词汇大师--Words and Debates Change With Time

　　AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on WORDMASTER: The First Amendment¹ to the U.S. Constitution is more than two centuries old. Americans still talk about it a lot, but what exactly is it?
RS: We asked American University law professor Robert Tsai, author of the book "Eloquence² and Reason: Creating a First Amendment Culture."
ROBERT TSAI: "It's one of the amendments³ in the original Bill of Rights that we know the most about. It seems that the colonists⁴ were most exercised, you might say, about questions of freedom of expression or speech, as they talked about it; of conscience and worship; and of the right to assemble and petition their government for right of redress⁵. We hear about that part of it less often today."
AA: "I mean it's forty-five words long. I actually printed out a copy of it here and -- "
ROBERT TSAI: "You counted."
AA: "Yeah, well, it looks like I think I've got my math right here. It says, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging⁶ the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances⁷.' That's a lot."

　　ROBERT TSAI: "Indeed, it's quite a mouthful. I'm glad you brought that up. And, you know, it's almost as though somebody tried to squeeze everything that was on the top of their minds that they found important that day, into a single phrase."
RS: "Avi just read to us the First Amendment. Now, those words don't change, but new meanings come into it. How has how we talk about the First Amendment changed?"
ROBERT TSAI: "Here is one example I use in the book. In about the, I guess, immediate⁸ post-World War Two period, you have judges on the Supreme⁹ Court talking about 'the wall of separation between church and state.' It's really a metaphor¹⁰. It's a boundary metaphor that suggests, at least how it was used initially¹¹, that we're better off if there is a kind of fence making good neighbors between people who believe in one kind of god and those who believe in another kind of god, or those who believe in no kind of god at all.
"Over time, some of the connotations associated with 'the wall of separation between church and state' begin to change. And this change is in part because of what's going on outside of the courts. For example, you have Ronald Reagan who becomes elected, and he among other prominent politicians start to talk about the 'wall of separation' as something that is oppressive.
"So in terms of what judges do, this is quite interesting. One thing that judges do is, judges stop using the metaphor. It starts to acquire enough negative connotations that you don't see a majority of the court favoring that way of talking about our religious liberties."
AA: "Well, you know, it's been interesting to just, I was thinking of some recent cases where the First Amendment has somehow been invoked¹² or people talk about it in the context of these. For example, the big Supreme Court ruling in January, the 'Citizens United' case upholding the right of corporations and unions to sort of spend unlimited¹³ amounts on independent campaign ads to get someone elected or to oppose someone. The mosque¹⁴ in New York -- "
ROBERT TSAI: "Right."
AA: " -- that's proposed near Ground Zero. Even the WikiLeaks, the release of all the confidential¹⁵ documents. You've got some newspapers, the New York Times, publishing them, too, and I guess defending that right under the First Amendment. Can you think of others? This seems like this is, you know, still very much a part of our everyday life."
ROBERT TSAI: "Yeah, and you mentioned the WikiLeaks case, right? I mean, so -- were there ever old days? But let's assume there were some old days, and in the old days the government or someone who wanted to stop speech that they believed they had a legitimate¹⁶ reason to interdict¹⁷, could run to court and get an injunction, a legal order, that said 'So-and-so cannot disseminate¹⁸ X.'
"Is such a remedy really available or efficacious today, right? So even if the government could get an order that said 'So-and-so can't publish certain leaked information,' it comes down off the website and it pops up someplace else moments later or in multiple locations.
"There's an upside to this, if you believe in open government and are against government secrecy¹⁹. But it certainly changes how we even think about the enforcement of law."
RS: Robert Tsai is a professor at the American University Washington College of Law and author of "Eloquence and Reason: Creating a First Amendment Culture." And that's WORDMASTER for this week.
AA: You can learn more about free speech issues at voanews.com/wordmaster. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

1 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

2 eloquence   

n.雄辩；口才，修辞

参考例句：

• I am afraid my eloquence did not avail against the facts.恐怕我的雄辩也无补于事实了。
• The people were charmed by his eloquence.人们被他的口才迷住了。

3 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

4 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

6 abridging   

节略( abridge的现在分词 )； 减少； 缩短； 剥夺（某人的）权利（或特权等）

参考例句：

• He's currently abridging his book. 他正在对他的书进行删节。
• First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech." （美国宪法）第一修正案规定议会不应该通过减损（公民）言论自由的法律。

7 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

11 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

12 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

14 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

15 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

16 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

17 interdict   

v.限制；禁止；n.正式禁止；禁令

参考例句：

• Troops could be ferried in to interdict drug shipments.可以把军队渡运过来阻截毒品的装运。
• Interdict could also be sought for the protection of public interests.禁令也可以用于保护公共利益。

18 disseminate   

v.散布；传播

参考例句：

• We should disseminate science and promote the scientific spirit.普及科学知识，弘扬科学精神。
• We sincerely welcome all countries to disseminate their languages in China.我们真诚地欢迎世界各国来华推广本国语言。

19 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。