时间:2018-12-11 作者:英语课 分类:访谈录2010


英语课

A Texas lawmaker bears his soul. City councilman, Joel Burns, choked back tears and broke down as he spoke 1 of being the victim of school bullying 2. As NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports, his moving message to gay teens is the latest video to go viral.

Tuesday's Fort Worth city council meeting started off like most others.

"I've never told the story to anyone before tonight."But councilman Joel Burns used the public venue 3 to share a deeply private story.

"The numerous suicides in recent days have upset me so much."Burns displayed photos of teenagers who have recently taken their lives. Kids targeted by bullies 4 because they are perceived as gay. Then, "coming out was painful." Joel Burns reviewed his story.

"One day when I was in the ninth grade, just startingCrowley high school, I was cornered after school by some older kids who after me out. They said that I was a f…, and that I should die and go to hell where I belonged."Burns was compelled to speak out after a rash of troubling have minds. News like the suicide of Rutgers' student Tyler Clementi who jumped off a bridge after his roommate allegedly outed him online. And the 17-year-old in New York, police say savagely 5 assaulted might by gang members after they suspected he was gay. "All of these show that there's still a tremendous amount discrimination, there's stigma 6 attached to being gay."For nearly 12 minutes, Burns spoke from the heart. You could have heard a pin drop in that room. But his audience was much bigger than just the city council chambers 7. His story went viral. A half million hits on YouTube in just few days. And it's not just the Texas councilmen affected 8 by the headlines. "This needs to be a wake up call to everyone," talk show host. "I attempted to kill myself." And reality TV stars have spoken out, "...all efforts to tell kids that we love them and they don't need to conclude that there is no hope for them.""To those who're feeling delirium 9 tonight, please not. I understand how do you feel. But things will get easier. Please stick around to make those happy memories for yourself." Afterwards, Burns was given a standing 10 ovation 11. But what the councilman wants is to save lives. For today, Miguel Almague, NBC's News, Los Angeles.

That was incredibly powerful. Yes. A powerful testimony 12 and important conversation. Bullying has been around for a long time, but now that we are talking about. (We are talking a lot about it.) Things are kinda getting open. Hopefully, it will be a better people for him.



1 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。
2 bullying
v.恐吓,威逼( bully的现在分词 );豪;跋扈
  • Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
  • All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 venue
n.犯罪地点,审判地,管辖地,发生地点,集合地点
  • The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
  • The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。
4 bullies
adv. 野蛮地,残酷地
  • The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
  • He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。
5 stigma
n.耻辱,污名;(花的)柱头
  • Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
  • The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。
6 chambers
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅
  • The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间:Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网
7 affected
adj.不自然的,假装的
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
8 delirium
n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋
  • In her delirium, she had fallen to the floor several times. 她在神志不清的状态下几次摔倒在地上。
  • For the next nine months, Job was in constant delirium.接下来的九个月,约伯处于持续精神错乱的状态。
9 standing
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
10 ovation
n.欢呼,热烈欢迎,热烈鼓掌
  • The hero received a great ovation from the crowd. 那位英雄受到人群的热烈欢迎。
  • The show won a standing ovation. 这场演出赢得全场起立鼓掌。
11 testimony
n.证词;见证,证明
  • The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
  • He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。