考研英語：歷年真題要點之1991-Text 1（三）

　　The main cause of this break-down is a radical shift in attitudes. Thirty years ago, if a crime was committed, society was considered the victim. Now, in a shocking reversal, it’s the criminal who is considered victimized: by his underprivileged upbringing, by the school that didn’t teach him to read, by the church that failed to reach him with moral guidance, by the parents who didn’t provide a stable home.

　　main cause“主要原因”;breakdown“故障，崩潰，衰弱”;radical shift“根本改變”;commit a crime“犯罪”;victim“受害者”;reversal“逆轉”;it’s the criminal who is considered victimized為強調(diào)句型it is...who...;criminal“罪犯”，也可以充當形容詞“犯罪的”;victimize“使受害”;冒號起到解釋說明的作用;underprivileged=under+privilege+ed，under“在...之下”，privilege“特權”，privileged“享有特權的”，因此，underprivileged在享有特權的之下，可以引申為“物質(zhì)條件差的，社會地位低下的”;upbringing名詞“養(yǎng)育，教養(yǎng)”;fail to do“沒能做某事”;reach結合語境，可以表示“影響”;moral guidance“道德上的引導”;provide“提供”，常見搭配provide sb. with sth.或provide sth. for sb.;stable“穩(wěn)定的”，反義詞instable。

　　I don’t believe it. Many others in equally disadvantaged circumstances choose not to engage in criminal activities. If we free the criminal, even partly, from accountability, we become a society of endless excuses where no one accepts responsibility for anything.

　　disadvantaged“處于不利地位的，社會地位底下的”，dis-表示“否定”的前綴，advantage“優(yōu)勢，有利條件”，advantaged“處于優(yōu)勢的”;engage in“參與，從事”;free...from...“使...擺脫...，免于...”;excuse名詞“借口，理由”;where引導定語從句;accept responsibility for“對...承擔責任”。

　　We in America desperately need more people who believe that the person who commits a crime is the one responsible for it.

　　desperately“極度地”，desperately need迫切需要=in desperate need of，因此原文也可以說We in America in desperate need of more people...