惊的两千万美元的短长期债务。

🎬电影《迷失东京》（Lost in Translation）中的台词提到：- Just staggering, unbearable pain. - Ooh, that's too bad. - 疼得难以忍受 - 真不走运。

🎬电影《电锯惊魂6》（Saw VI）中的台词提到：and the subsequent cost to you will be staggering. 代价将会非常大/惊人。

Time and again we are told, both implicitly and explicitly, that all we can do is endure this constancy of violence. All we can do is hope these bullets don’t hit our children or us. Or our families. Or our friends and neighbors. And if we dare to protest, if we dare to express our rage, if we dare to say enough, we are lectured about the importance of civility. We are told to stay calm and vote as an outlet for our anger.

我们一次又一次地被告知——无论是含蓄还是明确地——我们所能做的就是忍受这种持续不断的暴力。我们所能做的就是希望这些子弹不会击中我们的孩子、我们自己、我们的家人，或我们的朋友和邻居。如果我们胆敢抗议，如果我们胆敢表达我们的愤怒，如果我们胆敢说忍够了，我们就会被教导文明的重要性。我们被告知要保持冷静，并将投票作为我们愤怒的发泄口。

rage作动词，表示“肆虐；迅速蔓延；快速扩散”，英文解释为“You say that something powerful or unpleasant rages when it continues with great force or violence.”举个🌰：

Train service was halted as the fire raged for more than four hours.

火车停运了，因为大火肆虐了四个多小时。

作名词，表示“（一阵）盛怒；（一阵）狂怒；（一阵）暴怒”，英文解释为“(a period of) extreme or violent anger”举个🌰：

Her sudden towering rages were terrifying.

她突然暴跳如雷，很吓人。

短语：

📍be (all) the rage表示“风靡一时，非常时兴，十分流行”（to be very popular at a particular time），此前在印度新婚夫妇在自家厕所自拍可获政府奖励文中就提到Pre-wedding toilet selfies are becoming all the rage in Madhya Pradesh. 印度人婚前在厕所自拍非常盛行，再举个🌰：

Long hair for men was all the rage in the 70s.

在70年代，男人留长发风靡一时。

表示“教训，训斥，斥责”，英文解释为“to talk angrily or seriously to someone in order to criticize their behaviour”举个🌰：

His parents used to lecture him on his table manners.

以前他的父母经常批评他的餐桌礼仪。

Incivility runs through the history of this country, founded on stolen land, built with the labor of stolen lives. The document that governs our lives effectively denied more than half of the population the right to vote. It counted only three-fifths of the enslaved population when determining representation. If you want to talk about incivility, let us be clear about how deep those roots reach.

野蛮行为贯穿于这个国家的历史，建立在被盗的土地上，由被盗来的生命用劳动建造。支配着我们生活的一纸文件实际上剥夺了一半以上人口的投票权。在选择代表时，它只计入了五分之三的被奴役人口。如果你想谈论野蛮行为，请让我们弄清楚这些根源有多深。

表示“粗鲁，不文明”，英文解释为“rudeness”

1）表示“使受控制；征服；制伏；使遭受；使无法摆脱”，英文解释为“to make sb/sth completely depend on sth so that they cannot manage without it”举个🌰：

People in this region were enslaved by poverty.

这一地区的人们备受贫困蹂躏。

2）表示“奴役；使成为奴隶”，英文解释为“to make a slave of someone”举个🌰：

The early settlers enslaved or killed much of the native population.

早期的殖民者奴役或杀害了很多原住民。

The United States has become ungovernable not because of political differences or protest or a lack of civility but because this is a country unwilling to protect and care for its citizens — its women, its racial minorities and especially its children.

美国变得无法治理不是因为政治分歧或抗议或不文明，而是因为这个国家不愿保护和关心它的公民——它的妇女、它的少数族裔，尤其是它的儿童。

When politicians talk about civility and public discourse, what they’re really saying is that they would prefer for people to remain silent in the face of injustice. They want marginalized people to accept that the conditions of oppression are unalterable facts of life. They want to luxuriate in the power they hold, where they never have to compromise, never have to confront their consciences or lack thereof, never have to face the consequences of their inaction.

当政客们谈论文明和公共话语时，他们真正想说的是，他们希望人们在面对不公正时保持沉默。他们希望被边缘化的人接受，遭受压迫是不可改变的生活事实。他们想尽情享受他们所拥有的权力，他们永远不必妥协，永远不必面对自己的良心或本就没有良心，永远不必面对他们不作为的后果。

1）表示“论文；演讲”，英文解释为“a long and serious treatment or discussion of a subject in speech or writing”，如：a discourse on issues of gender equality 关于性别平等的论文。

2）表示“语篇；话语；对话；交流”，英文解释为“the use of language in speech and writing in order to produce meaning; language that is studied, usually in order to see how the different parts of a text are connected”。

表示“使边缘化；忽视；排斥”，英文解释为“to treat someone or something as if they are not important”举个🌰：

Now that English has taken over as the main language, the country's native language has been marginalized.

