2024年1月31日，“重庆姐弟坠亡案”两名被告人张波、叶诚尘被执行死刑。同日，“弑母案”罪犯吴谢宇被执行死刑。

　　🤔️小作业：

　　1. What can be inferred about the role of social media in shaping public opinion and reaction to criminal cases in China?

　　A) Social media acts as an unbiased platform for information dissemination.

　　B) It significantly influences public sentiment and amplifies collective outrage.

　　C) It has little to no impact on public opinion regarding legal matters.

　　D) It primarily serves as an entertainment medium, detached from serious societal issues.

　　无注释原文：

　　China Executes Couple For Double Child Murder That Shocked Nation

　　From: AFP

　　China on Wednesday executed a couple for throwing two young children out of the window of an apartment building, in a case that caused nationwide outrage.

　　Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen were previously found responsible for the fatal falls of the two-year-old girl and one-year-old boy from the 15th floor of a residential tower in southwest China's Chongqing.

　　Zhang, who was the father of the two children, had begun an affair with Ye, who was initially unaware he was married and had children.

　　She then urged Zhang to kill his two children, which she "regarded as obstacles" to their getting married and a "burden on their future life together", the Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People's Court said in a statement.

　　In November 2020, Zhang threw his children out of the window of the apartment in the absence of their mother.

　　Both were found guilty of conspiring "to kill his daughter and younger son by staging an accidental fall from the 15th floor of his apartment building", state-backed China Daily reported last year.

　　The couple were sentenced to death in December 2021 and executed Wednesday, the court said.

　　The news came the same day as another high-profile execution -- of Wu Xieyu, found guilty of killing his mother by repeatedly striking her with a dumbbell in 2015, a statement by a court in eastern Fujian province said.

　　Sentences are frequently handed down for crimes ranging from drug trafficking to corruption and murder, with lethal injection the most common method of execution.

　　Zhang and Ye's crime sent shock waves across China for its cold-blooded premeditation, as well as the youth of the victims.

　　Their executions quickly rose to the top of a list of trending topics on Chinese social media site Weibo on Wednesday, receiving nearly 200 million views.

　　"Today is truly a good day," read one widely liked comment under a related post by state news agency Xinhua.

　　"The punishment fits the crime", wrote another.

　　- ◆ -

　　注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

　　含注释全文：

　　China Executes Couple For Double Child Murder That Shocked Nation

　　From: AFP

　　China on Wednesdayexecuteda couple for throwing two young children out of the window of an apartment building, in a case that caused nationwideoutrage.

　　中国于周三对张波、叶诚尘执行了死刑，他们因将两名幼童从一栋住宅楼的窗户抛出而被定罪，此案在全国引起了公愤。

　　execute

　　execute /ˈek.sɪ.kjuːt/ 常见的意思表示“（尤指有计划地）实施，履行，表演”，英文解释为“to do something that has been carefully planned formal”举个🌰：The whole play was executed with great precision. 这出戏从头到尾表演得丝丝入扣，有板有眼。

　　此外，还有“（依法）将…处死”的意思，英文解释为“to kill someone, especially legally as a punishment”举个🌰：One group claimed to have executed the hostage. 一个组织声称他们已处死了那名人质。

　　outrage

　　outrage /ˈaʊt.reɪdʒ/ 本身可以作动词，表示“（尤指不公平的行为或言论）使感到义愤，使愤慨，激怒”，也可以作名词，表示“愤怒；义愤；愤慨”，英文解释为“a strong feeling of shock and anger”举个🌰：The judge's remarks caused public outrage. 裁判的话引起了公愤。

　　outraged作形容词，表示“愤怒的；愤慨的，义愤填膺的”，英文解释为“feeling outrage”举个🌰：Outraged viewers jumped onto social media to complain about the ending of the series. 许多愤怒的观众纷纷在社交平台上对连续剧的结局表示不满。

　　Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen were previously found responsible for thefatalfalls of the two-year-old girl and one-year-old boy from the 15th floor of aresidential towerin southwest China's Chongqing.

　　此前两人因将两名幼童从位于中国西南部重庆市一栋住宅楼15楼的窗户抛出致死而被控告。

　　fatal

　　fatal /ˈfeɪ.təl/ 1）表示“致命的”，英文解释为“A fatal illness, accident, etc. causes death.”举个🌰：This illness is fatal in almost all cases. 这种病几乎是不治之症。

　　2）示“灾难性的；毁灭性的”，英文解释为“very serious and having an important bad effect in the future”举个🌰：He made the fatal mistake/error of believing what they told him. 他听信了他们的话，犯了致命的错误。

　　residential

　　residential /ˌrez.ɪˈden.ʃəl/ 表示“居住的；定居的”，英文解释为“relating to where you live or have lived”举个🌰：You must satisfy the residential qualifications to get a work permit. 要想得到工作许可，你必须要符合居民资格。

　　tower

　　tower /ˈtaʊə(r)/ 大家熟知的就是“塔”，还可以解释为“塔楼，高楼；建筑物的塔形部分”，英文解释为“a tall, narrow structure, often square or circular, that either forms part of a building or stands alone”

　　Zhang, who was the father of the two children, had begun anaffairwith Ye, who was initially unaware he was married and had children.

