United passengers faced a tough choice
[1] United Airlines now plans to compensate all passengers who were on board its Chicago-Louisville flight Sunday when a passenger was dragged through the aisle, injured and bleeding, for not giving up his seat. When I heard that, my cynical side kicked in. No question the thuggery was traumatic, not just to the immediate victim but to every passenger. But the gesture also had the creepy feel of a payoff intended to make those passengers speak less harshly of the incident to the media, or in court if necessary.
tough /tʌf/ adj. 坚强的, 艰苦的, 困难的
compensate /ˈkɒmpɛnˌseɪt/ vt. 补偿 (损失)，弥补
drag /dræɡ/ vt. 硬拉; 硬拽
aisle /aɪl/ n. (座位间或货架间的) 通道
cynical /ˈsɪnɪkəl/ adj. 持人皆自私论的，愤世嫉俗的
kick in v. to start or become activated 开始
thuggery /ˈθʌgərɪ/ n. 罪行; 粗暴行径
traumatic/trɔːˈmætɪk/ adj. (精神上) 令人痛苦的
payoff /ˈpeɪɒf/ n. 贿赂钱, 结算，偿清
[2] Negative publicity has already cost United hundreds of millions of dollars in stock losses. Now with a potential lawsuit in the works by David Dao, the doctor who was hauled off, the video shot by other passengers could be devastating to United. So could their testimonies.
negative publicity 负面宣传
be in the works 在计划中，在准备中；在实行中，在进行中；在完成中
haul /hɔːl/ vt. (用力地) 拉
devastate /ˈdɛvəˌsteɪt/ vt. 严重破坏; 彻底摧毁
testimony /ˈtɛstɪmənɪ/ n. (法庭上的) 证词
[3] CEO Oscar Munoz went from weakly apologizing while separately praising the crew for their handling of a “disruptive and belligerent” passenger to acknowledging, “No one should ever be mistreated this way.” Chicago Aviation Security has put the three officers who dragged Dao on leave for not acting according to procedures.
disruptive /dɪsˈrʌptɪv/ adj. 妨碍的; 扰乱的
belligerent /bɪˈlɪdʒərənt/ adj. 好斗的
on leave absent with permission from work or duty 停职，休假，在休假中
according to 根据，按照；取决于；据…所说
procedure /prəˈsiːdʒə/ n. 程序
[4] Dao had a concussion and a broken nose, lost two front teeth and suffered damage to his sinuses, according to his lawyer. The case has struck a nerve across America, where airline consolidation has given us escalating fares, decreasing flight options, less carry-on space, new baggage fees and a sense that airlines feel entitled to do what they want.
concussion /kənˈkʌʃən/ n. 脑震荡
sinus/ˈsaɪnəs/ n. 鼻窦
strike a nerve 触发感情 命中要害
consolidation /kənˌsɒlɪˈdeɪʃən/ n. 巩固; 变坚固
carry-on n. 随身行李
[5] The previous week, Geoff Fearns of Irvine, California, said he was threatened with physical eviction and handcuffs if he didn’t vacate his first-class United seat for another passenger on an oversold flight. So he moved into economy, as told.
eviction /ɪˈvɪkʃən/ n. 驱逐
vacate /vəˈkeɪt/ vt. 离开; 辞去
[6] Instead of trying to placate every affected individual to buy goodwill or silence, United should rewrite its policies, retrain its staff and rethink a corporate culture that apparently encourages ousting passengers by any means to accommodate its own staff or pander to a higher-paying customer.
placate/pləˈkeɪt/ vt. 安抚
oust /aʊst/ vt. 罢黜; 把…撤职; 驱逐
pander/ˈpændə/ vi. 迎合
[7] Airlines do have the right if they are oversold to ask passengers to voluntarily give up their seats in exchange for compensation. Customarily, they keep raising the ante until they have enough takers. But they can involuntarily bump passengers, which happens based on a pecking order of who paid what for their ticket, when they checked in and more.
customarily ['kʌstəmərəli] adv. 通常，习惯上
raise the ante /ˈæntɪ/ (在争斗中) 加高要求
pecking order n. (群体中的)尊卑秩序; 权势等级
[8] As one who has often taken advantage of oversold flights by giving up my seat in exchange for free tickets, I've been well-served by that system. But the fact that the company oversells frequently to fill every seat suggests it isn't worried about inconveniencing passengers. United had the highest rate of involuntary bumps of any major airline — 11 per 100,000 passengers — between 2008 and 2016.
[9] But this flight was not oversold. And using physical force against a passenger who did nothing wrong is indefensible. Dao wasn’t drunk, unruly, abusive, profane or carrying explosives. Other passengers said he was very calm, polite and matter-of-fact when first asked to leave, saying he had patients to see the next day.
indefensible /ˌɪndɪˈfɛnsəbəl/ adj. 站不住脚的
abusive /əˈbjuːsɪv/ adj. 恶毒残暴的
profane /prəˈfeɪn/ adj. 亵渎的; 渎神的
matter-of-fact adj. 不带感情的；平淡的
[10] I found it heartening that others on the flight shot video of the incident and urged security officers to leave Dao alone. Now, with power tilting in favor of airlines over consumers, passengers are asserting theirs as witnesses and recorders. A caller to National Public Radio went further, however, criticizing the passengers for not putting their bodies between Dao and the officers to prevent them from dragging him off.
hearten /ˈhɑːtən/ vt. 鼓舞
tilt /tɪlt/ vi. 倾向
assert /əˈsɜːt/ vt. 坚持 (权利或要求)
[11] At one level, that's expecting a lot. Things happened so rapidly, there was hardly time to plan a response. Also, with officers acting so aggressively, there was a risk of escalating physical confrontations. But to his point, when ordinary people have the power in numbers to protect someone who is being mistreated without putting themselves or others at risk, they should use it.
aggressive/əˈɡrɛsɪv/ adj. 好斗的
confrontation/ˌkɒnfrʌnˈteɪʃən/ n. 争执; 对抗
[12] We are all responsible for speaking up when we hear any prejudiced slur. The role of bystanders has also been highlighted lately in efforts to prevent sexual assaults on college campuses. Students are asked to be alert to possible nonconsensual interactions between others, and to step in, especially when someone has drunk too much to freely consent.
prejudice /ˈprɛdʒʊdɪs/ n. 偏见 vt. 使…有偏见
Slur /slɜː/ n. 诽谤
sexual assaults 性侵犯；性暴行
consensual /kənˈsɛnsjʊəl/ adj. 合意的, 法律上指双方自愿性行为的
Consent /kənˈsɛnt/ vt./vi. 同意
[13] Sometimes the power imbalance makes the odds of success too low, and a physical confrontation too risky. But witnesses are holding authorities accountable in other ways, too. On Monday, a Sacramento driver filmed a police officer pushing, choking and taking a black man down to the ground just for jaywalking, then punching him repeatedly. The officer disregarded the woman's calls to stop, but she filmed it all, later posting the video on social media. The officer is now under investigation, and the subject has said he could have been shot to death. Had someone not been recording it, who knows?
choke /tʃəʊk/ vt./vi. 使窒息; 窒息
jaywalking/ˈdʒeɪˌwɔːkɪŋ/ n. 乱穿马路
investigation [in,vesti'ɡeiʃən] n. 调查
[14] It shouldn't have to come to this. Abuses of power cannot be tolerated. But in the meantime, we should all behave like our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers and use our technology, voices, consumer power and other influence to look out for one another.
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