VOA标准英语2011--Chicago Protesters Look for Permanent Home

Chicago Protesters Look for Permanent Home

Violence has flared¹ up again in Oakland, California, where police and Occupy protesters have clashed. However, the protests around the country have been largely peaceful, including in the city of Chicago, where demonstrators are seeking a permanent home to stage their protest, a crucial step if the movement is to survive the harsh Midwestern winter.
Tear gas, flash grenades and chaos² as Oakland police try to block Occupy protesters from moving down a street after violence erupted late Wednesday.
But in the middle of the country, the Occupy Chicago protest remains³ calm, even though its members cannot really "occupy" public areas.
They had hoped to use this space in Grant Park as their camp.
But police arrested them each time protesters tried to stay past the city's 11:00 p.m. curfew.
“The city is being fair," said Jordy Grant. "But I believe they could work with us a little more to find a permanent place to stay instead of on the corner here.”
Jordy Grant is an organizer with Occupy Chicago and says protesters hope the city will help them find a place to set up a camp.
Historian Erik Gellman of Roosevelt University says the protesters are mindful of the violence during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. That incident, at the height of the Vietnam War, sparked outrage⁴ when Chicago Mayor Richard Daley ordered police to suppress demonstrations⁵.
“Had Mayor Daley at the time responded by not sending police in to enforce that curfew, you might not have had the kind of police violence that resulted in August of 1968," said Gellman. "So I think that's a lesson that [Chicago Mayor Rahm] Emanuel can really learn from as far as tolerance⁶ for the Occupy movement."
Chicago officials declined to speak to VOA. But in an e-mail, officials say they support the demonstrators' right to free speech and that they have assisted with crowd control and traffic during the daily protests.
Protester Grant says he understands the curfew, but adds that the demonstrations against perceived corporate⁷ greed have been peaceful here.
“If we want to be able to occupy, we should be able to," said Grant. "That’s our park. It’s not their park. It’s all of our park. And if not there, at least somewhere else.”
How the city deals with the Occupy protest might be an indication of how it will respond next year, when tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to descend⁸ on Chicago when it hosts the G8 and NATO summits in May.

1 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

5 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

6 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。