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[阅读小分队] 【Native Speaker每日综合训练】 【40-D】 一周精选 - Marijuana Policy Project

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发表于 2014-8-27 22:09:29 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
本期选文来自本期选文来自 小蘑菇开始打怪 的40-15 越障部分 原文链接:http://forum.chasedream.com/thread-915908-1-1.html

我一般很少选这种对话比较多的文章,因为感觉跟GMAT选文有一定差距,大家应该没有看过对话很多的GMAT原文吧,但是这篇在我看完之后毅然决定做为本周的精选,原因有二个,第一,虽然对话多,但是是一篇很典型的Argument,双方就一个问题进行激烈争论,各自陈述自己的理由和看法,而且有些用词很值得我们记住;第二,时效性非常好,小东东应该还没有出来,小房房还不知道能不能出来;let's get start it


Marijuana Policy Project looks to legalize pot in South Portland, York, Lewiston

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Marijuana Policy Project will launch new efforts to legalize recreational marijuana use this fall in Lewiston, South Portland and York, a move that leaders in two of those cities said caught them to some degree off guard.

标题里就有一个词需要先解释一下,pot,背过GMAT单词的都知道这是用来烧水的壶,pots and pans,但pot还有一个informal的用法,= marijuana
这个故事发生在缅因州,MPP在三个城市(注意其中一个不是波特兰,是南波特兰)发动了娱乐性大麻合法化的努力,这让其中两个城市的老大感到措手不及
Caught to off guard:使人感到措手不及


While South Portland Police Chief Edward Googins said he has suspected since election night in November 2013 that his city could be the next battleground in the legalization debate, officials in York and Lewiston said Tuesday that they were surprised by the news.

首先出场的是南波特兰市的公安局长爱德华,表示了自己自从2013年就担心自己的城市会成为争论的战场。这位局长真是一点霸气都木有,放在天朝有哪位局长大人会担心自己的城市怎么怎么样,真是连我们这的村长都“不如”

David Boyer, Maine’s political director for the national Marijuana Policy Project, said Tuesday that his organization will attempt to put a marijuana legalization question on ballots in all three municipalities through local citizen petitions. He said the question his group hopes to put to voters will be similar to a local ordinance passed in Portland last November that legalizes possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana by adults.

“Our point really is to keep the discussion going and to show that this wasn’t something just unique to Portland,” said Boyer. “We think that Mainers across the state believe that adults shouldn’t be punished for marijuana possession.”

紧接着,MPP的头头大卫登场了,表示将会把大麻合法化的问题通过当地请愿来举行投票。大卫表示提出的问题将会和之前成功将成人拥有2.5盎司大麻合法化一样。大卫鸡冻的表示“我们希望这个讨论要继续,成年人不应该因为拥有大麻而受惩罚”
Ballot: the system of voting in writing and usually in secret
Petition: a written document signed by a large number of people that asks sb in a position of authority to do or change sth
Ordinance: an order or a rule made by a government or sb in a position of authority


Boyer said seeking legalization in York, South Portland and Lewiston is an effort to further gauge Mainers’ attitude toward lifting legal prohibitions against marijuana use and to force debate of the issue in this year’s gubernatorial and legislative election campaigns.

Boyer said he expects another attempt to legalize marijuana statewide in the Legislature next year — a tax-and-regulate measure failed last year — and if that doesn’t work, his organization will try to gather enough signatures to force a statewide vote in 2016. However, he said he doesn’t expect the Marijuana Policy Project to take its fight to any municipalities past the three targeted this year.

“I think there’s a good shot at passing something via the Legislature, but I wouldn’t expect any more local initiatives after this year given that there’s a lot of work to be done for the statewide initiative on top of the lobbying effort next year in Augusta,” he said.

Asked how his organization chose the communities to target, Boyer said South Portland neighbors Portland, York is close to possible future initiatives in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and that Lewiston is viewed as a battleground in the governor’s race.

