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《老无所依》精讲之一
[ 2008-03-04 17:41 ]

 

影片对白 Told me that he'd been planning to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember.

 

专题推荐:2008年“两会”英语学习专题

 

文化面面观

电椅死刑的历史

美国是现在世界上唯一采用电椅处死的国家(菲律宾因被美国占领过,也采用过这种方法)。电椅是1888年在纽约率先被采用的,请注意,电灯是1879年在纽约被发明的,两者只相隔9年。这就是说,电椅也是人类最早的电力应用之一。电椅是由爱迪生公司推出的,而他推出电椅的动机,居然是推广直流电。

欧洲最早处死犯人的方法是绞刑(Hanging),法国大革命期间因为觉得绞死太慢,就发明了断头台(Guillotine)。不过,美国从来没有采用过断头台,一直是绞刑。小说《红字》里,一个重要的场景就是绞刑台。

到了19世纪后期,美国人开始觉得绞刑太残酷了。比如,有一个犯人在绞架上整整挣扎了15分钟,令所有在场的人备受折磨。1886年,纽约市成立了一个委员会,寻找处死犯人的新方法,而且马上就要采用。

爱迪生觉得这是一个推广电力的好机会。由于他使用的是直流电(DC),而另一位发明家George Westinghouse使用的是交流电(AC),两者存在竞争。他觉得可以用交流电去处死犯人,从而告诉公众交流电是多么危险,从而转而使用直流电。他和助手用小动物做试验,到处展示,表明交流电击是一种迅捷有效的处死方法。

1888年,纽约州同意采用电椅。1890年8月6日,William Kemmler成为第一个被电椅处死的犯人。下图就是历史上第一张电椅(它被叫做Kemmler电椅),以及当时的情景。

 
 

此后,美国各州相继采用这种方法。它成为美国主要的死刑方法。

从80年代中后期开始,越来越多的人觉得电椅过于残酷,从而要求取消它。如果你看过电影《Greenmile》,就知道这是千真万确的事实。现在,注射(Lethal Injection)已经成为美国主要的死刑执行方法。

但是,电椅并没有消失。在Alabama、Florida、South Carolina、Virginia州,犯人可以自行选择电椅还是注射,在Nebraska州电椅是唯一的死刑方法。在Kentucky和Tennessee州,1998年前犯罪的犯人适用电椅。在Illinois、Oklahoma和Florida州,电椅只是理论上的死刑方法。这样,美国现在还保留电椅的州一共11个。美国上一个被电椅处死的人是James Neil Tucker,2004年5月在South Carolina。

下图上,深绿色区域是现在还有电椅的州,浅绿色区域为历史上用过电椅,现在已经不再用的州。

(来源:阮一峰的网络日志,有改动)

影片简介

No Country For Old Men

is a 2007 film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name. Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen wrote and directed it for a 2007 release. The title is from the first line of W. B. Yeats' poem "Sailing to Byzantium".

Llewellyn Moss is an antelope hunter and Vietnam War veteran who stumbles across the aftermath of a drug-related gun battle which has left everyone dead save a single badly wounded Mexican. Moss finds a truck full of heroin and a satchel with $2.4 million in cash. He takes the money, but leaves the Mexican alive, which ignites a hunt for Moss that stretches for most of the remaining novel.

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell investigates the drug crime while trying to protect Moss and his young wife with the aid of other law enforcement. The sheriff is haunted by his actions in World War II, for which he received the Bronze Star Medal. Now in his late 50s, Bell has spent most of his life attempting to make up for the incident when he was a 21 year-old soldier. He makes it his quest to resolve the case and save Moss.

Complicating things is the arrival of Anton Chigurh, a violent sociopath hired to recover the money. Chigurh uses a captive bolt pistol (called a cattlegun in the text) to kill many of his victims and destroy several cylinder locks to open doors. In one of his final murders described in the book, he gives a long speech about causality and fate to his victim. Wells, a rival hitman and ex-partner of Chigurh, is also on the trail of the money.

Things turn dangerous when various men, ranging from ruthless freelancers to ex-Special Forces members, turn up to find out the truth and destroy all evidence.

考考你

用今日所学将下面的句子译成英语。

1. 投票者们正在评价协会的要求。

2. 约翰曾给我写信讲他的新生儿。

Juno《朱诺》精讲之六 考考你 参考答案

1. 替补四分卫被叫上场比赛,他却胆怯了拒绝参加。

The backup quarterback was called into the game, but he got cold feet and refused to go in.

2. 我从机场回到家,便一下瘫倒在离我最近的沙发上了。

When I got home from the airport, I flaked out in the nearest armchair.

3. 这个计划已经决定了。

This plan has been set in stone.

 

影片对白 Told me that he'd been planning to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember.

 

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(英语点津Annabel编辑)

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