近日，美國明尼蘇達州（Minnesota）發生一起警察暴力執法案件，引發廣泛關注。一名黑人男子被該州警察跪壓7分鐘後不幸身亡。在這一過程中，男子甚至說出「我不能呼吸了！（I can't breathe）」，而執法警察沒有理會。
無注釋原文：
America at boiling point: how one death rocked a nation numbed by 100,000
The sydney morning herald
Even the most patriotic American, deep in their heart, would struggle to feel proud of their country and optimistic about its future after this week.
Consider the past few days. The country passed 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, more than anywhere else in the world. Unemployment claims hit a staggering 40 million, meaning one in four Americans has been laid off over the past three months. And then there was the shocking death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee into the man's neck, refusing to ease up even as he pleaded: "I can't breathe."
Eric Garner, a black man from New York, uttered the exact same words before he died after being held in a police chokehold in 2014.
Slavery was America's original sin and the divide between white and black Americans remains one of the country's most glaring failures. The pandemic has exacerbated the country's existing racial inequalities: black Americans have died in disproportionate numbers from COVID-19 and have been hardest hit by the economic collapse. And now Floyd's death is the latest apparent example of the police brutality that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement seven years ago.
Sociologists have long tracked a relationship between high temperatures and riots, and so it is now in the unofficial first week of summer. Temperatures are rising and tempers are fraying.
Minneapolis is on fire. Turn on any television set in America and you'll see images of cars ablaze, of giant balls of flame erupting and plumes of black smoke blanketing a purple sky. Protesters hurl rocks at police. Grocery stores are being looted like Saddam Hussein's palace after the invasion of Iraq. Mobs have stormed into police headquarters, hurling rocks through the windows. Anarchy reigns and the words of Howard Beale, the fictional news anchor in Network, seem to hang in the air: "I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this any more."
When the coronavirus began spreading throughout the country, Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz invoked peacetime emergency powers to order his state's residents to stay at home. Now, in response to the riots, he has declared a state of emergency and sent in the National Guard to try to take back control of Minneapolis' streets.
Martin Luther King did not endorse violent protest but believed he understood what drove them. "A riot is the language of the unheard," he said in 1966.
Floyd's death touched a nerve in a way the 100,000 coronavirus deaths - private and out of sight - did not. Floyd's death was captured on video in excruciating detail.
At least briefly, his death appeared to pierce America's hyper-partisan divisions in a way the pandemic has not. Fox News host Sean Hannity, usually a law-and-order campaigner and fierce police defender, has excoriated the police officer who pressed his knee against Floyd's neck.
President Donald Trump said he had asked the Department of Justice and FBI to expedite inquiries into his death and said he didn't like what he saw on the video of Floyd's death.
But then came the arson and rioting, prompting Trump to threaten to seize control of Minneapolis. When "the looting starts, the shooting starts", he tweeted provocatively.
Recep Erdogan, Turkey's authoritarian strongman leader, also weighed in to say: "The racist and fascist approach that led to the death of George Floyd in the US city of Minneapolis as a result of torture has not only deeply saddened all of us, but it has also become one of the most painful manifestations of the unjust order we stand against across the world."
You'd laugh if it wasn't so demoralising.
America right now feels like the land of the angry and the home of the divided. A nation that is itself gasping for air.
- ◆ -
含注釋全文：
America at boiling point: how one death rocked a nation numbed by 100,000
The Sydney Morning Herald
Even the most patriotic American, deep in their heart, would struggle to feel proud of their country and optimistic about its future after this week.
1）表示「使木呆；使麻木」，英文解釋為「If an event or experience numbs you, you can no longer think clearly or feel any emotion.」舉個🌰：
For a while the shock of his letter numbed her.
收到他來信的驚愕讓她木呆了好一會兒。
2）表示「使失去知覺」，英文解釋為「If cold weather, a drug, or a blow numbs a part of your body, you can no longer feel anything in it.」舉個🌰：
The cold numbed my fingers.
寒冷使我的手指失去了知覺。
The Sydney Morning Herald 《雪梨先驅晨報》，herald /ˈhɛrəld/ 表示「預兆」，英文解釋為「Something that is a herald of a future event or situation is a sign that it is going to happen or appear.」舉個🌰：
I welcome the report as a herald of more freedom.
