VOA慢速英语 Americans Driven by 'Gut Instinct' to Act in Train Attack
时间：2019-01-12 作者：英语课 分类：2015年VOA慢速英语(八)月
AS IT IS 2015-08-25 Americans Driven by 'Gut 1 Instinct' to Act in Train Attack
Three Americans, a Briton and a French citizen stopped a heavily-armed gunman on a high-speed train in France last week. The Americans said later that gut instinct -- a feeling they had -- made them jump into action to stop the gunman.
Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler told their story on Sunday to reporters at the United States Embassy 2 in Paris. They described how they overpowered Ayoub El-Khazzani on the train. Spencer Stone wore a thick bandage on his thumb that was almost cut off during their struggle.
Both Mr. Stone and Alek Skarlatos have military training. But Mr. Skarlatos says the training did not influence their actions. Instead, he says it was a survival 3 instinct -- wanting to stay alive -- that drove them to act.
“I feel our training mostly kicked in after the assailant was already subdued 4, frankly 5. When it came to medical care and things like that, and providing security and making sure there wasn’t another shooter. But in the beginning, it was mostly gut instinct.”
The Americans, the Briton and the French citizen have been praised for stopping what could have been a bloodbath. On Monday, French President Francois Hollande presented France’s highest honor – the Legion of Honor – to the four foreigners. The president also honored the Frenchman, who first discovered the gunman near a restroom on a train car.
The train was carrying 554 people to Paris when the man started his attack, firing his weapons. Ayoub El-Khazzani was heavily armed. But no one died in the attack. Mr. Skarlatos says he thinks the gunman had little experience using weapons.
“He clearly had no firearms training whatsoever 6, and yes, if he knew what he was doing—or even just got lucky and the did right thing—he would have been able to operate through all eight of those magazines and we would have been in trouble and probably wouldn’t be here today, along with a lot of other people.”
French officials are still questioning the Moroccan-born gunman. He is believed to have links to Islamic extremists and may have travelled to Syria. On Sunday, his lawyer told French TV that Mr. Khazzani is shocked to be linked to terrorism. She says he said he found the weapons, and wanted to rob passengers on the train.
Words in This Story
gut instinct – n. a way of behaving, thinking, or feeling that is not learned
bandage – n. a piece of cloth protecting a part of the body that is injured
bloodbath – n. the killing 7 of many people
magazine - n. a part of a gun that hold bullets
- It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
- My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。
- Large crowd demonstrated outside the British Embassy.很多群众在英国大使馆外面示威。
- He's a U.S. diplomat assigned to the embassy in London.他是美国驻伦敦大使馆的一名外交官。
- The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
- The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。
- To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
- Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。
- There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
- All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。