VOA慢速英语2105 父亲、Facebook、国际男人节

AS IT IS 2015-11-20 Fathers, Facebook, and International Men's Day 父亲、Facebook、国际男人节

French officials say the man suspected of organizing the deadly attacks in Paris last week has died. Police confirmed Thursday that Abdelhamid Abaaoud was shot many times during a raid on an apartment in Saint-Denis, a suburb north of Paris.

On Twitter, #Abaaoud trended worldwide. But many other stories on the Paris aftermath trended, too.

“You will not have my hatred¹”

A Parisian man who lost his wife in the attacks wrote a letter on Facebook to the terrorists. Antoine Leiris titled his letter, “You will not have my hatred.” He wrote: “Friday night you stole the life of an exceptional being, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you will not have my hatred.” His post, written in French, has been shared over 210,000 times on Facebook.

Father and son's conversation at Paris memorial goes viral

A touching² story about a father and son went viral, as well. The French channel Le Petit Journal posted an interview with a young boy, Brandon, and his father. The two were at a memorial in Paris. The video has received over 38 million views on Facebook.

In the video, the boy tells his father he fears his family will have to change homes because of the terrorist attacks. His father reassures³ him that they do not have to change homes. He says, “France is our home.”

The young boy tell shis father there are mean people with guns. He tells his father "they can shoot us" because they are very, very mean. His father tells the boy to look around at all of the flowers at the memorial. He tells his son the flowers will fight against guns.

At the end of the video, the journalist from Le Petit Journal asks Brandon if he feels better. He says he does, and smiles.

#InternationalMensDay

Every year on March 8, countries around the world celebrate International Women’s Day.

But today, November 19, is International Men’s Day. If you were on Twitter today, it would have been hard not to notice #InternationalMensDay. It trended all day in the United States and worldwide.

The holiday surprised some Twitter users.

Twitter user Ferrari Shepperd joked that he thought every day was International Men's Day:

Some organizations used the day to bring attention to men’s health and social issues. That included high suicide rates among young men.

Facebook uses Safety Check for Nigeria bombing

Last week, Facebook turned on its Safety Check after the terrorist attacks in Paris. It was the first time the company activated⁵ the tool for an event other than a natural disaster.

Some people criticized Facebook’s choice to activate⁴ it for the Paris attacks, but not for the terrorist attacks in Beirut that happened one day earlier.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would start using the tool for more tragic⁶ events. And on Wednesday, it did just that.

After a bomb attack in Yola, Nigeria, killed more than 30 people, the social media site activated Safety Check. Discussion about Facebook’s decision caused Facebook to trend...on Facebook.

Words in This Story

aftermath - n. the period of time after a bad and usually destructive event

hatred - n. a very strong feeling of dislike

touching - adj. having a strong emotional effect

viral - adj. relating to an image or video that is shared rapidly and widely on the Internet

activate - v. to cause (a device) to start working

1 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

2 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

3 reassures   

v.消除恐惧或疑虑，恢复信心( reassure的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A significant benefit of Undo is purely psychological: It reassures users. 撤销的一个很大好处纯粹是心理上的，它让用户宽心。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Direct eye contact reassures the person that you are confident and honest. 直接的目光接触让人相信你的自信和诚实。 来自口语例句

4 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

5 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

6 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。