我歡迎這份報告，認為它預示著更多的自由。
1）表示「沸點」，英文解釋為「The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which it becomes a gas.」
2）表示「（事態的/人的憤怒情緒的）爆發點」，英文解釋為「the point when a situation is about to get out of control and become violent；the stage at which someone is about to become very angry」舉個🌰：
Racial tension has reached boiling point.
種族間的緊張狀態已達到一觸即發的程度。
📺美劇《奧維爾號》（Orville）中的臺詞提到：Commander, the delegates are at the boiling point. 字幕組就將其處理為：指揮官，代表們要掀房頂了。
🎬電影《校花我愛你》（I Love You, Beth Cooper）中的臺詞提到：Actually, the boiling point of water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit.. 事實上水燒開的溫度是華氏212度。
Consider the past few days. The country passed 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, more than anywhere else in the world. Unemployment claims hit a staggering 40 million, meaning one in four Americans has been laid off over the past three months. And then there was the shocking death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer pressed his knee into the man's neck, refusing to ease up even as he pleaded: "I can't breathe."
表示「（尤指向公司、政府等）索款，索賠」，英文解釋為「a request for a sum of money that you believe you have a right to, especially from a company, the government, etc.」舉個🌰：
You can make a claim on your insurance policy.
你可按保險單索賠。
表示「令人震驚的」，英文解釋為「Something that is staggering is very surprising.」如：a staggering $40 million in short- and long-term debt 令人震驚的四千萬美元的短長期債務。
表示「（被）解僱，下崗」，英文解釋為「If workers are laid off, they are told by their employers to leave their job, usually because there is no more work for them to do.」舉個🌰：
100,000 federal workers will be laid off.
10萬名聯邦工作人員將被解僱。
表示「懇求」，英文解釋為「If you plead with someone to do something, you ask them in an intense, emotional way to do it.」舉個🌰：
The lady pleaded with her daughter to come back home.
那位女士懇求她的女兒回家。
Eric Garner, a black man from New York, uttered the exact same words before he died after being held in a police chokehold in 2014.
表示「發出（聲音）；說」，英文解釋為「If someone utters sounds or words, they say them.」舉個🌰：
He uttered a snorting laugh.
他撲哧一聲笑了。
Slavery was America's original sin and the divide between white and black Americans remains one of the country's most glaring failures. The pandemic has exacerbated the country's existing racial inequalities: black Americans have died in disproportionate numbers from COVID-19 and have been hardest hit by the economic collapse. And now Floyd's death is the latest apparent example of the police brutality that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement seven years ago.
表示「原罪」，英文解釋為「According to some Christians, original sin is the wickedness that all human beings are born with, because the first human beings, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God.」
exacerbate /ɪɡˈzæsəˌbeɪt/ 表示「使…惡化」，英文解釋為「If something exacerbates a problem or bad situation, it makes it worse.」舉個🌰：
Longstanding poverty has been exacerbated by racial divisions.
由來已久的貧窮因種族分裂而更加惡化了。
表示「引發」，英文解釋為「If one thing sparks another, the first thing cause the second thing to start happening.」舉個🌰：
My teacher organized a unit on space exploration that really sparked my interest.
我的老師編排了一個關於太空探測的單元，它真正激發了我的興趣。
《後浪》和「青年」一文的標題中就用到：Bilibili's May 4th Youth Day video sparks discussion on social media 引發熱議。
類似的：
📍provoke也表示「激起，引起」，英文解釋為「to cause a reaction or feeling, especially a sudden one」，如：provoke debate/discussion 激起辯論/討論。
📍 stir up表示「激起（不快的情感）；挑起，煽動」，英文解釋為「to cause an unpleasant emotion or problem to begin or grow」，如：stir up some painful memories 勾起了一些痛苦的回憶，舉個🌰：
The teacher told him to stop stirring up trouble.
老師讓他不要再生事。
Sociologists have long tracked a relationship between high temperatures and riots, and so it is now in the unofficial first week of summer. Temperatures are rising and tempers are fraying.
