纽约时报 美国国会警察与1月6日事件的伤疤(2)

 

    Inside, near the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Devan Gowdy was putting on his riot gear when he heard that same call for help — frantic¹ and high-pitched在美国国会大厦访客中心里面和附近，德万·高迪正在穿防暴装备，这时他听到了同样的呼救声-疯狂而高亢— and then his unit was sprinting² through the building, down two flights of stairs and out a door on the west front of the building.

    -然后他的分队快速穿过大楼，下了两层楼梯，走出了大楼西面的一扇门。

    Gowdy, blinking, took in a scene that seemed to have been spliced³ in from some other, unfamiliar⁴ world: A crowd of thousands raged before him.

    高迪眨巴着眼睛，看到了一个场景，仿佛是从另一个陌生的世界里拼接出来的:成千上万的人群在他面前怒吼。

    Standing⁵ on a small wooden stage built for the inauguration⁶, he felt as if he’d been performing for a murderous, violent audience as people started throwing cans, paintballs, bolts, bottles fizzing with hydrogen peroxide.

    他站在为就职典礼搭建的小木制舞台上，当人们开始投掷易拉罐、彩弹、螺栓和冒泡的过氧化氢的瓶子时，他感觉自己好像是在为一群凶残、暴力的观众表演。

    One rioter he saw was wielding⁷ a hatchet⁸ with the American flag wrapped around the blade.

    他看到的一名暴徒挥舞着一把斧头，刀刃上缠着美国国旗。

    Many officers who worked riot control knew, from experience, to take their name tags off before heading into the fray⁹, but Gowdy, a slender 27-year-old with nearly three years on the force, had left his on.

    根据经验，许多从事防暴工作的警官知道，在进入战斗之前，要摘掉名牌，但27岁的高迪身材苗条，已服役近三年，他没有摘下自己的姓名牌。

    “Hey, Gowdy! Look at Gowdy!” a rioter screamed. “Gowdy! Gowdy, you’re scared!” another jeered¹⁰.

    “嗨,高迪! 看高迪! ”一个暴徒尖叫道。 “高迪!高迪,你害怕! ”另一个暴徒奚落道。

    One of Gowdy’s sergeants¹¹, Aquilino Gonell, a 42-year-old veteran of the war in Iraq, who was close by, unable to move from his position lest the crowd burst through, heard the taunts¹² and was chilled to the bone.

    高迪的一名警官，42岁的伊拉克战争老兵阿奎利诺·戈内尔就在附近，他无法离开自己的位置，以免人群冲进来，听到嘲讽声后，他感到寒意刺骨。

    Gowdy looked at him beseechingly¹³, but what could he do?

    高迪恳求地看着他，但他能怎么办呢?

    Gonell saw a rioter pull hard at the shield in Gowdy’s hand, the two of them rocking back and forth¹⁴.

    戈内尔看到一个暴徒使劲拉着高迪手中的盾牌，两人来回摇晃着。

    Gonell thought his officer was hit hard in the head with his own shield;戈内尔以为他的警察被自己的盾牌重重地击中了头部;Gowdy only knows that a flagpole clattered¹⁵ to his feet just after he felt a blow.

    高迪只知道一根旗杆在他感觉到一记重击后砰地一声从他的脚上立了起来。

    Another officer pulled him back to safety inside the building.

    另一名警官将他拉回大楼内的安全地带。

    Amid the chaos¹⁶, Gonell lost track of the other members of his unit, a tight-knit crew that usually worked the midnight shift.

    在一片混乱中，戈内尔失去了与他所在分队的其他成员的联系，这是一个通常在午夜轮班工作的紧密团队。

    Soon he was one of a few officers near the lower west entrance to the building who still had a shield — other officers had either lost theirs in battle or never had one in the first place — and was bracing¹⁷ himself in the doorway¹⁸, barely holding on.

    很快，他就成了大楼西下入口附近为数不多的仍有盾牌的警官之一-其他警官要么在战斗中丢失了盾牌，要么根本就没有盾牌——其他军官要么在战斗中失去了盾牌，要么根本就没有盾牌——他在门口顶着，几乎快要撑不住了。

    A rioter smashed his hand with a baton¹⁹.

    一个暴徒用警棍砸碎了他的手。

    Gonell slipped on a pile of shields wet with toxic²⁰ spray and feared that the rioters, grabbing his leg, his shield, his arm, would pull him apart before he was somehow able to right himself.

    戈内尔在一堆被有毒喷雾弄湿的盾牌上滑倒了，他担心暴徒在他能恢复正常之前，抓住他的腿，他的盾牌，他的手臂，把他拉开。

1 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

2 sprinting   

v.短距离疾跑( sprint的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Stride length and frequency are the most important elements of sprinting. 步长和步频是短跑最重要的因素。 来自互联网
• Xiaoming won the gold medal for sprinting in the school sports meeting. 小明在学校运动会上夺得了短跑金牌。 来自互联网

3 spliced   

adj.（针织品）加固的n.叠接v.绞接( splice的过去式和过去分词 )；捻接（两段绳子）；胶接；粘接（胶片、磁带等）

参考例句：

• He spliced the two lengths of film together. 他把两段胶卷粘接起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Have you heard?John's just got spliced. 听说了吗？约翰刚结了婚。 来自辞典例句

4 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• 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。

6 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

7 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

8 hatchet   

n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀

参考例句：

• I shall have to take a hatchet to that stump.我得用一把短柄斧来劈这树桩。
• Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.别用斧头拍打朋友额头上的苍蝇。

9 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

10 jeered   

v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police were jeered at by the waiting crowd. 警察受到在等待的人群的嘲弄。
• The crowd jeered when the boxer was knocked down. 当那个拳击手被打倒时，人们开始嘲笑他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sergeants   

警官( sergeant的名词复数 )； （美国警察）警佐； （英国警察）巡佐； 陆军（或空军）中士

参考例句：

• Platoon sergeants fell their men in on the barrack square. 排长们在营房广场上整顿队伍。
• The recruits were soon licked into shape by the drill sergeants. 新兵不久便被教育班长训练得象样了。

12 taunts   

嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He had to endure the racist taunts of the crowd. 他不得不忍受那群人种族歧视的奚落。
• He had to endure the taunts of his successful rival. 他不得不忍受成功了的对手的讥笑。

13 beseechingly   

adv. 恳求地

参考例句：

• She stood up, and almost beseechingly, asked her husband,'shall we go now?" 她站起身来，几乎是恳求似地问丈夫：“我们现在就走吧？”
• Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. 纳西莎伤心地哭了起来，乞求地盯着斯内普。

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

15 clattered   

发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He dropped the knife and it clattered on the stone floor. 他一失手，刀子当啷一声掉到石头地面上。
• His hand went limp and the knife clattered to the ground. 他的手一软，刀子当啷一声掉到地上。

16 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

17 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

18 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

19 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

20 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。