美国国家公共电台 NPR Opinion: When A Video Isn't The Whole Story

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

We live in times of instant mass outrage¹. Someone does something, says something or is seen doing something, and they can be demonized with a click. The next time you might be tempted², think of this. In the fourth inning of Sunday's game between the Chicago Cubs³ and St. Louis Cardinals⁴, the Cubs' first base coach tossed a foul⁵ ball to a smiling youngster in the stands who wore a Cubs hat endearingly too large for him. The kid bobbled the baseball. What people saw next in video clips that zapped around the world was a man with close-cropped hair, who sat behind the boy, scoop⁶ up the baseball and give it to the woman next to him.

Tweets and other social media posts began a barrage⁷ about the man who filched⁸ a foul ball from a little boy. There could be no doubt. We saw it.

The Cubs' front office quickly dispatched a staffer down to the seats. He gave the youngster a new ball signed by Javy Baez, the Cubs shortstop. The little boy smiled under the brim of his boat-sized hat and held up two baseballs. The Cubs tweeted the photo to say, a Javy Baez signed ball should take care of it.

What the Cubs discovered from people nearby was that the man in question wound up with four balls during the game and gave three to children, including the young man who had appeared to be swindled. He also gave one to his wife; it was their anniversary.

Julian Green of the Cubs said in a statement, unfortunately, a video that was quickly posted and unverified has made a national villain⁹ out of an innocent man.

The man doesn't want to be identified but said through the team many foul balls came our way that day and were happily shared among the children in our area. No one left disappointed. I am not that guy that the media and social media made me out to be.

And the mother of the little boy issued her own endorsement¹⁰ of the stranger who sat behind their son and so freely shared the baseballs he snared¹¹. The fans in his section left the game giddy with excitement from a great game, she said, most of all our son, who had one of the best days of his life.

I almost retweeted that 12-second video myself, no doubt with some caustic¹² comment. I think I would have if the man with close-cropped hair had been a Yankees fan. I wonder how many people who passed along that video to condemn¹³ a man with a click will now pass along the true story of his kindness?

How many of us today would rather be outraged¹⁴ than informed?

(SOUNDBITE OF DR. TOAST'S "THUNDERCLAP")

1 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

2 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

3 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 cardinals   

红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数

参考例句：

• cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
• A conclave of cardinals was held to elect the new Pope. 红衣主教团举行了秘密会议来选举新教皇。

5 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

6 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

7 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

8 filched   

v.偷（尤指小的或不贵重的物品）( filch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Oliver filched a packet of cigarettes from a well-dressed passenger. 奥立佛从一名衣冠楚楚的乘客身上偷得一包香烟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He filched a piece of chalk from the teacher's desk. 他从老师的书桌上偷取一支粉笔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

10 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

11 snared   

v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He snared a job with IBM. 他以巧妙的手段在 IBM 公司谋得一职。 来自辞典例句
• The hunter snared a skunk. 猎人捕得一只臭鼬。 来自辞典例句

12 caustic   

adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的

参考例句：

• He opened his mouth to make a caustic retort.他张嘴开始进行刻薄的反击。
• He enjoys making caustic remarks about other people.他喜欢挖苦别人。

13 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

14 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。