时间:2018-12-02 作者:英语课 分类:2007年NPR美国国家公共电台


英语课

You know, Dave Murphy's story is the kind of amazing American tale we often find when we listen to StoryCorps. That travel oral history project records everyday Americans often talking about their work, like Walter Fahey who walked the streets of Boston as a police officer for decades. He's now retired 1 and he recently spoke 2 with his son Bill about his time on the job.


"I was a cop. A good reputation on the street is I never looked down on people, so that's why I lasted 40 years."


"As a policeman, a lot of people burn out early, get out as quick as they could get out, you didn't wanna leave? "


"No, remember the time they made me a detective, and I hated it. Then I one day sat down and wrote a resignation 3 to Mickey Roach who was then police commissioner 4. He called me up and was like nobody's ever quit. I said, I gotta get back on the street. He said, "you are getting older, isn't it?" I gotta get back on the street where I make a difference. And the last years of my career I went back to what I did best."


"Wasn't it in the 60s, you stopped that girl from jumping off the building?"


"She was 15 years old. And I stood up on that roof for an hour and a half and I said, if she jumps, I'm gonna jump. "


"What did you say to her?"


"Well, I told her, I said, hey, you are only a kid. Life is worth living. And she started crying. She gave me a hug and said thank you for not letting me kill myself. She went on to have four children. I presume 5 she's still alive today, she's probably a grandmother. "


"What was the most frightened you ever were on the job?"


"Be shot at twice, hit by a car twice, thrown off a porch 6 once, say and that's a good one. "


"Of all the violence you had to see every day, well, how did you turn it off? "


"By coming home to a loving wife, loving children and just go back to work the next day like nothing ever happened. Life goes on. There's nothing we can do about it."


"Would you ever just wanna see any of your grandchildren become policeman? "


"If it's their choice, I'd be proud to pin a badge 7 on one of my grand kids."


Retired police officer Walter Fahey with his son Bill in Boston.


He spoke in a StoryCorps booth. And you hear stories like this every Friday morning on Morning Edition. This interview will be archived at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress along with all the others. And you can hear more of them at npr.org.


Major funding for StoryCorps comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

 



1 retired
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
2 spoke
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
3 resignation
n.放弃,辞职,反抗
  • He handed in his resignation right after the cabinet meeting.内阁会议一开完,他就提出了辞呈。
  • They asked for his resignation with one voice.他们一致要求他辞职。
4 commissioner
n.(政府厅、局、处等部门)专员,长官,委员
  • The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
  • He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。
5 presume
vt.姑且认定,假定,推测,认为是理所当然;vi.假设,越权行事
  • We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
  • You had better presume no such thing.你最好不要这样设想。
6 porch
n.门廊,入口处,走廊,游廊
  • There are thousands of pages of advertising on our porch.有成千上万页广告堆在我们的门廊上。
  • The porch is supported by six immense pillars.门廊由六根大柱子支撑着。
7 badge
n.徽章,证章,标记,标识,象征
  • Every student should carry a school badge.每个学生都应该佩带校徽。
  • The olive leaf is a badge of peace.橄榄叶是和平的象征。
学英语单词
abortiva variola
allegan
amblyeleotris periophthalma
animal husbandry
application for drawback
autoselecting
basic atomic group
be a scorn to
bear-trap
beechy
bepraising
brans-dicke
break-even point
British Radio Communication
broglies
Brumado
Buendia, Embalse de
can-carrier
catch lever
cinoas
clathtate
clowning around
copper stripping electrolysis
Crotalus viridis
decking level
deconjugations
dennisonite (davisonite)
Derrick City
differentiabilities
diplococcus of Morax-Axenfeld
double-current method
El Bejuco
end-of-field marker
equity-warrants
finds oneself
flash of wit
force due of viscosity
gate current degradation
give tongue
glooming
half yearly account
hexaferrite
huskershredder
inertinites
inomyxoma fibromyxoma
Isonin
kerak
kolstad
lay of rope
Lena Trough
limit position of a link
lining method
mafes
malonyl thiourea
megalithic age
methidium
mixed sleep apnea
modem connection
mushroom cloud
notacaphylla chinensiae
occipitoiliac
older sisters
one bath two stage process
overpraises
pay honor to
pentamethazene
Phospatidylcholine
play close to the vest
premonitory pains
primary productivity
proxy attribute
psychic deafness
quarter wave length
queue type
reheating cycle
rim blight
Sabbathesque
sagueiro
sand shell moulding
sand stargazer
saracenis
sillenite
simultaneous prosperity
softball
spread oneself
Stellaria irrigua
stellasteropsis colubrinus
strategic communication
student experience
succinanilide
sunnyside up
take-up bearing
terminal wire
turbo fan
twin engined
unpathetic
vibration ramming
virtual disk system
wack
woodburners
zero power level
zero-water