大卫(Boyer是他的姓,所以这里是同一个人,换了个名字,大家要习惯记住人名,这样理解文章会更加准确)继续表示这一行动是为了探查缅因州的态度以及为这一问题在今年的州长及立法选举活动造势。他说这是为了明年立法而进行的另一次尝试,但不希望通过任何暴力行为来达到这一目的。大卫认为通过立法是一个好的尝试,但对今年并不抱太大希望,因为还有很多的工作要做。
我觉得这一段是一个很容易出题的地方:大卫赞同用什么手段达到大麻合法化或者今年大卫期待的结果是什么等等
Gubernatorial:(formal) connected with the job of state governor in the US
Lobby: to try to influence a politician or the government and persuade them to support or oppose a change in the law


Lewiston Mayor Bob Macdonald, a former drug detective who said he is “totally against” marijuana legalization, said he first heard that the debate was coming to Lewiston on Tuesday afternoon. He said he thought Lewiston is on the list because of unfair assumptions about the state’s second-largest city.

“I would say it’s because we have this reputation which is basically kind of untrue, like we’re the sin city of Maine,” said Macdonald. “Actually we’re pretty tame here now. We’re out there, cracking down on drug use and our Police Department is doing an excellent job.”

York Town Manager Robert Yandow said he also heard the news Tuesday morning. He doesn’t know how York residents or selectmen will react.

“I was surprised when I heard the intent that York was one of the communities selected,” he said. “York was selected because of its proximity to Massachusetts and New Hampshire. … We’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.”

接着又有新人物出现,利文斯顿市长麦当劳同学(是的,你没有看错,就是麦当劳,不要笑了,这是一个正儿八经的last name好嘛),一位前缉毒侦探,表示完全反对大麻合法,表发表了慷概激昂的陈词:“我们被选中是因为大家都以为我们这是缅因州的犯罪之都,其实你们都错了,我们这好的很,非常平淡(tame),我们正在远离毒品,我们的公安局的KPI都完成的非常的好。”
同时,来自约克的罗伯特也表示了我们为什么会被选中。。。
Crack down:severe action taken to restrict the activities of criminals or of people opposed to the government


Googins, South Portland’s police chief, said he will lobby strenuously against the measure.

“I will, within my powers as chief of police, do what I can to make sure the public is informed of why it’s a bad idea,” he said. “The local initiatives in my opinion are just an effort … to chip away at the illegalization of the drug at the present time. … Marijuana is clearly a gateway drug and I’ve seen in my long career in law enforcement the negative impact it has on people from Maine, primarily the young people.”

这时候Googins又跳出来了(看吧,又开始玩换名字这招,其实这货就是第二段就出现的公安局长爱德华)表示将会竭尽所能告诉公众这是一个坏主意,在我看来这样的本地自主性正在致力于将毒品的非法化慢慢损害,你们不知道大麻这玩意儿是多么的有害,尤其是对于青少年
Local initiative: 当地自主化
Chip away at: keeping breaking small pieces off sth


Scott Gagnon, a volunteer state coordinator for SAM Maine, which is an offshoot of the national Project SAM, or Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said his organization’s chief concern is the spread of a perception, especially among youth, that marijuana is harmless. He said he expects statewide legalizations in Colorado and Washington state will provide fodder for his argument.

“Now that Colorado has opened up their [marijuana] shops, I think we’re going to learn what is the true impact,” said Gagnon, who added that SAM Maine has active members in South Portland, York and Lewiston and will vigorously oppose the ordinance change attempts. “We’re already starting to see some issues in Colorado. I don’t think [more widespread legalization] is a foregone conclusion if we learn from Colorado and Washington.”

继续新人物,斯科特,缅因州SAM计划的人,说他最大的担忧就是这种debate会给青少年传播大麻无害的概念。并表示科罗拉多和华盛顿就是前车之鉴。(provide fodder for his argument)科罗拉多在开了大麻店之后已经出现了一些问题,这理应给我们启示。
我觉得这里是一个很容易出infrence题型的地方,例如可以问你请问下列哪种情况是科罗拉多州可能出现的:A 大麻给当地医疗事业做出了贡献,B 大麻店解决了就业问题,C 学生吸食大麻数量增加 (好吧,再次自嘈一下自己的出题水平)


Paul McCarrier of Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine continued his long-standing opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana.
“It will just raise more issues for medical marijuana patients,” he said. “It will dilute the arguments of those who need it. … Philosophically, we’re not opposed to legalization but the devil is in the details.”