由于英语已成为主要语言，这个国家的本国语言倒被边缘化了。

luxuriate /lʌɡˈʒʊə.ri.eɪt/ in 表示“（尤指物质方面）享受，享用”，英文解释为“to get great pleasure from something, especially because it provides physical comfort”举个🌰：

There's nothing better after a hard day's work than to luxuriate in a hot bath.

劳累了一天之后什么都不如洗个热水澡舒服。

Gun violence is one of the problems with which they need not concern themselves because they believe these calamities will never affect them or their families. Instead, these politicians talk about protecting our Second Amendment rights — and they have reimagined the Second Amendment as something that will accommodate whatever the gun lobby wants, rather than what the Constitution actually says. With a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, the continued reinvention of the Second Amendment will likely flourish, unchecked.

枪支暴力是他们自己不必担心的问题之一，因为他们相信这些灾难永远不会影响他们或他们的家人。相反，这些政客谈论保护我们的第二修正案权利——无论枪支游说团体想要什么，他们都会将第二修正案重塑成适应这个团体的东西，而不是宪法实际所说的东西。由于最高法院的保守派占多数，对第二修正案的重塑可能会不受约束地持续猖獗下去。

calamity /kəˈlæmɪtɪ/表示“灾难；灾祸”，英文解释为“A calamity is an event that causes a great deal of damage, destruction, or personal distress.”

表示“游说团体，游说集团”，英文解释为“a group of people who try to persuade the government or an official group to do something”如：the anti-smoking lobby 反吸烟游说团体

When asked for solutions, Republicans talk about arming teachers and training them to defend their classrooms. We hear about how good guys with guns will valiantly stop mass shootings, even though there have been good guys with guns at several mass shootings and they have not prevented these tragedies.

当被问及解决方案时，共和党人说要武装教师并训练他们保卫自己的教室。我们会听到持枪的好人将如何勇敢地阻止大规模枪击事件，即使在几次大规模枪击事件中都有持枪的好人，但他们并没有阻止这些悲剧的发生。

表示“勇敢地，英勇地”，英文解释为“with courage or determination.”

These politicians offer platitudes and prayers and Bible verses. But they do not care to do what must be done to stop the next gun massacre or the average of 321 people shot a day in the United States — including 42 murders and 65 suicides. It is critical that we state this truth clearly and repeatedly and loudly. That we don’t let them hide behind empty rhetoric. That they know we see through their lies. They must know that we know who they truly are.

这些政客给出的是陈词滥调、祈祷和经文。但是，对于制止下一次枪击事件或者美国平均每天321人中枪的现状——包括42起谋杀和65起自杀，他们并不关心什么是必须采取的措施。关键是，我们要清楚、反复、大声地陈述这个真理。我们不要让他们躲在空洞的言辞后面。他们知道我们看穿了他们的谎言。他们必须知道我们知道他们的真实面孔。

表示“陈词滥调；老生常谈”，英文解释为“a remark or statement that may be true but is boring and has no meaning because it has been said so many times before”举个🌰：

He doesn't mouth platitudes about it not mattering who scores as long as the team wins.

他不会说这样的套话：只要球队赢了，谁进球都不重要。

1）massacre /'mæsəkɚ/ 作动词也可以作名词，表示“屠杀；杀戮”，英文解释为“the killing of a large number of people especially in a cruel way”；

2）作名词，还可以表示“（在比赛或竞争中的）惨败”，英文解释为：a very bad defeat in a game or competition，举个🌰：

United lost in a 5-0 massacre.

联队以0比5惨败。

对比：

📍表示“大屠杀”的名词 carnage“（尤指战争中的）大屠杀，残杀”，英文解释为“when a lot of people are killed and injured, especially in a war”，如：a scene of terrible carnage 可怕的大屠杀场面。

rhetoric /ˈretərɪk/ 表示“辞令；巧辩；（尤指）花言巧语，浮夸之词；煽动性语言”，英文解释为“language that is used to persuade or influence people, especially language that sounds impressive but is not actually sincere or useful”举个🌰：

The speech was dismissed by some people as merely rhetoric.

有些人认为这场演讲只是华而不实的空谈。

They called for civility again and again, as they did during protests after Black people were shot or killed by the police in Ferguson and Kenosha and Minneapolis and Louisville. They called for civility when a draft of a Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade leaked this month. The draft decision tells people of childbearing age that they have no bodily autonomy. It is barbaric.

