Police fired tear gas and arrested more than 5,000 passively resisting protestors Friday in an attempt to break up the largest antinuclear demonstration ever staged in the United States. More than 135,000 demonstrators confronted police on the construction site of a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant scheduled to provide power to most of southern New Hampshire. Organizers of the huge demonstration said, the protest was continuing despite the police actions. More demonstrators were arriving to keep up the pressure on state authorities to cancel the project. The demonstrator had charged that the project was unsafe in the densely populated area, would create thermal pollution in the bay, and had no acceptable means for disposing of its radioactive wasters. The demonstrations would go on until the jails and the courts were so overloaded that the state judicial system would collapse.
Governor Stanforth Thumper insisted that there would be no reconsideration of the power project and no delay in its construction set for completion in three years. “This project will begin on time and the people of this state will begin to receive its benefits on schedule. Those who break the law in misguided attempts to sabotage the project will be dealt with according to the law,” he said. And police called in reinforcements from all over the state to handle the disturbances.
The protests began before dawn Friday when several thousand demonstrators broke through police lines around the cordoned-off construction site. They carried placards that read “No Nukes is Good Nukes,” “Sunpower, Not Nuclear Power,” and “Stop Private Profits from Public Peril.” They defied police order to move from the area. Tear gas canisters fired by police failed to dislodge the protestors who had come prepared with their own gas masks or facecloths. Finally gas-masked and helmeted police charged into the crowd to drag off the demonstrators one by one. The protestors did not resist police, but refused to walk away under their own power. Those arrested would be charged with unlawful assembly, trespassing, and disturbing the peace.
1. What were the demonstrators protesting about?
[A] Private profits.
[B] Nuclear Power Station.
[C] The project of nuclear power construction.
[D] Public peril.
2. Who had gas-masks?
[A] Everybody.
[B] A part of the protestors.
[C] Policemen.
[D] Both B and C.
3. Which of the following was NOT mentioned as a reason for the demonstration?
[A] Public transportation.
[B] Public peril.
[C] Pollution.
[D] Disposal of wastes.
4. With whom were the jails and courts overloaded?
[A] With prisoners.
[B] With arrested demonstrators.
[C] With criminals.
[D] With protestors.
5. What is the attitude of Governor Stanforth Thumper toward the power project and the demonstration?
[A] stubborn.
[B] insistent.
[C] insolvable.
[D] remissible.
Vocabulary
1.reverse 逆轉
2.slide 滑坡
3.plague 瘟疫；折磨，困擾
4.tariff 關稅
5.decry 譴責，詆毀
6.lever 杠桿；用杠桿撬動
7.crux 癥結
8.ideologue 空想家，思想家
9.intact 原封不動的，完整無損的
10.investment credit 投資信貸
11.research grant 研究基金
難句譯注
1.Police fired tear gas and arrested more than 5，000 passively resisting protestors Friday in an attempt to break up the largest antinuclear demonstration ever staged in the United States.
「結構簡析」句中間用in an attempt介詞短語和staged分詞使句子變長。Staged修飾demonstration.
「參考譯文」星期五，再制止美國舉行過的最大的反核示威游行中，警方發放了催淚瓦斯，逮捕了5000多不拒捕的抗議者，企圖解散游行隊伍。
2. The protests began before dawn Friday when several thousand demonstrators broke through police lines around the cordoned-off construction site.
「結構簡析」主從句。
「參考譯文」星期五拂曉之前，當好幾千名示威者沖破警戒再核建設基地周圍的警察封鎖線時，抗議示威開始了。
寫作方法與文章大意
這是一則有關反對核電站的群眾示威抗議的新聞導報，采用對比手法。警方鎮壓；群眾堅決抗議。第一段就寫出了盡管警方釋放催淚瓦斯，逮捕了5000多人，示威組織者申明抗議要繼續下去，越來越多的抗議者參與對當局加壓，想迫使其廢除在當地建立核電站的計劃。其理由是在人口密集地區建站不安全，在海灣產生熱污染，核廢料處理無有效方法。第二段敘述了州長大人堅決維護核電站的立場，不再考慮計劃修改問題，三年內要完成核電站建設。屆時，本州人民得益。對企圖破壞計劃實施而違法的人將以法處置。已集結全州警察加強對付這次搗亂。第三段講了雙方現場交戰：星期五破曉，數千示威者（高舉示威牌，上寫：沒有核電站就是好的核電站；不要核能，要太陽能等）沖過建設基地警察警戒線，警察用催淚瓦斯無效后，開始一個一個地抓逮示威者，被捕者將被控以非法集會、侵入和擾亂治安等罪名。
答案詳解
1. C 抗議建設核電站計劃。不是抗議核電站。至于B. 核電站還未建，所以不對。
A. 私人利益 和 D. 公共危險，這些都是示威牌上之口號不是抗議的主攻方向。
2. D 雙方。 最后一段第四行最后和第五行“抗議者準備了他們自己的防毒面具或面罩。最后，頭戴防毒面具和頭盔的警察沖進人群一個一個地抓逮示威者。”所以說兩方面都有防毒面具。
3. A 公共交通運輸。
B. 公共危險。
C. 污染。
D. 廢料處理，是三個抗議的理由。
4. B 被逮捕的示威者。第一段最后一行“示威要繼續下去直到州監牢和州法庭人滿為患，從而使州司法體系垮臺。”說明示威者準備去坐牢，決不服輸的決心。而人多到監牢裝不下證明州司法的問題。所以這里只能是被抓的示威者。
A. 犯人。
C. 罪犯。
D.抗議者。警察不可能抓所有的抗議者。關在牢里的只能是被抓的示威者。
5. A 固執己見，冥頑不化。見第二段他堅持說核電站計劃不用再考慮，三年內一定要建成，計劃準時開始，本州人民到時候就能獲益。對這些違法企圖破壞計劃的人依法懲處。并且從州內各處調集警察來處理這次“騷亂“。從語言到行動都說明，這位州長固執己見，頑固得很。
B. 堅持的。
C. 不能解決的。
D. 可寬恕的。