除了政治人物,医学界人士也表示了反对,认为大麻合法化会给大麻医用带来更多的问题。这会给那些需要大麻的人也带来问题。从哲学上讲,我们并不对反对合法化,但问题往往不是事件本身,而是出现细节(执行)上。

U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, and independent Eliot Cutler, who are the leading opponents to Republican Gov. Paul LePage in the 2014 governor’s race, said in written statements to the BDN on Tuesday that they have concerns about the spreading legalization of marijuana, but neither said whether he supports it. The LePage administration did not respond to a request for comment.

Cutler said if he were governor he’d appoint a task force to advise the executive branch about statewide legalization, including how marijuana would be taxed and regulated and kept out of the hands of children and adolescents.

“My biggest concern with legalizing marijuana is that it could send a message to our kids that drug use is OK,” said Cutler.
Michaud spokeswoman Lizzy Reinholt said Michaud also said his chief concern is how marijuana legalization affects children and young adults.

“He has spoken briefly with Gov. [John] Hickenlooper in Colorado and believes that there are important lessons that Maine should consider as other states go through the process of legalization that should inform what we do in Maine,” said Reinholt.

Possession of small quantities of marijuana is a civil offense in Maine, and the state’s attorney general, Janet Mills, reminded Portland residents as the local ordinance took effect that it does not supersede state and federal laws.

最后这几段可能有的同学又会有点迷糊,一下子出现好几个人名,而且还看到leading opponents这样的字眼,可能会搞不清楚这几个人是什么态度,其实从后文可以看出,Mike, Cutler和 Paul 是政治上对立的,但在大麻合法化这个问题上是一致的:有concern,但没有明确表示支持还是反对。注意有concern不代表就是反对。Paul还提出了如果是他会采取的一些做法。
最后一段普及了一下美国的法律常识,律师Janet提醒(南)波特兰的市民,在缅因州持有小数量大麻是民事违法行为,即便当地的法令生效了,也不能取代州立或者联邦法律。
Supersede: to take the place of sth/sb that is considered to be old-fashioned or no longer the best available





今天的精选就到这里,请大家珍爱生命,远离毒品,阿门!

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发表于 2014-8-28 08:52:55 | 显示全部楼层
楼主辛苦~~有个小问题哈。。

a former drug detective 一位前瘾君子??
detective不是侦探吗
发表于 2014-8-28 09:46:53 | 显示全部楼层
cyndichiang 发表于 2014-8-28 08:52
楼主辛苦~~有个小问题哈。。

a former drug detective 一位前瘾君子??

我也这么想的,我以为他以前是专门负责侦查毒品的探长
发表于 2014-8-28 10:13:58 | 显示全部楼层
太谢谢Ace!
发表于 2014-8-28 10:27:51 | 显示全部楼层
前排占座看~
发表于 2014-8-28 16:58:15 | 显示全部楼层
为什么每次读过再看解析都觉得自己读的时候没抓住点阿,呜呜呜
发表于 2014-8-28 20:13:47 | 显示全部楼层
Starlun 发表于 2014-8-28 09:46
我也这么想的,我以为他以前是专门负责侦查毒品的探长

我也想说这个,应该是缉毒人员吧
不过楼主辛苦了,之前看的时候最痛苦就是人名,记不住人名导致看到后面就晕了
另外楼主逐段的分析很nice,大赞一个
 楼主| 发表于 2014-8-28 21:35:41 | 显示全部楼层
cyndichiang 发表于 2014-8-28 08:52
楼主辛苦~~有个小问题哈。。

a former drug detective 一位前瘾君子??

深深的表示歉意,看的是detective,脑子里想的却是addictive,对不起麦当劳同学了~
发表于 2014-8-28 22:04:24 | 显示全部楼层
嗯,还有KPI在里面,这概括的。。

特别不喜欢看到外国人名,因为记不住,看到下一个,上一个就忘了,再多看2个,就不知道谁是谁,然后导致整片内容的逻辑全部垮了
发表于 2014-8-28 23:33:03 | 显示全部楼层
远离毒品 阿门阿门
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