“This is not the type of place where this happens，” city council president George Carlton told a reporter， after the horror became public in his hometown， Sylacauga， Ala. He echoed what was said in Jasper， Texas， a year ago. Few people then had ever heard of Jasper. A week ago， even fewer could have pointed out Sylacauga on a map. A tiny city of 13，000， halfway between Birmingham and Montgomery， Sylacauga was known for its white marble quarries， textile mills and ice-cream factory. But last week Sylacauga， like Jasper， became a chapter in the recent history of hatred.

　　According to police， Steven Eric Mullins， 25， and Charles Monroe Butler Jr.， 21， plotted for two weeks to murder Billy Jack Gaither， 39. On Feb. 19， they arranged to meet him at a Sylacauga bar and lured him to a secluded area. There they beat him and dumped him into the trunk of his car. They then drove about 15 miles to Peckerwood Creek in Coosa County. There， says Coosa County Sheriff's Deputy Al Bradley， “they took him out of the trunk， took an ax handle and beat him to death.” They set two old tires aflame， says Bradley， “then they put the body on the fire.” They did it all， the deputy says， because Gaither was gay.

　　Gaither's death has become a rallying point for gay-rights organizations' and state legislators' pushing a bill that would extend Alabama's three-year-old hate-crimes law beyond race， color， religion and national origin to cover crimes related to sexual orientation as well. “It's unfortunate that somebody had to lose his life in order for this legislation to pick up momentum here in the state of Alabama，” says state Representative Alvin Holmes， who failed to get the original law amended when it was passed in 1996. Holmes filed for extending the law after Matthew Shepard， a gay student， was beaten and left to die on a fence in Wyoming last October， an incident that sparked national outrage. Even Wyoming failed to pass hate-crime legislation in the wake of the Shepard lynching. Like Shepard， Gaither did not hesitate to admit being gay， though he adhered quietly to Sylacauga's Southern dispositions. And friends dispute Mullins' and Butler's allegations that a sexual proposition incited the murder. Gaither's brother Randy told CNN： “Regardless of his personal life or anything， he doesn't deserve to be killed for this.”

　　“The message people are getting is that gay people are second-class citizens，” says Tracey Conaty， spokesperson for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

　　Before Gaither's murder， activists were planning a major national pro-gay offensive. From March 21 to March 27， the task force will launch its “Equality Begins at Home” campaign， with 250 grass-roots events in all 50 states aimed at passing anti-gay-bashing legislation. Says Conaty： “These laws reflect the conscience of a community and send an important message.” The March events， says Urvashi Vaid， director of the task force's policy institute， will involve straight people concerned about neighbors denied basic human rights. Adds Vaid： “It's more than just a gay thing.”

　　注(1)：本文選自By Sylvester Monroe Time; 03/15/99， Vol. 153 Issue 10， p47， 2/3p， 3c， 1bw

　　注(2)：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象2003年真題 Text 4

　　1. What is implied in the first two paragraphs?

　　[A] there are many murders in the recent history of hatred

　　[B]the murder also happened in Jasper one year ago

　　[C] it is another case of the gay being tortured to death

　　[D]the city council president comes from Sylacauga

　　2. The author uses the example of Matthew Shepard to show that ________.

　　[A] it is difficult to extend the hate-crime legislation

　　[B]people want to extend the hate-crime law

　　[C]the gays are really in a terrible fix

　　[D] people are indifferent to the gay student

　　3. Alvin Holmes‘ attitude toward the gay victims is _________.

　　[A]indifferent

　　[B]sympathetic

　　[C]outrageous

　　[D]considerate

　　4. Similar to Matthew Shepard， Gaither‘s death ________.

　　[A]aroused people‘s sympathy for the gay

　　[B] sharpened people‘s awareness

　　[C]gave legislation some momentum

　　[D]failed to have any change in the legislation

　　5. The text intends to express the idea that __________.

　　[A] people should be concerned about their gay neighbors

　　[B]the gay people shouldn‘t be regarded as second-class citizens

　　[C] the legislation for the gay still has a long way to go

　　[D]more pro-gay campaigns should be launched

　　答案：CABDC

　　篇章剖析

　　本文采用提出問題——分析問題的模式。第一段和第二段提出問題，詳細闡述一起同性戀謀殺案的發(fā)生經(jīng)過。第三段和第四段指出被害人的死造成的影響和反應(yīng)。第五段指出激進分子的做法及其影響。

　　詞匯注釋

　　homosexual n.同性戀

　　echo vt.摹仿， 重復(fù)

　　rallying point n.聚集點，號召力

　　legislator n.立法者

　　momentum n.動力， 要素

　　in the wake of adv.尾隨， 緊跟， 仿效

　　lynching n.處私刑

　　allegation n.主張，斷言， 辯解

　　offensive n.進攻， 攻勢

　　grass-roots adj.一般民眾的， 由鄉(xiāng)間民間來進行的

　　難句突破

　　1.Gaither's death has become a rallying point for gay-rights organizations' and state legislators' pushing a bill that would extend Alabama's three-year-old hate-crimes law beyond race， color， religion and national origin to cover crimes related to sexual orientation as well.

　　主體句式：Gaither‘s death has become a rallying point …

　　結(jié)構(gòu)分析：在for引導(dǎo)的介詞短語中，that引導(dǎo)定語從句來修飾bill; related to sexual orientation as well來修飾crimes.

