万花筒 Kaleidoscope 2007-06-14&16, 害人害己的酒后驾车

It is a celebrity¹ driven circus, one that's caused angst for news organizations with some poking² fun at Paris Hilton's saga³.

"Ridiculous."

And others like NBC's Brian Williams who blogged, "She won't make the broadcast tonight."

But for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Paris Hilton's saga should make the news. Her face should be plastered on every newspaper across the country because her crime is more than Hollywood driven gossip. It highlights the most prolific⁴ violent crime in our country, drunk driving.

"The deaths should be going down."

But they've been going up. Deaths caused by drunk drivers are at an all-time high since 1992, nearly 18,000 nationwide killed in 2006 alone. And who is most at fault? According to the government, people 20 to 29 years old. The very group, says MADD, influenced by celebrity behavior. Consider this, we did a quick check and found in just the last year and a half at least 16 celebrities⁵ were arrested for DUI. Hard to understand when all of them can afford limousines⁷ to drive them around. But like all who get behind the wheel allegedly drunk ...

"They know what they're doing. It's just that no one thinks it's ever gonna happen to them."

There are jurisdictions⁸ trying to break people of that mindset. In Long Island, New York, prosecutor⁹ Kathleen Rice considers drunk drivers criminals. Her change in attitude came after this horrific crash captured by a dashboard camera.

A drunk driving the wrong way on the highway slammed into a limousine⁶ carrying the Flynns. Their little girl, Katie, was decapitated. Prosecutor Rice charged the drunk driver with murder. He was convicted.

Hilton's original sentence was 36 months/ probation¹⁰, a $1,500 fine, and alcohol education. MADD says that's a pretty normal sentence and not nearly enough for a first-time offender¹¹.

Carol Costello, CNN, New York.

1 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

2 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

3 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

4 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

5 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

6 limousine   

n.豪华轿车

参考例句：

• A chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady.司机为这个高贵的女士打开了豪华轿车的车门。
• We arrived in fine style in a hired limousine.我们很气派地乘坐出租的豪华汽车到达那里。

7 limousines   

n.豪华轿车( limousine的名词复数 )；（往返机场接送旅客的）中型客车，小型公共汽车

参考例句：

• Elearor hated to use White House limousines because she didn't want people spying on her. 埃莉诺很不愿意使用白宫的小轿车，因为她不愿让人暗中监视她。 来自辞典例句
• Maybe they are seeking for spacious houses and limousines. 也许在追求阔宅豪车。 来自互联网

8 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

9 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

10 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

11 offender   

n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者

参考例句：

• They all sued out a pardon for an offender.他们请求法院赦免一名罪犯。
• The authorities often know that sex offenders will attack again when they are released.当局一般都知道性犯罪者在获释后往往会再次犯案。