“我不能呼吸了”美国警察暴力执法致黑人死亡
近日，美国明尼苏达州（Minnesota）发生一起警察暴力执法案件，引发广泛关注。一名黑人男子被该州警察跪压7分钟后不幸身亡。在这一过程中，男子甚至说出“我不能呼吸了！（I can't breathe）”，而执法警察没有理会。
无注释原文：
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.
- ◆ -
含注释全文：
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.
numb
1）表示“使木呆；使麻木”，英文解释为“If an event or experience numbs you, you can no longer think clearly or feel any emotion.”举个🌰：
For a while the shock of his letter numbed her.
收到他来信的惊愕让她木呆了好一会儿。
2）表示“使失去知觉”，英文解释为“If cold weather, a drug, or a blow numbs a part of your body, you can no longer feel anything in it.”举个🌰：
The cold numbed my fingers.
寒冷使我的手指失去了知觉。
herald
The Sydney Morning Herald 《悉尼先驱晨报》，herald /ˈhɛrəld/ 表示“预兆”，英文解释为“Something that is a herald of a future event or situation is a sign that it is going to happen or appear.”举个🌰：
I welcome the report as a herald of more freedom.
我欢迎这份报告，认为它预示着更多的自由。
boiling point
1）表示“沸点”，英文解释为“The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which it becomes a gas.”
2）表示“（事态的/人的愤怒情绪的）爆发点”，英文解释为“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”举个🌰：
Racial tension has reached boiling point.
种族间的紧张状态已达到一触即发的程度。
📺美剧《奥维尔号》（Orville）中的台词提到：Commander, the delegates are at the boiling point. 字幕组就将其处理为：指挥官，代表们要掀房顶了。
🎬电影《校花我爱你》（I Love You, Beth Cooper）中的台词提到：Actually, the boiling point of water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit.. 事实上水烧开的温度是华氏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."
claim
表示“（尤指向公司、政府等）索款，索赔”，英文解释为“a request for a sum of money that you believe you have a right to, especially from a company, the government, etc.”举个🌰：
You can make a claim on your insurance policy.
你可按保险单索赔。
staggering
表示“令人震惊的”，英文解释为“Something that is staggering is very surprising.”如：a staggering $40 million in short- and long-term debt 令人震惊的四千万美元的短长期债务。
be laid off
表示“（被）解雇，下岗”，英文解释为“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.”举个🌰：
100,000 federal workers will be laid off.
10万名联邦工作人员将被解雇。
plead
表示“恳求”，英文解释为“If you plead with someone to do something, you ask them in an intense, emotional way to do it.”举个🌰：
The lady pleaded with her daughter to come back home.
那位女士恳求她的女儿回家。
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.
utter /ˈʌtə/
表示“发出（声音）；说”，英文解释为“If someone utters sounds or words, they say them.”举个🌰：
He uttered a snorting laugh.
他扑哧一声笑了。
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.
original sin
表示“原罪”，英文解释为“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
exacerbate /ɪɡˈzæsəˌbeɪt/ 表示“使…恶化”，英文解释为“If something exacerbates a problem or bad situation, it makes it worse.”举个🌰：
Longstanding poverty has been exacerbated by racial divisions.
由来已久的贫穷因种族分裂而更加恶化了。
spark
表示“引发”，英文解释为“If one thing sparks another, the first thing cause the second thing to start happening.”举个🌰：
My teacher organized a unit on space exploration that really sparked my interest.
我的老师编排了一个关于太空探测的单元，它真正激发了我的兴趣。
《后浪》和「青年」一文的标题中就用到：Bilibili's May 4th Youth Day video sparks discussion on social media 引发热议。
类似的：
📍provoke也表示“激起，引起”，英文解释为“to cause a reaction or feeling, especially a sudden one”，如：provoke debate/discussion 激起辩论/讨论。
📍 stir up表示“激起（不快的情感）；挑起，煽动”，英文解释为“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忆，举个🌰：
The teacher told him to stop stirring up trouble.
老师让他不要再生事。
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.
fray /freɪ/
1）表示“磨损”，英文解释为“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.”举个🌰：
The fabric is very fine or frays easily.
这种布料很细，或者说是容易磨损。
2）表示“烦躁”，英文解释为“If your nerves or your temper fray, or if something frays them, you become nervous or easily annoyed because of mental strain and anxiety.”举个🌰：
Tempers began to fray as the two teams failed to score.
两队都没有得分，人们开始烦躁起来。
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 明尼阿波里斯市，是美国明尼苏达州（Minnesota）最大的城市。
ablaze
1）表示“熊熊燃烧的”，英文解释为“Something that is ablaze is burning very fiercely.”举个🌰：
Stores, houses, and vehicles were set ablaze.
商店、房子和车辆被大火烧着了。
2）表示“光彩夺目的”，英文解释为“If a place is ablaze with lights or colours, it is very bright because of them.”举个🌰：
The chamber was ablaze with light.