　　句子譯文：蓋瑟的死成了爭取同性戀權(quán)利組織和州立法委員強烈要求通過一項議案的號召力。這項議案可能會將阿拉巴馬實施三年的反仇視罪法的范圍擴展到種族、膚色、宗教信仰和國家來源以外，把針對與性傾向有關(guān)的罪行也包括在反對之列。

　　題目分析

　　1.答案為C，屬推理判斷題。選項A，B，D都屬于細節(jié)問題，在文中都可找到對應(yīng)的信息。選項C歸納了前兩段的內(nèi)容。

　　1. 案為A，屬推理判斷題。文中對應(yīng)信息是“Even Wyoming failed to pass hate-crime legislation in the wake of the Shepard lynching”。

　　2. 案為B ，屬情感態(tài)度題。文中對應(yīng)信息是“”It's unfortunate that somebody had to lose his life in order for this legislation to pick up momentum here in the state of Alabama“。

　　3. 答案為D，屬推理判斷題。原文對應(yīng)信息“Gaither's death has become a rallying point for gay-rights organizations' and state legislators' pushing a bill that would extend Alabama's three-year-old hate-crimes law beyond race， color， religion and national origin to cover crimes related to sexual orientation as well.”Gaither的被害雖然對立法有一定的影響，卻還沒有一定的改觀。

　　5.答案為C，屬主旨大意題。要綜觀全文，不要受到一些細節(jié)方面的干擾。

　　參考譯文

　　這樁慘案在市參議會議長喬治�？�爾頓的家鄉(xiāng)阿拉巴馬州錫拉科加被公諸于眾后，他這樣對記者說：“這個地方不應(yīng)該發(fā)生這樣的事”。他是在重復(fù)一年前在德克薩斯州杰士伯說過的話。幾乎沒有人聽說過杰士伯這個地方。一周以前，甚至沒有人能在地圖上找出錫拉科加的位置。錫拉科加是一座擁有13，000人口的小鎮(zhèn)，位于伯明翰和蒙哥馬利之間，以大理石采石場、紡織廠和冰淇淋廠而著名。同杰士伯一樣，錫拉科加上周也上了最近發(fā)生仇視事件的“光榮”榜。

　　據(jù)警方說，為謀殺39歲的比利?杰克?蓋瑟，25歲的史蒂文?埃里克?馬林斯和21歲的小查爾斯?門羅?巴特勒密謀了兩周時間。2月19日那天，他們先安排與他在錫拉科加的一個酒吧見面，然后把他騙到一個隱蔽的地點。在那兒，他們先是猛揍他，隨后把他扔進汽車后備箱，駕車行使了15英里到了庫薩縣的拍克武德小河邊。庫薩縣副警長阿爾?不拉德利說：“他們把他從后備箱里拖出來，拿出斧柄將他打死”。隨后他們點燃了兩個舊輪胎。不拉德利說：“點燃輪胎后，他們就把尸體放到了火上燒”。副警長說，這兩個人這樣做只是因為蓋瑟是同性戀。

　　蓋瑟的死成了爭取同性戀權(quán)利組織和州立法委員強烈要求通過一項議案的號召力。這項議案可能會將阿拉巴馬實施三年的反仇視罪法的范圍擴展到種族、膚色、宗教信仰和國家來源以外，把針對與性傾向有關(guān)的罪行也包括在反對之列。州議員阿爾文?福爾摩斯(他沒能在1996年該法律被通過時促使議會對原法律進行修正)說：“非得用某人的死來在這兒，在阿拉巴馬州獲取使某項法律得以通過的動力實在是件令人遺憾的事”。去年十月，懷俄明州發(fā)生了一件令國人十分憤慨的事。一個名叫馬修?謝巴德的同性戀學(xué)生遭人毒打，眼睜睜地看著他死在圍墻上。這件事發(fā)生之后，福爾摩斯曾提議擴展這一法律的范圍。甚至在謝巴德被人用私刑處死之后，懷俄明州也沒能通過反仇視罪法。盡管蓋瑟不聲不響地保持著南方人的性格，但是他跟謝巴德一樣，毫不隱瞞自己是同性戀這一事實。馬林斯和巴特勒對性傾向引發(fā)這起謀殺的說法遭到朋友的反駁。蓋瑟弟弟告訴CNN記者：“不管他的個人生活或其它方面怎么樣，他都不應(yīng)該為此而被處死�！�

　　“人們獲得的啟示是同性戀是二等公民�！� 美國國家男女同志特遣隊的發(fā)言人特蕾西?科納緹如是說。

　　在蓋瑟被謀殺之前，一些激進分子就在策劃發(fā)動一個大型的全國范圍的支持同性戀的攻勢。從3月21日到27日，特遣隊將發(fā)動一場“平等從家庭開始”的運動。他們收集了50個州250樁發(fā)生在基層的事件，目的在于敦促議會通過反粗暴對待同性戀法�？萍{緹說：“這些法律反映了一個社區(qū)的正義感，并傳達了一條重要的信息”。特遣隊政策研究所所長吾爾瓦西?瓦伊德認為，“三月事件”會使那些關(guān)心被剝奪了基本人權(quán)鄰居的正直人參與其中。瓦伊德還說：“這不僅僅是一件同性戀的事情�！�

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