2007年NPR美国国家公共电台三月-A Potential for Brutality

Welcome to This I Believe, an NPR series presenting the personal philosophies of remarkable¹ men and women from all walks of life. Support for NPR Podcasts comes from Visa, offering the Visa signature card, featuring concierge² services for travel, dinning³ and entertainment at Visasignature.com.

I believe in figuring out my own way to do things.
I believe in the power of numbers.
I believe in barbecue.
Well, I believe in friendliness⁴.
I believe in mankind.
This I Believe.

Among the listeners who've sent us essays for our series This I Believe is today's contributor Dr. Yinong Young-Xu. He grew up in China, in Shanghai and immigrated⁵ to United States when he was 16. He's now an epidemiologist at the National Center for posttraumatic stress disorder⁶ in White River junction⁷ Vermont. Here is our series curator independent producer Jay Allyson.

In his clinical work with PTSD, Dr. Young-Xu sees mainly Iraq war veterans. Every day he reckons with the consequences of human violence. But the foundation of his belief goes back to heroine events he experienced many years ago as a child in China. Here is Dr. Yinong Young-Xu with his essay for This I Believe.

I believe in our innate⁸ potential for brutality¹⁰. When I was 6, in the streets of Shanghai, near the end of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, I watched the parade of trucks carrying political dissidents on their way to be publicly executed. At the front of each truck was a young man roped from head to toe and wearing a sign that said "Counter-Revolutionary".
If not for that, you would have a trouble guessing what the event was. There was an air of festivity. Thousands of bystanders were laughing, talking, gesturing and pointing at the prisoners. The whole population of Shanghai must have been there. It was like a traditional Chinese New Year celebration, except the city was celebrating its own brutality. I believe that we're brutal⁹ because innocence¹¹ can be corrupted¹², like mine was as a 6-year-old in a time of revolution. When I entered first grade, I started to wave flags, denounced the politically fallen of the day and shout "Death to counter-revolutionaries!" My friends and I did not want to miss any of the meetings where political dissidents were publicly tortured and humiliated¹³. That was entertainment for us. Just the way movies are for Americans kids.

Science has taught us that normal genes¹⁴ in cells can be damaged or mutated to become deadly "oncogenes" that result in cancer. I believe brutality is a disease just like cancer. Each and every one of us is at risk, including me. I used to fantasize about revenge against the Japanese for the tragedies they committed against the Chinese in World War Two. Once I reduced an utterly¹⁵ innocent Japanese girl to tears. I said many cruel things and couldn't stop the venom¹⁶ from pouring out even though I had already begun to feel sorry for her. When our better instincts are suppressed, isn't that the beginning of brutality? I am fortunate. I was too young to be a red guard where my brutality would have been codified¹⁷. And I had a grandmother who showed me the value of kindness. My own capacity for brutality has never been fully¹⁸ tested. But I believe it is always there. We are taught not to smoke in order to prevent carcinogens from damaging the genes in our cells. I wish we could learn to prevent hatred¹⁹ from forming and brutality from actualizing. I teach my children that hating is not allowed, period. I encourage them to be compassionate²⁰, to aid those in need and to stand up for the weak. Most of all, I try to be vigilant²¹ over the purity of my motives²² and cautious about my actions. I believe I must guard against my own potential for brutality and the mutation²³ of my own humanity.

Dr. Yinong Young-Xu with his essay for This I Believe. Dr. Young-Xu's belief finds echoes in his work with Iraq War veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. For them he says the human capacity for brutality has been proven, and they are changed by the irrevocable knowledge of it. If you like Dr. Young-Xu would like to join in the more than 22, 000 people who have sent us essays for our series, please visit NPR. org. For This I Believe, I'm Jay Allyson.

Next Monday on Morning Edition a This I Believe essay from Emmy Liles Wilson of Nashrow who draws on the resilience of old women.

This I Believe is produced for NPR by This I Believe incorporated and Atlanta Public Media. For more essays in the series please visit NPR.Org/ThisIBelieve.
Support for NPR Podcast comes from Acura featuring the completely redesigned 300-horsepower MDX. More information is available at Acura. com.

1 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

2 concierge   

n.管理员；门房

参考例句：

• This time the concierge was surprised to the point of bewilderment.这时候看门人惊奇到了困惑不解的地步。
• As I went into the dining-room the concierge brought me a police bulletin to fill out.我走进餐厅的时候，看门人拿来一张警察局发的表格要我填。

3 dinning   

vt.喧闹（din的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• The cries of his tormentors were still dinning in his ears. 使他痛苦的人们的叫嚣仍然在他的耳际震响。 来自辞典例句
• The meals in the artistic little dinning-room were pleasant. 在雅致的小餐厅里吃饭是一种享受。 来自辞典例句

4 friendliness   

n.友谊，亲切，亲密

参考例句：

• Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面，我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
• His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。

5 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

6 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

7 junction   

n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站

参考例句：

• There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
• You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。

8 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

9 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

10 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

11 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

12 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。

13 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

14 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

15 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

16 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

17 codified   

v.把（法律）编成法典( codify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In the meantime, however, Kennecott had been codified elsewhere in the Act. 然而，“肯尼考特”一案已被编人法案。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Congress has since codified this holding. 从那时以来，国会编纂整理了最高法院的这一裁定。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

18 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

19 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

20 compassionate   

adj.有同情心的，表示同情的

参考例句：

• She is a compassionate person.她是一个有同情心的人。
• The compassionate judge gave the young offender a light sentence.慈悲的法官从轻判处了那个年轻罪犯。

21 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

22 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

23 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。