1）表示「磨損」，英文解釋為「If something such as cloth or rope frays, or if something frays it, its threads or fibres start to come apart from each other and spoil its appearance.」舉個🌰：
The fabric is very fine or frays easily.
這種布料很細，或者說是容易磨損。
2）表示「煩躁」，英文解釋為「If your nerves or your temper fray, or if something frays them, you become nervous or easily annoyed because of mental strain and anxiety.」舉個🌰：
Tempers began to fray as the two teams failed to score.
兩隊都沒有得分，人們開始煩躁起來。
Minneapolis is on fire. Turn on any television set in America and you'll see images of cars ablaze, of giant balls of flame erupting and plumes of black smoke blanketing a purple sky. Protesters hurl rocks at police. Grocery stores are being looted like Saddam Hussein's palace after the invasion of Iraq. Mobs have stormed into police headquarters, hurling rocks through the windows. Anarchy reigns and the words of Howard Beale, the fictional news anchor in Network, seem to hang in the air: "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this any more."
Minneapolis 明尼阿波裡斯市，是美國明尼蘇達州（Minnesota）最大的城市。
1）表示「熊熊燃燒的」，英文解釋為「Something that is ablaze is burning very fiercely.」舉個🌰：
Stores, houses, and vehicles were set ablaze.
商店、房子和車輛被大火燒著了。
2）表示「光彩奪目的」，英文解釋為「If a place is ablaze with lights or colours, it is very bright because of them.」舉個🌰：
The chamber was ablaze with light.
該大廳當時燈火輝煌。
plume /pluːm/ 表示「一縷（煙霧、塵土等）；一股（水柱）；一道（火光）」，英文解釋為「A plume of smoke, dust, fire, or water is a large quantity of it that rises into the air in a column.」舉個🌰：
The rising plume of black smoke could be seen all over Hangzhou.
那股升起的黑煙整個杭州都可以看到。
這個詞最近才在「巴基斯坦墜機事故」機上2人倖存文中出現過，提到事故現場滾滾濃煙和殘骸灰燼加劇了救援的難度：Rescue efforts were made difficult by huge plumes of dust, smoke and heat from the crash on an already hot afternoon, along with narrow neighborhood streets.
🎬電影《堅強》（Strong）中的臺詞提到：Coming up in a big plume. 濃煙滾滾。
表示「覆蓋」，英文解釋為「If something such as snow blankets an area, it covers it.」舉個🌰：
More than a foot of snow blanketed parts of Minnesota.
一英尺多厚的白雪覆蓋了明尼蘇達州的部分地區。
表示「搶劫（商店或房屋）」，英文解釋為「If people loot, or loot stores or houses, they steal things from them, for example, during a war or riot.」舉個🌰：
Gangs began breaking windows and looting shops.
歹徒們開始砸櫥窗、搶商店。
表示「人群；（尤指）暴民」，英文解釋為「a large crowd of people, especially one that may become violent or cause trouble」舉個🌰：
The mob was/were preparing to storm the building.
聚集的人群準備猛攻大樓。
作動詞，表示「氣呼呼地疾走；闖；衝」，英文解釋為「to go somewhere quickly and in an angry, noisy way」舉個🌰：
She stormed into my office waving a newspaper.
她揮舞著一張報紙怒氣衝衝地闖進我的辦公室。
表示「無政府狀態；混亂；無法無天」，英文解釋為「If you describe a situation as anarchy, you mean that nobody seems to be paying any attention to rules or laws.」舉個🌰：
The school's liberal, individualistic traditions were in danger of slipping into anarchy.
這所學校的自由主義和個人主義的傳統有滑入無政府狀態的危險。
When the coronavirus began spreading throughout the country, Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz invoked peacetime emergency powers to order his state's residents to stay at home. Now, in response to the riots, he has declared a state of emergency and sent in the National Guard to try to take back control of Minneapolis' streets.
表示「求助於（法律）；援引，援用（法律、規則等作為行動理由）」，英文解釋為「If you invoke a law, you state that you are taking a particular action because that law allows or tells you to.」舉個🌰：
The judge invoked an international law that protects refugees.