他们一次又一次地呼吁文明，就像他们在弗格森、基诺沙、明尼阿波利斯和路易斯维尔黑人被警察枪击或杀害后的抗议活动中所做的那样。当最高法院本月推翻罗诉韦德案的判词草案泄露时，他们呼吁文明。草案告诉育龄者，她们没有身体自主权。这很野蛮。

表示“（使）翻倒，（使）倾覆；打翻”，英文解释为“if you overturn something, or if it overturns, it turns upside down or falls over on its side”举个🌰：

His conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal.

他的有罪裁决被上诉法院推翻了。

📺英剧《唐顿庄园》（Downton Abbey）第三季中的台词提到：Even then, would we have enough to overturn the verdict? 即使拿到证词，就真能推翻判决吗？

表示“分娩；生孩子”，英文解释为“the process of having babies”举个🌰：

The survey is only concerned with women of childbearing age.

该调查只涉及育龄妇女。

barbaric /bɑːˈbær.ɪk/ 表示“残酷的；野蛮的”，英文解释为“If you describe someone's behaviour as barbaric, you strongly disapprove of it because you think that it is extremely cruel or uncivilized.”举个🌰：

This barbaric treatment of animals has no place in any decent society.

对动物的这种虐待在任何文明的社会里都是无法容忍的。

In the wake of the leak, there were lawful, peaceful protests outside some of the justices’ homes. Journalists and politicians proceeded to fall all over themselves to condemn these protests as incivility — as if the protests were the problem. The Washington Post editorial board wrote that justices have a right to private lives, that public protests should never breach certain boundaries.

泄密事件发生后，一些法官的住所外发生了合法、和平的抗议活动。记者和政界人士开始倾尽全力谴责这些抗议活动是不文明的——好像抗议活动才是问题所在。《华盛顿邮报》社论委员会写道，大法官有权享有私人生活，公众抗议不应违反某些界限。

in the wake of表示“作为…的后果；随…之后而来”，英文解释为“If something happens in the wake of something else, it happens after and often because of it.”举个🌰：

Airport security was extra tight in the wake of yesterday's attacks.

昨天的袭击发生之后，机场安检变得格外严格。

🎬电影《科洛弗道10号》（10 Cloverfield Lane）中的台词提到：In the wake of this afternoon's widespread blackout 在今天下午的大面积停电之后，...

🎬电影《阿波罗13号》（Apollo 13）中的台词提到：lt was that phosphorescent stuff that gets churned up in the wake of a big ship. 就是在大船驶过后被搅上来 会发出磷光的那种东西。

🎬传记电影《史蒂夫·乔布斯》（Steve Jobs）中的台词提到：Apple Computers closed two of its factories today in the wake of disappointing sales. 因为销量不佳 苹果电脑今天关闭了两家工厂。

可以作动词，也可以作名词，1）表示“违反，违背，破坏，不履行”，英文解释为“A breach of an agreement, a law, or a promise is an act of breaking it.”如：a breach of confidence 辜负（某人）信任，a breach of security (= when sth that is normally protected is no longer secure) 破坏安全，举个🌰：

He was accused of a breach of secrecy rules.

他被指控违反保密条例。

2）表示“突破口；缺口；窟窿”，英文解释为“an opening that is created during a military attack or by strong winds or seas”举个🌰：

They escaped through a breach in the wire fence.

他们从铁丝网上的一个缺口逃走了。

They call for civility, but the definition of civility is malleable and ever-changing. Civility is whatever enables them to wield power without question or challenge.

他们呼吁文明，但文明的定义是可塑的和不断变化的。文明成了任何能让他们不被质疑或不受挑战地行使权力的东西。

malleable /ˈmæl.i.ə.bəl/ 表示“易受外界影响的；可塑的；易被控制的”，英文解释为“easily influenced, trained, or controlled”举个🌰：

He had an actor's typically malleable features.

他具有演员典型的可塑性强的特征。

wield /wiːld/ 1）表示“拥有，运用，行使，支配（权力等）”，英文解释为“to have and use power, authority, etc.”举个🌰：

He wields little power at the company.

他在公司内没有什么权力。

2）表示“挥，操，使用（武器、工具等）”，英文解释为“to hold sth, ready to use it as a weapon or tool”举个🌰：

He was wielding a large knife.

他挥舞着一把大刀。

🎬电影《灵魂战车2：复仇时刻》（Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance）中的台词提到：can wield the power, without burning itself up. 可以支配力量  但不伤及自身。

🎬电影《神奇女侠》（Wonder Woman）中的台词提到：Who would wield it? 谁能够使用呢/谁会挥舞它呢？

🎬电影《诸神之战》（Clash of the Titans）中的台词提到：You vowed to your wife you'd never let Helius wield a sword. 你曾对你的妻子发誓 你永远不会让赫利俄斯使用武器。

In March of last year, Senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut reintroduced the Background Check Expansion Act. The bill is common-sense legislation mandating federal background checks for all firearm purchases, including private sales and transfers. Nothing has happened with this bill. The vast majority of voters support background checks, but Republicans in Congress are preventing the bare minimum of gun legislation.