　　张波是这两名幼童的父亲，与叶成晨有染，而叶诚尘起初并不知道他已婚已育。

　　affair

　　affair /əˈfeər/ 表示“（尤指秘密的）性关系；私通；风流韵事”，英文解释为“a sexual relationship, especially a secret one”如：an extramarital affair 婚外恋，举个🌰：The book doesn't make any mention of his love affairs. 这本书没有提及他的种种风流韵事。

　　She then urged Zhang to kill his two children, which she "regarded asobstacles" to their getting married and a "burden on their future life together", the Chongqing No. 5 Intermediate People's Court said in a statement.

　　重庆市第五中级人民法院在声明中表示，她随后催促张波作案杀死他的两个孩子，她将两个孩子“视为其与张波结婚的障碍”和“以后共同生活的负担”。

　　obstacle

　　obstacle /ˈɒb.stə.kəl/ 表示“障碍；阻碍；妨碍”，英文解释为“something that blocks you so that movement, going forward, or action is prevented or made more difficult”举个🌰：The biggest obstacle in our way was a tree trunk in the road. 我们路上最大的障碍是横在路上的一棵树。

　　In November 2020, Zhang threw his children out of the window of the apartment in the absence of his mother.

　　2020年11月，张波趁其母亲外出之机，将孩子从家中窗户扔出。

　　Both were found guilty ofconspiring"to kill his daughter and younger son bystagingan accidental fall from the 15th floor of his apartment building", state-backed China Daily reported last year.

　　据官方媒体《中国日报》（China Daily）去年报道，两人共谋“杀死他的两个孩子，采用制造意外从住宅楼15楼高坠方式作案”，构成故意杀人罪。

　　conspire

　　conspire /kənˈspaɪə(r)/ 表示“密谋；共谋；图谋”，英文解释为“to plan secretly with other people to do something bad, illegal, or against someone's wishes”举个🌰：He felt that his colleagues were conspiring together to remove him from his job. 他觉得同事们在密谋把他从工作岗位上挤走。

　　stage

　　stage /steɪdʒ/ 1）表示“上演；举办；举行”，英文解释为“to organize and present a play or an event for people to see”，如：to stage a ceremony/an event/an exhibition 举行仪式/活动/展览，举个🌰：The local theatre group is staging a production of ‘Hamlet’. 当地剧团在上演《哈姆雷特》。

　　2）表示“组织；筹划”，英文解释为“to organize and take part in action that needs careful planning, especially as a public protest”如：to stage a ceremony/an event/an exhibition 举行仪式/活动/展览。

　　3）表示“使发生；使出现”，英文解释为“to make sth happen”举个🌰：After five years in retirement, he staged a comeback to international tennis. 退役五年之后，他又复出国际网坛。

　　🎬电影《无罪的罪人》（Presumed Innocent）中的台词提到：Your opinion is that this was... a staged rape? 你的看法是这是…有预谋的强奸？

　　区分：

　　📍wage 作名词，表示“工资，工钱，报酬”，作动词，表示“发动（战争）；组织，筹备（活动）”，英文解释为“to fight a war or organize a series of activities in order to achieve something”举个🌰：They've been waging a long campaign. 他们已组织发起了一场持久的运动。

　　📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇介绍拉美电商平台美卡多的文章中提到：The biggest is Amazon, against which his firm has waged a costly battle in Mexico. 最大的威胁来自亚马逊，美卡多与它在墨西哥展开了一场较量，代价高昂。

　　The coupleweresentencedto death in December2021 and executed Wednesday, the court said.

　　法院表示，两人于2021年12月被判处死刑，并于本周三执行。

　　sentence

　　sentence /ˈsen.təns/ 可以作动词也可以作名词，表示“（法官）宣布判决，宣判”，英文解释为“to decide and say officially what a punishment will be”举个🌰：He was sentenced to life imprisonment. 他被判终身监禁。

　　作名词，还可以表示“句，句子”，英文解释为“a group of words, usually containing a verb, that expresses a thought in the form of a statement, question, instruction, or exclamation and starts with a capital letter when written”

　　The news came the same day as anotherhigh-profileexecution -- of Wu Xieyu, found guilty of killing his mother by repeatedly striking her with adumbbellin 2015, a statement by a court in eastern Fujian province said.