法官援用了一項保護難民的國際法律。
Martin Luther King did not endorse violent protest but believed he understood what drove them. "A riot is the language of the unheard," he said in 1966.
表示「公開支持；贊同」，英文解釋為「If you endorse someone or something, you say publicly that you support or approve of them.」舉個🌰：
I can endorse their opinion wholeheartedly.
我可以全心全意地支持他們的觀點。
Floyd's death touched a nerve in a way the 100,000 coronavirus deaths - private and out of sight - did not. Floyd's death was captured on video in excruciating detail.
表示「觸及要害；觸動痛處」，英文解釋為「to mention a subject that makes sb feel angry, upset, embarrassed, etc.」舉個🌰：
You touched a raw nerve when you mentioned his first wife.
你談起他的第一個妻子，這就觸到了他的痛處。
表示「極痛苦的」，英文解釋為「If you describe something as excruciating, you are emphasizing that it is extremely painful, either physically or emotionally.」舉個🌰：
I was in excruciating pain and one leg wouldn't move.
我處於極度痛苦之中，一條腿動彈不了了。
At least briefly, his death appeared to pierce America's hyper-partisan divisions in a way the pandemic has not. Fox News host Sean Hannity, usually a law-and-order campaigner and fierce police defender, has excoriated the police officer who pressed his knee against Floyd's neck.
1）表示「扎；刺破；穿透」，英文解釋為「to make a small hole in sth, or to go through sth, with a sharp object」舉個🌰：
The arrow pierced his shoulder.
箭頭射入他的肩膀。
2）表示「刺破；穿過；透入」，英文解釋為「(of light, sound, etc.) to be suddenly seen or heard」舉個🌰：
Sirens pierced the silence of the night.
警笛聲劃破了夜晚的寧靜。
3）表示「衝破；突破」，英文解釋為「to force a way through a barrier」舉個🌰：
They failed to pierce the Liverpool defence.
他們未能突破利物浦隊的防線。
excoriate /ɪkˈskɔːrɪˌeɪt/ 表示「（公開）指責」，英文解釋為「To excoriate a person or organization means to criticize them severely, usually in public.」舉個🌰：
He proceeded to excoriate me in front of the nurses.
他繼續在這些護士們面前指責我。
President Donald Trump said he had asked the Department of Justice and FBI to expedite inquiries into his death and said he didn't like what he saw on the video of Floyd's death.
expedite /ˈɛkspɪˌdaɪt/ 表示「加快」，英文解釋為「If you expedite something, you cause it to be done more quickly.」舉個🌰：
We tried to help you expedite your plans.
我們試圖幫你加快你的計劃。
But then came the arson and rioting, prompting Trump to threaten to seize control of Minneapolis. When "the looting starts, the shooting starts", he tweeted provocatively.
表示「縱火（罪）」，英文解釋為「Arson is the crime of deliberately setting fire to a building or vehicle.」如：a terrible wave of theft and arson. 一波可怕的盜竊和縱火事件。
Recep Erdogan, Turkey's authoritarian strongman leader, also weighed in to say: "The racist and fascist approach that led to the death of George Floyd in the US city of Minneapolis as a result of torture has not only deeply saddened all of us, but it has also become one of the most painful manifestations of the unjust order we stand against across the world."
表示「（在討論、辯論等中）發表有分量的意見，發揮作用」，英文解釋為「to join in a discussion, an argument, an activity, etc. by saying sth important, persuading sb, or doing sth to help」舉個🌰：
We all weighed in with our suggestions.
我們都提出了建議。
1）表示「拷打；拷問；酷刑」，英文解釋為「the act of causing sb severe pain in order to punish them or make them say or do sth」舉個🌰：
Many of the refugees have suffered torture.
許多難民都遭受過拷打。
2）表示「（精神上或肉體上的）折磨，痛苦；折磨人的事物」，英文解釋為「mental or physical suffering; sth that causes this」舉個🌰：
The interview was sheer torture from start to finish.
這次面試從頭至尾使人備受煎熬。
You'd laugh if it wasn't so demoralising.
America right now feels like the land of the angry and the home of the divided. A nation that is itself gasping for air.
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