3 A BURNING IN ALABAMA

The savage murder of a gay man stuns 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 pointed out Sylacauga on a map. A tiny city of 13,000, halfway between Birmingham and Montgomery, Sylacauga was known for its white marble quarries, textile mills and ice-cream factory. But last week Sylacauga, like Jasper, became a chapter in the recent history of hatred.

According to police, Steven Eric Mullins, 25, and Charles Monroe Butler Jr., 21, plotted for two weeks to murder Billy Jack Gaither, 39. On Feb. 19, they arranged to meet him at a Sylacauga bar and lured him to a secluded area. There they beat him and dumped him into the trunk of his car. They then drove about 15 miles to Peckerwood Creek 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 orientation as well. "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," says state Representative Alvin Holmes, who failed to get the original law amended 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 outrage. 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 dispositions. And friends dispute Mullins' and Butler's allegations that a sexual proposition incited 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, activists 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(1)：本文选自By Sylvester Monroe Time; 03/15/99, Vol. 153 Issue 10, p47, 2/3p, 3c, 1bw

注(2)：本文习题命题模仿对象2003年真题 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, Gaither’s death ________.

[A]aroused people’s sympathy for the gay

[B] sharpened people’s awareness

[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 shouldn’t 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

篇章剖析

本文采用提出问题-----分析问题的模式。第一段和第二段提出问题，详细阐述一起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造成的影响和反应。第五段指出激进分子的做法及其影响。

词汇注释

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(r)]n.立法者

momentum[mEJ5mentEm]n.动力, 要素

in the wake of adv.尾随, 紧跟, 仿效

lynching[`lIntFIN]n.处私刑

allegation[AlI5^eIF(E)n]n.主张，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：Gaither’s death has become a rallying point …

结构分析：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要求通过一项议案的号召力。这项议案可能会将阿拉巴马实施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括在反对之列。

题目分析

1.答案为C，属推理判断题。选项A，B，D都属于细节问题，在文中都可找到对应的信息。选项C归纳了前两段的内容。

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一定的影响，却还没有一定的改观。

5.答案为C，属主旨大意题。要综观全文，不要受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惊了整个州—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，他这样对记者说：“这个地方不应该发生这样的事”。他是在重复一年前在德克萨斯州杰士伯说过的话。几乎没有人听说过杰士伯这个地方。一周以前，甚至没有人能在地图上找出锡拉科加的位置。锡拉科加是一座拥有13,000人口的小镇，位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最近发生仇视事件的“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•巴特勒密谋了两周时间。2月19日那天，他们先安排与他在锡拉科加的一个酒吧见面，然后把他骗到一个隐蔽的地点。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轮胎。不拉德利说：“点燃轮胎后，他们就把尸体放到了火上烧”。副警长说，这两个人这样做只是因为盖瑟是同性恋。

盖瑟的死成了争取同性恋权利组织和州立法委员强烈要求通过一项议案的号召力。这项议案可能会将阿拉巴马实施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括在反对之列。州议员阿尔文•福尔摩斯(他没能在1996年该法律被通过时促使议会对原法律进行修正)说：“非得用某人的死来在这儿，在阿拉巴马州获取使某项法律得以通过的动力实在是件令人遗憾的事”。去年十月，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，福尔摩斯曾提议扩展这一法律的范围。甚至在谢巴德被人用私刑处死之后，怀俄明州也没能通过反仇视罪法。尽管盖瑟不声不响地保持着南方人的性格，但是他跟谢巴德一样，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：“不管他的个人生活或其它方面怎么样，他都不应该为此而被处死。”

“人们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。他们收集了50个州250桩发生在基层的事件，目的在于敦促议会通过反粗暴对待同性恋法。科纳缇说：“这些法律反映了一个社区的正义感，并传达了一条重要的信息”。特遣队政策研究所所长吾尔瓦西•瓦伊德认为，“三月事件”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：“这不仅仅是一件同性恋的事情。”