奇速英语阅读理解：今天和广大英语阅读爱好者分享的主题是马丁·路德·金的虚伪人生为何成为神话？

　　FBI files suggest MLK was more complicated than his myth

　　联邦调查局的文件显示马丁·路德·金比他的神话更复杂

　　But can documents from an agency that hounded King be trusted?

　　但是，我们能相信一份来自追捕马丁·路德·金机构的文件吗？

　　IN 1991 OLIVER STONE released a terrible film about John F.Kennedy’s assassination,filled with conspiracy theories about government involvement.Despite,or rather because of,its awfulness the film contributed to the passage of the snappily named President John F.Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992.

　　conspiracy/kənˈspɪrəsɪ/CET6+TEM8

　　N-VAR Conspiracy is secret planning by a group of people to do something illegal.合谋

　　N-COUNT A conspiracy is an agreement between a group of people which other people think is wrong or is likely to be harmful.阴谋

　　despite/dɪˈspaɪt/CET4 TEM4

　　PREP You use despite to introduce a fact which makes the other part of the sentence surprising.尽管

　　1991年，奥利弗·斯通发布了一部关于约翰·肯尼迪遇刺的恐怖电影，其中充斥着有关政府干预的阴谋论。尽管，或者更确切地说，正是由于它的糟糕，这部电影促使1992年通过了名为《约翰·f·肯尼迪遇刺记录收集法》的法案。

　　【拓展理解】

　　约翰·费兹杰拉尔德·肯尼迪，通常被称作约翰·F·肯尼迪、JFK或杰克·肯尼迪，也译作甘乃迪，美国第35任总统，是美国颇具影响力的肯尼迪政治家族成员，被视为美国自由派的代表，他是美国历史上至今第四位遇刺身亡的美国总统总统。

　　The law compelled anything related to the assassination to be released 25 years after its passage,a date which fell in October 2017.

　　compel/kəmˈpɛl/CET4 TEM4

　　V-T If a situation,a rule,or a person compels you to do something,they force you to do it.迫使

　　该法案规定，任何与刺杀有关的信息都必须在25年后，即2017年10月公布。

　　The definition of relevance was broad,which meant that a large collection of FBI records from the 1960s was made public,if only you knew where to look for them.David Garrow,a historian who has published a Pulitzer-winning biography of Martin Luther King,“Bearing the Cross”,as well as a book about King and the FBI,did know where to look.

　　relevance/ˈrɛləvəns/TEM4

　　N-UNCOUNT Something's relevance to a situation or person is its importance or significance in that situation or to that person.相关性

　　相关的含义很宽泛，这也就意味着如果你知道在哪里可以找到它们，就能将联邦调查局上世纪60年代的大量记录公诸于世。历史学家大卫·加罗知道在哪里可以找到，他曾出版了马丁·路德·金获得普利策奖的传记《背负十字架》，以及一本关于马丁·路德·金和FBI的书。

　　【拓展理解】

　　Martin Luther King

　　马丁·路德·金是一位美国牧师、社会运动者、人权主义者和非裔美国人民权运动领袖，也是1964年诺贝尔和平奖得主。他主张以非暴力的公民抗命方法争取非裔美国人的基本权利，而成为美国进步主义的象征。马丁·路德·金出生时名为迈克尔·金，他的父亲为了纪念16世纪欧洲宗教改革领袖马丁·路德而将他改名为小马丁·路德·金。

　　Last summer he spent two months going through new documents,including summaries of transcripts from the FBI’s Stasi-like surveillance of King’s private life.

　　transcript/ˈtrænskrɪpt/CET6+

　　N-COUNT A transcript of a conversation or speech is a written text of it,based on a recording or notes.(根据录音或笔记整理的)文字本

　　surveillance/sɜːˈveɪləns/CET6+TEM4

　　N-UNCOUNT Surveillance is the careful watching of someone,especially by an organization such as the police or the army.监视

　　去年夏天，他花了两个月的时间查阅新文件，包括联邦调查局对马丁·路德·金私生活进行斯塔西式监控的记录摘要。

　　【语法拓展】

　　go through

　　PHRASAL VERB If you go through an experience or a period of time,especially an unpleasant or difficult one,you experience it.经历，经受（尤指苦难或艰难时期）

　　&He was going through a very difficult time...