该大厅当时灯火辉煌。
plumes of
plume /pluːm/ 表示“一缕（烟雾、尘土等）；一股（水柱）；一道（火光）”，英文解释为“A plume of smoke, dust, fire, or water is a large quantity of it that rises into the air in a column.”举个🌰：
The rising plume of black smoke could be seen all over Hangzhou.
那股升起的黑烟整个杭州都可以看到。
这个词最近才在「巴基斯坦坠机事故」机上2人幸存文中出现过，提到事故现场滚滚浓烟和残骸灰烬加剧了救援的难度：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.
🎬电影《坚强》（Strong）中的台词提到：Coming up in a big plume. 浓烟滚滚。
blanket
表示“覆盖”，英文解释为“If something such as snow blankets an area, it covers it.”举个🌰：
More than a foot of snow blanketed parts of Minnesota.
一英尺多厚的白雪覆盖了明尼苏达州的部分地区。
loot /luːt/
表示“抢劫（商店或房屋）”，英文解释为“If people loot, or loot stores or houses, they steal things from them, for example, during a war or riot.”举个🌰：
Gangs began breaking windows and looting shops.
歹徒们开始砸橱窗、抢商店。
mob
表示“人群；（尤指）暴民”，英文解释为“a large crowd of people, especially one that may become violent or cause trouble”举个🌰：
The mob was/were preparing to storm the building.
聚集的人群准备猛攻大楼。
storm
作动词，表示“气呼呼地疾走；闯；冲”，英文解释为“to go somewhere quickly and in an angry, noisy way”举个🌰：
She stormed into my office waving a newspaper.
她挥舞着一张报纸怒气冲冲地闯进我的办公室。
anarchy /ˈænəkɪ/
表示“无政府状态；混乱；无法无天”，英文解释为“If you describe a situation as anarchy, you mean that nobody seems to be paying any attention to rules or laws.”举个🌰：
The school's liberal, individualistic traditions were in danger of slipping into anarchy.
这所学校的自由主义和个人主义的传统有滑入无政府状态的危险。
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.
invoke
表示“求助于（法律）；援引，援用（法律、规则等作为行动理由）”，英文解释为“If you invoke a law, you state that you are taking a particular action because that law allows or tells you to.”举个🌰：
The judge invoked an international law that protects refugees.
法官援用了一项保护难民的国际法律。
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.
endorse
表示“公开支持；赞同”，英文解释为“If you endorse someone or something, you say publicly that you support or approve of them.”举个🌰：
I can endorse their opinion wholeheartedly.
我可以全心全意地支持他们的观点。
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.
hit/touch a nerve
表示“触及要害；触动痛处”，英文解释为“to mention a subject that makes sb feel angry, upset, embarrassed, etc.”举个🌰：
You touched a raw nerve when you mentioned his first wife.
你谈起他的第一个妻子，这就触到了他的痛处。
excruciating
表示“极痛苦的”，英文解释为“If you describe something as excruciating, you are emphasizing that it is extremely painful, either physically or emotionally.”举个🌰：
I was in excruciating pain and one leg wouldn't move.
我处于极度痛苦之中，一条腿动弹不了了。
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.
pierce /pɪəs/
1）表示“扎；刺破；穿透”，英文解释为“to make a small hole in sth, or to go through sth, with a sharp object”举个🌰：
The arrow pierced his shoulder.
箭头射入他的肩膀。
2）表示“刺破；穿过；透入”，英文解释为“(of light, sound, etc.) to be suddenly seen or heard”举个🌰：
Sirens pierced the silence of the night.
警笛声划破了夜晚的宁静。
3）表示“冲破；突破”，英文解释为“to force a way through a barrier”举个🌰：
They failed to pierce the Liverpool defence.
他们未能突破利物浦队的防线。
excoriate
excoriate /ɪkˈskɔːrɪˌeɪt/ 表示“（公开）指责”，英文解释为“To excoriate a person or organization means to criticize them severely, usually in public.”举个🌰：
He proceeded to excoriate me in front of the nurses.
他继续在这些护士们面前指责我。
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
expedite /ˈɛkspɪˌdaɪt/ 表示“加快”，英文解释为“If you expedite something, you cause it to be done more quickly.”举个🌰：
We tried to help you expedite your plans.
我们试图帮你加快你的计划。
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.
arson
表示“纵火（罪）”，英文解释为“Arson is the crime of deliberately setting fire to a building or vehicle.”如：a terrible wave of theft and arson. 一波可怕的盗窃和纵火事件。
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."
weigh in
表示“（在讨论、辩论等中）发表有分量的意见，发挥作用”，英文解释为“to join in a discussion, an argument, an activity, etc. by saying sth important, persuading sb, or doing sth to help”举个🌰：
We all weighed in with our suggestions.
我们都提出了建议。
torture
1）表示“拷打；拷问；酷刑”，英文解释为“the act of causing sb severe pain in order to punish them or make them say or do sth”举个🌰：
Many of the refugees have suffered torture.
许多难民都遭受过拷打。
2）表示“（精神上或肉体上的）折磨，痛苦；折磨人的事物”，英文解释为“mental or physical suffering; sth that causes this”举个🌰：
The interview was sheer torture from start to finish.
这次面试从头至尾使人备受煎熬。
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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