VOA慢速英语2018 美国连环“炸弹包裹”针对民主党人及批评特朗普的人

More Bombs Directed at Democrats², Trump³ Critics

More pipe bombs targeting members of the Democratic Party and a critic of U.S. President Donald Trump were discovered Thursday.

周四又现多起针对民主党成员及批评美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的人的炸弹管。

Investigators⁴ found three more pipe bombs: one sent to actor Robert De Niro and the others to former Vice⁵ President Joe Biden. They said the devices were similar to the pipe bombs sent this week to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and CNN television.

调查人员又发现了三枚炸弹管：一枚寄送给演员罗伯特·德尼罗，其余的寄送给美国前副总统乔·拜登。他们表示，这些炸弹装置与本周寄给前总统拉克·奥巴马、希拉里·克林顿以及CNN电视台的铁管炸弹相似。

The package found at CNN was addressed to John Brennan, a fierce critic of Trump and a former director of intelligence under Obama. Others were sent to businessman George Soros, a long-time Democratic Party supporter, and Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat¹ from California.

在CNN电视台发现的包裹是寄给激烈的特朗普批评者约翰·布伦南，他也曾是美国总统奥巴马前中央情报局局长。另外的炸弹包裹分别寄送给民主党长期支持者、企业家乔治·索罗斯，以及联邦众议员、来自加州的民主党人玛克辛·沃特斯。

One package mailed to former Attorney General Eric Holder⁶, who served under Obama, was returned to the office of Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She was a former chair of the Democratic Party.

一个邮寄给奥巴马部下、前司法部长埃里克·霍尔德的包裹，被退回至黛比·沃瑟曼·舒尔茨议员的办公室。黛比·沃瑟曼·舒尔茨曾是民主党全国委员会前主席。

Actor Robert De Niro has long been a vocal⁷ critic of President Trump. At the Tony Awards in June, the actor used an obscenity to insult the president. Former Vice President Joe Biden has denounced Trump while campaigning for Democrats around the country.

演员罗伯特·德尼罗一直以来都直言不讳的批评总统特朗普。在今年六月的托尼奖颁奖典礼上，这位演员用猥亵言辞侮辱总统特朗普。前副总统乔·拜登在各地为民主党造势时，曾公开抨击特朗普。

None of the devices exploded and no one was injured. But the packages sent to Democrats and critics of the president raised tensions before the November 6 midterm elections.

目前没有炸弹装置爆炸，也无人受伤。但在11月6日中期选举前发生向民主党人以及总统的批评者们寄送的炸弹包裹的情况，加剧了选举的紧张气氛。

The recipients⁸ of the pipe bombs have long been targets of the president’s supporters. A conservative talk show hosts even questioned whether someone who opposed Trump sent the bombs.

这些炸弹管的收件人长期以来都是总统支持者的攻击目标。一位持政治右倾观点的脱口秀主持人甚至怀疑是反对特朗普的人寄出的这些炸弹包裹。

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump condemned⁹ the attempted bombings and said, “Acts or threats of political violence have no place in the United States.”

本周三，总统唐纳德·特朗普谴责炸弹包裹事件并表示道：“在美国，任何政治暴力威胁或政治暴力行为都是不可容忍的。”

But Democratic Senate and House leaders Chuck Schumer of New York and Nancy Pelosi of California said Trump’s words “ring hollow.” In other words, the lawmakers suggest Trump’s words do not mean much because he supports violence in other ways.

但民主党参众两院的领袖-----来自纽约州的查克·舒默（参议院领袖），以及来自加州的南希?佩洛西（众议院领袖）称特朗普的话是“空话”。换言之，议员们认为特朗普的话没有太大意义，因为他以其他的方式支持暴力。

They noted¹⁰ the president’s “support for the Congressman¹¹ who body-slammed a reporter, the neo-Nazis who killed a young woman in Charlottesville, his supporters at rallies who get violent with protestors, dictators around the world who murder their own citizens, and referring to the free press as the enemy of the people.”

他们指出，总统“支持殴打记者的国会议员；支持在夏洛茨维尔杀死一名年轻妇女的新纳粹分子；支持他的支持者们在集会上与他的反对者们发生暴力冲突；支持世界各地的独裁者谋杀自己的公民；支持‘新闻自由是人民的敌人’的言论。”

By Thursday morning, the president again blamed the media without referring to the bombing attempts. Trump wrote on Twitter: “A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate¹² reporting of the Mainstream¹³ Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!”

周四上午，总统再次指责媒体，但并未提及炸弹包裹问题。特朗普在推特写道：“今天，我们的社会充满了愤怒，而这很大程度上是因主流媒体故意报道虚假和不准确的报道引起的，我称之为“假新闻”。假新闻’已经变得如此糟糕可恶可憎，简直无法形容。主流媒体必须端正作风。立刻！马上!”

What are in the packages?

包裹里面是什么？

An official told the Associated Press the bombs seized on Wednesday were about 15 centimeters long and packed with powder and broken glass. The official said the devices were made from plastic pipe and covered with black tape.

一名官员告诉美联社, 星期三缴获的炸弹大约15厘米长, 装满了火药和碎玻璃。这名官员说, 这些装置是用塑料管制成，管子上裹有黑色胶带。

Law enforcement officials said all the packages were similar. They came in brown envelopes with six stamps and the return address of Democratic lawmaker Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

执法官员表示，所有的包裹都都很相似。包裹是黄棕色信封包装，面贴着六张邮票，寄件人地址是民主党议员黛比·沃瑟曼·舒尔茨议员。

All the devices were sent to an FBI lab in Virginia to be studied. Officials provided no details on a possible suspect or motive¹⁴.

所有的炸弹装置都被送到位于弗吉尼亚的联邦调查局实验室研究。官员们没有提供任何可疑嫌犯或可疑动机方面的细节。

Words in This Story

hollow – n. not having real value or meaning

body-slam – v. to lift someone and throw him or her on the floor

motive – n. a reason for doing something

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

7 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

8 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

12 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

13 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

14 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。