365个英语简短小故事-160. JFK Assassinate

Every November 22, people worldwide remember and ponder the assassination¹ in 1963 of President John F. Kennedy. He was sitting in the back seat of a convertible² (the top was down) when bullets fired from a rifle tore into him and a fellow passenger.

The assassination was caught on 8mm film by Abraham Zapruder. Digital enhancement of that famous film shows part of Kennedy’s skull³ getting blown off. JFK was barely alive as the convertible sped to the nearest hospital; he died shortly after arriving there. The damage to his brain was so great that even today’s medical techniques couldn’t have saved JFK.

Conspiracy⁴ theories have persisted since the time of the assassination: the Mafia did it, the Teamsters did it, the CIA/FBI/Secret Service did it, Congress did it, the Federal Reserve did it, LBJ (the vice⁵ president) did it, the Communists did it, the Cubans who hated Castro did it, and the two guys behind the grassy⁶ knoll⁷ did it.

Conspiracy theorists do not believe that a lone⁸ gunman did it. The lone gunman was Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald didn’t get to say much in his defense⁹ except, “I’m a patsy,” implying that he knew who really did it. Two days after Oswald shot Kennedy, Jack¹⁰ Ruby¹¹ put a fatal bullet into Oswald.

The Warren Commission conducted the federal government’s official investigation¹² of JFK’s assassination. Its 27-volume report said that Oswald, an ex-Marine, acted alone in shooting JFK from a sixth floor window of a book storage building. But to this day, and probably far into the future, many people dispute this “lone gunman” theory. They believe JFK’s death was a result of a conspiracy by one or more groups of people who felt threatened or deserted¹³ by JFK. The fact that Oswald was murdered while accompanied by a dozen Dallas policemen only strengthens the suspicions of the conspiracy theorists. The Warren report, they say, is merely a government whitewash¹⁴ of the “true” facts.

 

1 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

2 convertible   

adj.可改变的，可交换，同意义的；n.有活动摺篷的汽车

参考例句：

• The convertible sofa means that the apartment can sleep four.有了这张折叠沙发，公寓里可以睡下4个人。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了。

3 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

4 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

7 knoll   

n.小山，小丘

参考例句：

• Silver had terrible hard work getting up the knoll.对于希尔弗来说，爬上那小山丘真不是件容易事。
• He crawled up a small knoll and surveyed the prospect.他慢腾腾地登上一个小丘，看了看周围的地形。

8 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

11 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

14 whitewash   

v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰

参考例句：

• They tried hard to whitewash themselves.他们力图粉饰自己。
• What he said was a load of whitewash.他所说的是一大堆粉饰之词。