3 A BURNING IN ALABAMA

The savage1 murder of a gay man stuns2 a state where hate-crime laws do not protect homosexuals

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 pointed3 out Sylacauga on a map. A tiny city of 13,000, halfway4 between Birmingham and Montgomery, Sylacauga was known for its white marble quarries5, textile mills and ice-cream factory. But last week Sylacauga, like Jasper, became a chapter in the recent history of hatred6.

According to police, Steven Eric Mullins, 25, and Charles Monroe Butler Jr., 21, plotted for two weeks to murder Billy Jack7 Gaither, 39. On Feb. 19, they arranged to meet him at a Sylacauga bar and lured8 him to a secluded9 area. There they beat him and dumped him into the trunk of his car. They then drove about 15 miles to Peckerwood Creek10 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 orientation11 as well. It's unfortunate that somebody had to lose his life in order for this legislation to pick up momentum12 here in the state of Alabama, says state Representative Alvin Holmes, who failed to get the original law amended13 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 outrage14. 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 dispositions15. And friends dispute Mullins' and Butler's allegations that a sexual proposition incited16 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, activists17 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：本文選自By Sylvester Monroe Time; 03/15/99, Vol. 153 Issue 10, p47, 2/3p, 3c, 1bw

注：本文習題命題模仿對象2003年考試真題 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, Gaithers death ________.

[A]aroused peoples sympathy for the gay

[B] sharpened peoples awareness18

[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 shouldnt 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

篇章分析

本文使用提出問題-----剖析問題的模式。第一段和第二段提出問題，詳細講解一塊同性戀謀殺案的發生經過。第三段和第四段指出被害人的死導致的影響和反應。第五段指出激進分子的做法及其影響。

詞語注解

homosexual[hEJmEJ5sekFJEl] n.同性戀

echo[`ekEJ]vt.摹仿, 重復

rallying [5rAlIN]point n.聚集點,號召力

legislator[5ledVIsleItE]n.立法者

momentum[mEJ5mentEm]n.動力, 要點

in the wake of adv.尾隨, 緊跟, 仿效

lynching[`lIntFIN]n.處私刑

allegation[AlI5^eIFn]n.倡導，斷言, 辯解

offensive[E5fensIv]n.進攻, 攻勢

grass-roots[`^rB:s`rU:ts;`^rAs-]adj.一般民眾的, 由鄉間民間來進行的

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：Gaithers death has become a rallying point

結構剖析：在for引導的介詞短語中，that引導定語從句來修飾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利組織和州立法委員強烈需要通過一項議案的號召力。這項議案或許會將阿拉巴馬推行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的罪行也包含在反對之列。

題目剖析

1.答案為C，屬推理判斷題。選項A，B，D都是細節問題，在文中都可找到對應的信息。選項C總結了前兩段的內容。

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

2.案為B ，屬情感態度題。文中對應信息是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肯定的影響，卻還沒肯定的改觀。

5.答案為C，屬主旨大意題。要綜觀全文，不要遭到一些細節方面的干擾。

參考譯文

阿拉巴馬焚尸案

男同性戀殘忍被害案震撼了整個州這個州的反仇視罪法不保護同性戀

這樁慘案在市參議會議長喬治卡爾頓的家鄉阿拉巴馬州錫拉科加被公諸于眾后，他如此對記者說：這個地方不應該發生如此的事。他是在重復一年前在德克薩斯州杰士伯說過的話。幾乎無人聽說過杰士伯這個地方。一周以前，甚至無人能在地圖上找出錫拉科加的地方。錫拉科加是一座擁有13,000人口的小鎮，坐落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近期發生仇視事件的光榮榜。

據警方說，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秘密謀劃了兩周時間。2月19日那天，他們先安排與他在錫拉科加的一個夜店見面，然后把他騙到一個隱蔽的地址。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汽車輪胎。不拉德利說：點燃汽車輪胎后，他們就把尸體放到了火上燒。副警長說，這兩個人如此做只不過由于蓋瑟是同性戀。

蓋瑟的死成了爭取同性戀權利組織和州立法委員強烈需要通過一項議案的號召力。這項議案或許會將阿拉巴馬推行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的罪行也包含在反對之列。州議員阿爾文福爾摩斯說：非得用某人的死來在這兒，在阿拉巴馬州獲得使某項法律得以通過的動力實在是件讓人遺憾的事。去年10月，懷俄明州發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生遭人毒打，眼睜睜地看著他死在圍墻上。這件事發生之后，福爾摩斯曾建議擴展這一法律的范圍。甚至在謝巴德讓人用私刑處死之后，懷俄明州也沒能通過反仇視罪法。盡管蓋瑟不聲不響地維持著南方人的性格特點，但他跟謝巴德一樣，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：不管他的個生活活或其它方面如何，他都不應該為此而被處死。

大家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，特遣隊將發動一場平等從家庭開始的運動。他們采集了50個州250樁發生在基層的事件，目的在于敦促議會通過反暴力對待同性戀法。科納緹說：這類法律反映了一個社區的正義感，并傳達了一條要緊的信息。特遣隊政策研究所所長吾爾瓦西瓦伊德覺得，3月事件會使那些關心被剝奪了基本人權鄰居的正直人參與其中。瓦伊德還說：這不止是一件同性戀的事情。