Gun-barrel politics: America's affliction
① Survivors of the mass shooting at a Florida high school last week, in which 17 people were killed, have kept the tragedy in the media spotlight a little longer than usual.
② The students have poured their anger and grief into a new campaign for gun control.
③ In moving television interviews, speeches and social-media posts their spokesmen have ripped into politicians who take cash from the National Rifle Association and who argue against expanding gun controls.
④ Today they take their case to the Florida state legislature, while in Washington President Donald Trump meets high-school students to discuss the issue.
⑤ Mr Trump says he supports bolstering federal background checks on prospective gun owners.
⑥ But that wouldn't help much.
⑦ The national protests the students are planning for next month could prove more effective.
⑧ In Florida in particular, the issue might influence mid-term elections—especially if, as seems likely, the state's gun-loving governor Rick Scott runs for a Senate seat.
▍生词好句
barrel /ˈbar(ə)l/: n. 枪管
through the barrel of a gun: 用武力（而非和平或法律）来解决问题
affliction /əˈflɪkʃ(ə)n/: n. 痛苦
mass shooting: 大规模枪击案
in the spotlight /ˈspɒtlʌɪt/: 引起广泛关注
rip into: 猛烈抨击
rip /rɪp/: v. 撕破；撕裂
rifle /ˈrʌɪf(ə)l/: n. 步枪
legislature /ˈledʒɪslətʃʊə/: n. 立法机构
state legislature: 州议会
bolster /ˈbəʊlstə/: vt. 加强；改善
prospective /prəˈspɛktɪv/: adj. 潜在的；可能的
