美国有线新闻 CNN 2012-09-05

 　　It’s one party after another, but there is a difference in the crowd. The Democratic National Convention begins today in Charlotte, North Carolina. It immediately follows the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, which we covered last week and your can catch up on at cnnstudentnews.com. Here is some time lapse¹ video of the Democrats² setting up for their big event. On the schedule, revealing the Democratic Party platform, where Democrats stand on the issues, and officially nominating President Obama for re-election. We got a great explainer available on political conventions, the glitz, glamour³ and goals of the events. You can find it in the CNN’s Explains box on our website.

　　We’ve reported on the civil war that’s torn up part of the Middle Eastern nation of Syria. That war reached a grim superlative last week. The United Nations says it was the deadliest week so far in the war, with 1,600 people killed in the past seven days. Syria’s government says it has been targeting terrorists, but the international community including the U.S. and other countries, says civilians⁴ and children are getting caught in the crossfire⁵ between the government and the opposition⁶ fighters who want a new president. This crisis has been going on for 18 months now. We will bring you more from Syria in the weeks ahead.

　　I’ve come to believe that hazing⁷ is a term of bullying⁸. It’s bullying with the tradition, the tradition that we cannot bear at America. FAMU is a fine university. It has a lot of fine traditions. But there is some that we would rather not acknowledge. The tradition of hazing in our nation’s colleges and universities is something that will continue to happen out of sight, until a student like Robert Champion pays the ultimate price.

　　Ok, that’s earlier this year. A Florida state attorney is discussing the death of Robert Champion. He was a Florida A&M University drum major, who died in 2011 after an apparent hazing incident on a bus. Officials say it involved multiple traumatic hits to his body, criminal charges were filed against those accused of hazing Robert Champion. The school’s band director retired⁹ and its president resigned after the incident. That’s part of reason why Clark Atlanta University shut down its marching bands Saturday night. Officials said there were accusations¹⁰ of hazing there, they called even the possibility unacceptable and started an investigation¹¹. It’s one example of how the fallout from the Florida A&M incident has affected¹² students. George Howell found some other example in this report from the end of last school year.

　　One, two three.

　　There is much more to band than just the music for many high school programs. The director of the Tri-cities High marching band in Atlanta says keeping a competitive edge also translates to big college scholarships for its students.

　　“It can mean the parent don’t have to fork out, you know, thousands of dollars for a school year. It could mean money for four years.”

　　Where did you want to go first?

　　“I want to go to FAMU.”

　　And why is that?

　　“Because they have, they put on a great show.”

　　“They are just a great band, they show a lot of pride when they perform. Everybody loves them”

　　The famed Marching 100 had its last performance November 19th, 2011. The school suspended band activity following the hazing death of 26-year-old Robert Champion and with more than a dozen former band members now facing criminal charges in connection to Champion’s death, Florida A&M suspended the band through the 2013 school year, leaving students like Danny Oliver out of luck.

　　“I have lots of scholarships to other colleges, but FAMU never came and auditioned¹³ anyone because of the suspension.”

　　Were you disappointed about that?

　　“A little, yes.”

　　Every year there is great competition among colleges to recruit from high schools like the Tri-cities High School Bulldog Marching Band, and with FAMU now out of the picture, we’ve learned that several other colleges are seeing a 10 to 20 percent increase in auditions¹⁴, giving them opportunity to be even more selective.

　　Some school wouldn’t seek after the most musically achieving students, because they didn’t have a chance. FAMU is known as the school to pool the most dedicated¹⁵, the best outstanding musicianship in the band program.

　　Some students worry how the prolonged suspension will affect FAMU, missing out on top talent.

　　FAMU receives a lot of talented students which makes it such a great band.

　　And in the world of marching bands and everywhere else, it’s all about the talent. And the question, will FAMU be able to get the talent back? George Howell, CNN, Atlanta.

　　Some were asking that same question about the NFL’s referees¹⁶. You don’t know their names, but anyone who’s watched pro-football has seen their work, except you won’t be seeing it when the season opens on Wednesday. The refs are involved in the labor¹⁷ dispute with the NFL, which means the two sides can agree on what refs get paid among other things. The league has been using replacement¹⁸ refs during the pre-season. They are catching¹⁹ some criticism for too many or too few penalty calls. We don’t know yet how long this will last or when or if the professional refs will come back. The NFL had a similar dispute with players last year, and a pre-season game had to be cancelled as a result.

1 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 glamour   

n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住

参考例句：

• Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
• The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 hazing   

n.受辱，被欺侮v.（使）笼罩在薄雾中( haze的现在分词 )；戏弄，欺凌（新生等，有时作为加入美国大学生联谊会的条件）

参考例句：

• With labor, the hazing period ends. 费了好大力气，痛苦的时期终于过了。 来自互联网
• A high-gloss paint surface is one that directly reflects light with minimum hazing or diffusion. 高度光洁的漆表面可以直接反射光源。 来自互联网

8 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• 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》

9 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• 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。

10 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

11 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。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• 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。

13 auditioned   

vi.试听（audition的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• None of the actresses we have auditioned is suitable. 我们试听的这些女演员都不合适。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What is that, from some script you auditioned for in the '40s? 什么玩意儿是你40年代试的那些剧本吗？ 来自电影对白

14 auditions   

n.（对拟做演员、歌手、乐师等人的）试听，试音( audition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Find modeling auditions, casting calls& acting auditions, all in one place. 找一个立体感试听，铸造呼叫和表演试听一体的地方。 来自互联网
• We are now about to start auditions to find a touring guitarist. 我们现在准备找一个新的吉他手。 来自互联网

15 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

16 referees   

n.裁判员( referee的名词复数 )；证明人；公断人；（专业性强的文章的）审阅人

参考例句：

• The fiery player has had numerous run-ins with referees. 这位脾气暴躁的队员曾和裁判员发生过无数次争吵。
• If you want to appeal, the Court of Referees will decide. 如果你要上诉，可以由仲裁法庭去判决。 来自辞典例句

17 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

18 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

19 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。