去年3月，康涅狄格州参议员克里斯托弗·墨菲重新引入了背景调查扩展法案。该法案是一项合乎常理的立法，要求所有枪支购买者接受联邦背景调查，包括私人销售和转让。该法案没有发生任何进展。绝大多数选民支持背景调查，但国会中的共和党人连最低限度的枪支立法也要阻止。

表示“法律；立法”，英文解释为“a law or set of laws suggested by a government and made official by a parliament”举个🌰：

The government has promised to introduce legislation to limit fuel emissions from cars.

政府许诺将通过立法来限制汽车尾气排放。

表示“最低限度的，最少量的”，英文解释为“the least possible amount”举个🌰：

She eats only the bare minimum to stay alive.

她吃得极少，仅够活下去而已。

Their obstruction is vile malfeasance. These are not people who value life, no matter what they say. They value power and control. This too we must state clearly and loudly and repeatedly.

他们的阻挠是卑鄙的渎职。不管这些人怎么说，他们都不是珍惜生命的人。他们重视权力和控制。这一点我们也必须清楚地、大声地、反复地指出。

vile /vaɪl/ 1）表示“邪恶的；卑鄙的；可耻的”，英文解释为“unpleasant, immoral, and unacceptable”举个🌰：

This vile policy of ethnic cleansing must be stopped.

这项罪恶的种族清洗政策必须被制止。

2）表示“糟透的，极坏的；恶劣的”，英文解释为“extremely unpleasant”举个🌰：

This cheese smells vile.

这奶酪的气味难闻死了。

malfeasance /mælˈfiː.zəns/ 表示“（尤指掌权者的）违法乱纪行为，渎职”，英文解释为“an example of dishonest and illegal behaviour, especially by a person in authority”举个🌰：

Several cases of malpractice and malfeasance in the financial world are currently being investigated.

金融界的几起渎职违规案件目前正在调查之中。

There have been at least 213 mass shootings in the first 145 days of 2022. The politicians on both sides of the aisle who have enabled this convey no real sense of understanding or caring about the incivility of children practicing active-shooter drills and wearing bulletproof backpacks to school. They care nothing, it seems, about children being instructed to throw things at a gunman who might enter their classroom. They care about nothing but their own political interests.

2022年前145天至少发生了213起大规模枪击事件。让孩子们参加枪击案模拟演习并背着防弹背包去上学。对这之中的文明缺失，促成这一事件的两个党派的政客们没有表达过真正的理解或关心。他们似乎毫不关心孩子们被指示向可能进入教室的枪手扔东西。他们关心的只有自己的政治利益。

1）表示“运送，运输”，英文解释为“to take or carry someone or something to a particular place”举个🌰：

The goods are usually conveyed by rail.

这种货物通常通过铁路运输。

2）表示“表达，传达（思想、感情或想法）”，英文解释为“to express a thought, feeling, or idea so that it is understood by other people”举个🌰：

Please convey our condolences to the family.

请向家人转达我们的哀思。

On Tuesday morning, at least 19 children’s parents woke them up and helped them brush their teeth, fed them breakfast, made sure they had their little backpacks packed. They held their children’s small hands as they walked or drove them to school. Those children were alive when their parents waved to them and handed them their lunches and kissed their cheeks. Their lives were precious, and they mattered.

周二早上，至少有19名孩子的父母将他们叫醒，帮他们刷牙，给他们做早餐，确保他们收拾好自己的小书包。他们走路或开车送孩子去学校，他们牵着孩子的小手。当这些孩子的父母向他们挥手，递给他们午餐并亲吻他们的脸颊时，这些孩子还活着。他们的生命是宝贵的，他们很重要。

The greatest of American disgraces is knowing that no amount of rage or protest or devastation or loss will change anything about this country’s relationship to guns or life. Nothing will change about a craven political system where policy is sold to the highest bidder. Language is inadequate for expressing this lack of civility.

美国最大的耻辱是知道无论再多的愤怒、抗议、破坏或损失都不会改变这个国家与枪支的关系或与生命的关系。将政策卖给出价最高者的懦弱政治制度不会有任何改变。语言不足以表达这种文明的缺失。

表示“耻辱，丢脸；不光彩的行为”，英文解释为“embarrassment and the loss of other people's respect, or behaviour that causes this”举个🌰：

They were sent home in disgrace.

他们被灰溜溜地送回了家里。

表示“怯懦的，懦弱的，胆小的”，英文解释为“extremely cowardly (= not brave)”如：a craven act of terrorism 恐怖主义的懦弱行径。

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