2007年VOA标准英语-Experts See Disturbing but Familiar Pattern in

By Jim Malone
Washington
18 April 2007

Authorities in Virginia are slowly gathering¹ and revealing information about Cho Seung Hui, the university student who police say was responsible for the worst mass-shooting spree in U.S. history.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

Cho Seoung-hui

Fellow students described Cho as a sullen² loner.  Professors noticed not only his withdrawn³ demeanor⁴, but the disturbing references to violence and murder in his writings.

Lucinda Roy, a creative writing professor at Virginia Tech, took note of Cho's writing and volunteered to work with him privately⁵.  Roy found him distant and lonely and tried to convince Cho to get professional counseling, without success.

"I was very concerned because it seemed to me that he was writing from a place of anger and I needed to make sure that I met with him and talked with him and tried to find out what was going on," she said.

In addition, police found a rambling⁶ note in Cho's dorm room expressing anger toward women and rich students.

[NBC News in New York says it has received a package apparently⁷ sent by the young Virginia Tech student who killed 32 people before killing⁸ himself.

NBC News officials Wednesday said the network had turned the package containing pictures, writings and a video over to the FBI.]

Police also said two women students had accused Cho of stalking them in 2005.  Cho's parents were worried their son was suicidal at the time and he was taken to a mental health facility for assessment⁹ and later released.

As more details come out about Cho's troubled life, criminal experts say they see a disturbing but familiar pattern of behavior.

Roanoke Firearms owner John Markell holds a Glock 9mm pistol similar to the one sold in his gun shop 36 days ago to Virginia Tech shooting suspect Cho Seung-Hui

"I have studied mass killers¹⁰ now for more than 25 years and the motivation in almost every case is revenge," said Jack¹¹ Levin, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Massachusetts.  "These are individuals who feel that everyone is against them or maybe all the students on the campus or maybe the people in their family or perhaps their co-workers at work.  They do not blame themselves for their personal problems, and they have plenty of them.  But they want to get even with those people they hold responsible for their miseries¹², and they get sweet revenge through the barrel of a semi-automatic."

In retrospect¹³, Levin says there were plenty of warning signs in Cho's behavior, some of which were noticed by students and professors.

Levin also says it is a pattern of behavior well known to those who study incidents of mass violence.

"This young man looks very much like the other mass killers that I have studied," he added.  "He sought revenge against other students on campus.  He was depressed¹⁴ for a long period of time.  He blamed everybody but himself for his miseries, and he was a loner.  He was emotionally isolated¹⁵ so that when he got into trouble, he really had no place to turn."

Another expert, Princeton University Sociology Professor Katherine Newman, has a different take on the common description of mass killers as loners.  Newman has written a book on the roots of school shootings in the U.S. and was interviewed on The Early Show on CBS TV.

"It is typically what the media says about school shooters, but in the research I have done, it is rarely actually the case," she explained.  "They are usually failed joiners, people who continuously try to join social groups and are rebuffed and their daily experience is one of rejection¹⁶ and friction¹⁷."

Experts agree that preventing similar incidents in the future is a daunting¹⁸ task.

Jack Levin says early intervention¹⁹ for those who appear troubled, if possible, can make a difference.

"We have got to get to individuals based on warning signs like depression and social isolation²⁰, frustration²¹ and anger, long before they decide they want to go out and kill 32 people," he said.  "Then we can help them and we might even prevent a murderer or two."

Levin and other social and criminal experts are already drawing parallels between Cho and the two disaffected²² students responsible for the 1999 massacre²³ at Columbine High School in Colorado.  A total of 12 students and a teacher died in that incident before the two shooters killed themselves.

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

3 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

4 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

5 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

6 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

10 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

11 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

12 miseries   

n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人

参考例句：

• They forgot all their fears and all their miseries in an instant. 他们马上忘记了一切恐惧和痛苦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• I'm suffering the miseries of unemployment. 我正为失业而痛苦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 retrospect   

n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯

参考例句：

• One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
• In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。

14 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

15 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

16 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

17 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

18 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

19 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

20 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

21 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

22 disaffected   

adj.（政治上）不满的，叛离的

参考例句：

• He attracts disaffected voters.他吸引了心怀不满的选民们。
• Environmental issues provided a rallying point for people disaffected with the government.环境问题把对政府不满的人们凝聚了起来。

23 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！