CNN 2010-04-04

PHILLIPS: Now listen to this story. The high schooler succeeded. The grade schooler failed. Yes. Grade schooler. An eight-year-old boy in Houston said he couldn't stand the bullies¹ anymore. So what did he do? He jumped out the second floor window of the school.

Bottom line, he is OK, physically². But there's a lot more to this story. His mom says the school made him read and sign a no suicide contract right afterward³ even though he is dyslexic. He also says the school knew about the bullying⁴ for months but didn't do anything.

For the last several months, we have followed a California teenager as he left behind civilian⁵ life and began a career in the U.S. Army. It's been a journey, both physical and mental, and the Pentagon has given us unprecedented⁶ access to document all of it.

CNN's Jason Carroll here to take us inside a soldier's life once again. Pretty amazing experience for you, too.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, yes. I know you are into a lot of these military stories. And it's nice to see that Will finally made it. It's been a long road for him, and he's met all of the qualifications. All of the hard work and discipline for Will McLain has finally paid off, but that was not the case for everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next, come on over.

CARROLL (voice-over): When Will McLain looks in the mirror these days, he sees a different person.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put your watch back on.

CARROLL: In his 15 weeks of training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he's dropped 54 pounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get off the ground.

CARROLL: He tackled the physical challenges, the mental, the psychological, and completed weapons qualification.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate this.

CARROLL: Now, the day has come for Will and the other members of his company to graduate and move on to their next assignments.

Will is ready.

WILL MCLAIN, U.S. SOLDIER: I want nothing to do with Missouri. I'm out of here.

CARROLL: This is the last time members of Alpha Company 35th Engineer Battalion⁷ will stand together.
 

1 bullies   

n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负

参考例句：

• Standing up to bullies takes plenty of backbone. 勇敢地对付暴徒需有大无畏精神。
• Bullies can make your life hell. 恃强欺弱者能让你的日子像活地狱。

2 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

3 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

4 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

7 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。