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：本文选自By Sylvester Monroe Time; 03/15/99, Vol. 153 Issue 10, p47, 2/3p, 3c, 1bw
注：本文习题命题模仿对象2003年考试真题 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
本文使用提出问题-----剖析问题的模式。第一段和第二段提出问题，详细讲解一块同性恋谋杀案的发生经过。第三段和第四段指出被害人的死导致的影响和反应。第五段指出激进分子的做法及其影响。
词语注解
homosexual[hEJmEJ5sekFJEl] n.同性恋
echo[`ekEJ]vt.摹仿, 重复
rallying [5rAlIN]point n.聚集点,号召力
legislator[5ledVIsleItE]n.立法者
momentum[mEJ5mentEm]n.动力, 要点
in the wake of adv.尾随, 紧跟, 仿效
lynching[`lIntFIN]n.处私刑
allegation[AlI5^eIFn]n.倡导，断言, 辩解
offensive[E5fensIv]n.进攻, 攻势
grass-roots[`^rB:s`rU:ts;`^rAs-]adj.一般民众的, 由乡间民间来进行的
难句突破
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.
主体句式：Gaithers death has become a rallying point
结构剖析：在for引导的介词短语中，that引导定语从句来修饰bill; related to sexual orientation as well来修饰crimes.
句子译文：盖瑟的死成了争取同性恋权利组织和州立法委员强烈需要通过一项议案的号召力。这项议案或许会将阿拉巴马推行三年的反仇视罪法的范围扩展到种族、肤色、宗教信仰和国家来源以外，把针对与性倾向有关的罪行也包含在反对之列。
题目剖析
1.答案为C，属推理判断题。选项A，B，D都是细节问题，在文中都可找到对应的信息。选项C总结了前两段的内容。
1.案为A，属推理判断题。文中对应信息是Even Wyoming failed to pass hate-crime legislation in the wake of the Shepard lynching。
2.案为B ，属情感态度题。文中对应信息是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.答案为D，属推理判断题。原文对应信息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的被害虽然对立法有肯定的影响，却还没肯定的改观。
5.答案为C，属主旨大意题。要综观全文，不要遭到一些细节方面的干扰。
参考译文
阿拉巴马焚尸案
男同性恋残忍被害案震撼了整个州这个州的反仇视罪法不保护同性恋
这桩惨案在市参议会议长乔治卡尔顿的家乡阿拉巴马州锡拉科加被公诸于众后，他如此对记者说：这个地方不应该发生如此的事。他是在重复一年前在德克萨斯州杰士伯说过的话。几乎无人听说过杰士伯这个地方。一周以前，甚至无人能在地图上找出锡拉科加的地方。锡拉科加是一座拥有13,000人口的小镇，坐落于伯明翰和蒙哥马利之间，以大理石采石场、纺织厂和冰淇淋厂而著名。同杰士伯一样，锡拉科加上周也上了近期发生仇视事件的光荣榜。
据警方说，为谋杀39岁的比利杰克盖瑟，25岁的史蒂文埃里克马林斯和21岁的小查尔斯门罗巴特勒秘密谋划了两周时间。2月19日那天，他们先安排与他在锡拉科加的一个夜店见面，然后把他骗到一个隐蔽的地址。在那儿，他们先是猛揍他，随后把他扔进汽车后备箱，驾车行使了15英里到了库萨县的拍克武德小河边。库萨县副警长阿尔不拉德利说：他们把他从后备箱里拖出来，拿出斧柄将他打死。随后他们点燃了两个旧汽车轮胎。不拉德利说：点燃汽车轮胎后，他们就把尸体放到了火上烧。副警长说，这两个人如此做只不过由于盖瑟是同性恋。
盖瑟的死成了争取同性恋权利组织和州立法委员强烈需要通过一项议案的号召力。这项议案或许会将阿拉巴马推行三年的反仇视罪法的范围扩展到种族、肤色、宗教信仰和国家来源以外，把针对与性倾向有关的罪行也包含在反对之列。州议员阿尔文福尔摩斯说：非得用某人的死来在这儿，在阿拉巴马州获得使某项法律得以通过的动力实在是件让人遗憾的事。去年10月，怀俄明州发生了一件令国人十分愤慨的事。一个名叫马修谢巴德的同性恋学生遭人毒打，眼睁睁地看着他死在围墙上。这件事发生之后，福尔摩斯曾建议扩展这一法律的范围。甚至在谢巴德让人用私刑处死之后，怀俄明州也没能通过反仇视罪法。尽管盖瑟不声不响地维持着南方人的性格特点，但他跟谢巴德一样，毫不隐瞒自己是同性恋这一事实。马林斯和巴特勒对性倾向引发这起谋杀的说法遭到朋友的反驳。盖瑟弟弟告诉CNN记者：不管他的个生活活或其它方面如何，他都不应该为此而被处死。
大家获得的启示是同性恋是二等公民。 美国国家男女同志特遣队的发言人特蕾西科纳缇如是说。
在盖瑟被谋杀之前，一些激进分子就在策划发动一个大型的全国范围的支持同性恋的攻势。从3月21日到27日，特遣队将发动一场平等从家庭开始的运动。他们采集了50个州250桩发生在基层的事件，目的在于敦促议会通过反暴力对待同性恋法。科纳缇说：这类法律反映了一个社区的正义感，并传达了一条要紧的信息。特遣队政策研究所所长吾尔瓦西瓦伊德觉得，3月事件会使那些关心被剥夺了基本人权邻居的正直人参与其中。瓦伊德还说：这不止是一件同性恋的事情。