　　同一天，还有另一起备受瞩目的执行死刑案件。福建省福州市中级人民法院在声明中表示，吴谢宇于2015年持哑铃杠连续猛击母亲致其死亡，构成故意杀人罪。

　　profile

　　profile /ˈprəʊ.faɪl/ 一词经常出现，1）表示“（有关某人的）简介，概况”，英文解释为“A profile of someone is a short article or programme in which their life and character are described.”举个🌰：A newspaper published comparative profiles of the candidates' wives. 一份报纸刊登了候选人妻子们的对比简介。

　　2）表示“关注度”，英文解释为“If someone has a high profile, people notice them and what they do. If you keep a low profile, you avoid doing things that will make people notice you.” 常用：a high profile 惹人注目/关注；高姿态，a low profile 不惹人注目，低姿态；如：a move that would give Egypt a much higher profile in the upcoming peace talks 会给埃及在即将到来的和平谈判中高关注度的一个行动。

　　📍如果你把微信语言设置成英文，你就会发现微信官方把头像处理成：Profile Photo，上面的“My Profile”对应的中文则是“个人信息”。

　　dumbbell

　　dumbbell /ˈdʌm.bel/ 表示“哑铃”，英文解释为“a short bar with a weight on each end that you lift up and down to make your arm and shoulder muscles stronger”

　　Sentences are frequentlyhanded downfor crimes ranging from drugtraffickingto corruption and murder, withlethal injectionthe most common method of execution.

　　从贩毒到贪污和谋杀等一系列罪行都会被判处死刑，注射死刑是最常见的执行方法。

　　hand sth down

　　hand sth down 表示“宣布（正式决定，常为处罚）”，英文解释为“to announce an official decision, often a decision about how someone should be punished”举个🌰：The court handed down an eight-year sentence. 法庭宣布判处其8年徒刑。

　　traffic

　　熟词僻义，traffic /ˈtræf.ɪk/ 一词除了熟知的“交通”的意思，还有“流量”的含义，英文解释：the movement of messages and signals through an electronic communication system，如“数据流量”：data traffic。

　　此外，作为动词，还有“贩卖（人口）”的意思，to illegally buy or sell people, or make money from work they are forced to do, such as sex work. 如：人口贩卖 human trafficking.

　　📍注：traffic (v.) 过去式 trafficked 过去分词：trafficked 现在分词：trafficking.

　　📍people trafficking/human trafficking表示“贩卖人口”，英文解释为“the crime of buying and selling people, or making money from work they are forced to do, such as sex work”

　　lethal injection

　　lethal injection 表示“死亡注射（尤指作为一种死刑方式）”，英文解释为“an injection of a drug that kills someone, especially as a punishment for committing a crime”举个🌰：He was executed by lethal injection in 2024. 他于2024年以注射方式被执行死刑。

　　Zhang and Ye's crime sent shock waves across China for its cold-bloodedpremeditation, as well as the youth of the victims.

　　张波和叶诚尘的罪行因其冷血预谋以及受害者的年幼而在中国引起轩然大波。

　　premeditation

　　premeditation /ˌpriː.med.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/ 表示“预谋，策划”，英文解释为“the fact of thinking about or carefully planning to do something, especially a crime or something unpleasant”举个🌰：Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of her remarks was their premeditation. 也许她的言论中最令人不安的方面是认为他们有预谋。

　　Their executions quickly rose to the top of a list oftrendingtopics on Chinese social media site Weibo on Wednesday, receiving nearly 200 million views.

　　周三，他们被执行死刑的消息迅速登上了中国社交媒体平台微博的热搜榜榜首，浏览量接近2亿。

　　trend

　　trend /trend/ 作动词，表示“（某一时刻在社交媒体或网站上）被提及最多的词语（主题或名字）”，英文解释为“to be one of the words, subjects, or names that is being mentioned most often on a social media website or a news website at a particular time”举个🌰：Within minutes of the incident her name was trending on Weibo. 事件发生几分钟后她的名字就在微博上传开了。

　　trend本身也可以直接作名词，原意有“趋势；趋向；倾向；动态；动向；热点”，英文解释为“a general direction in which a situation is changing or developing”。

　　📍trending hashtags或者说a trending topic，可以指微博上的“#热门话题#”；类似的，Youtube首页上的Trending对应的中文就处理为“时下流行”。

　　"Today is truly a good day," read one widely liked comment under a related post by state news agency Xinhua.

　　“今天真是个好日子，”官方媒体新华社一篇相关帖子下的一条热评写道。

　　"The punishment fits the crime", wrote another.

　　另一位网友写道：“罪有应得。”

　　- 词汇盘点 -

　　execute、 outrage、 fatal、 residential、 tower、 affair、 obstacle、 conspire、 stage、 sentence、 profile、 dumbbell、 hand sth down、 traffic、 lethal injection、 premeditation、 trend

　　- 词汇助记 By ChatGPT -

　　In a residential tower, outrage erupted over a fatal affair where obstacles conspired to stage a trend-setting tragedy. A judge handed down a sentence, profiling a grim tale of premeditation, where a dumbbell became a lethal tool, ending in a traffic-stopping execution by lethal injection.