　　他正处于非常艰难的时期。

　　PHRASAL VERB If you go through a lot of things such as papers or clothes,you look at them,usually in order to sort them into groups or to search for a particular item.翻阅；翻找；整理

　　&It was evident that someone had gone through my possessions.

　　显然有人翻过我的物品。

　　PHRASAL VERB If you go through a list,story,or plan,you read or check it from beginning to end.通读；彻查

　　&Going through his list of customers is a massive job.

　　查阅他的客户名单是个相当费劲的活儿。

　　PHRASAL VERB When someone goes through a routine,procedure,or series of actions,they perform it in the way they usually do.重复；例行做

　　&Every night,they go through the same routine:he throws open the bedroom window,she closes it.

　　他们每天晚上都要上演这么一出戏：他打开卧室的窗户，她又把它关上。

　　PHRASAL VERB If a law,agreement,or official decision goes through,it is approved by a parliament or committee.（法律、协议等）被通过；（决定）被批准

　　&The bill might have gone through if the economy was growing.

　　要是当时经济在增长的话，该法案或许也就获得通过了。

　　【拓展理解】

　　Stasi

　　斯塔西也翻译成史塔西，前东德国家安全部，曾经是世界上比较强大的情报机构，其正式名称为国家安全部（Ministerium für Staatssicherheit），全称是“德意志民主共和国国家安全部”，成立于1950年2月8日，总部设在东柏林。史塔西被认作当时世界上最有效率的情报和秘密警察机构之一。斯塔西成立宗旨是担任东德的政治警察，负责搜集情报、监听监视、反情报等业务。艺术家宾科夫斯基借用“斯塔西”投影来抗议美国的监视活动。

　　The FBI managed to persuade the attorney-general,Bobby Kennedy,that King had links with communists and that the G-men must therefore wiretap his phones and bug any rooms he stayed in.

　　wiretap/ˈwaɪəˌtæp/

　　V-T If someone wiretaps your telephone,they attach a special device to the line so that they can secretly listen to your conversations.搭线窃听(电话)

　　联邦调查局成功让司法部长鲍比·肯尼迪相信马丁·路德·金与共产主义者有联系，因此G-men必须窃听他的电话，并在他住过的所有房间安装窃听器。

　　The agents did not find reds under the bed,but they did overhear salacious stuff about what was happening on top of the mattress.The agency made tapes and transcribed them.Summaries of those transcripts were subsequently made,which included quotations from the transcripts.These are the files that were released in 2017.

　　salacious/səˈleɪʃəs/

　　ADJ If you describe something such as a book or joke as salacious,you think that it deals with sexual matters in an unnecessarily detailed way.诲淫的

　　quotation/kwəʊˈteɪʃən/CET4 TEM4

　　N-COUNT A quotation is a sentence or phrase taken from a book,poem,speech,or play,which is repeated by someone else.引文;引语

　　特工们并没有在床下发现“与共产党有关的东西”，但他们确实听到了床上发生的一些下流的事情。相关机构制作了磁带并进行了转录。随后对这些转录进行了摘要，其中包括转录中的引文。这些档案都在2017年公之于众。

　　【句子分析】

　　Summaries of those transcripts were subsequently made,which included quotations from the transcripts.These are the files that were released in 2017.

　　这句话的主语是Summaries，of后面是介词短语做定语，修饰Summaries，谓语是made，which是非限制性定语从句，修饰主语。

　　Can documents made by an agency that was out to get King really be trusted?Mr Garrow thinks so,and points to a 1977 report from the Justice Department which says that the transcripts accurately reflect what is on the tapes.King,who was married,had a lot of affairs,which was known already.

　　accurate/ˈækjərɪt/CET4 TEM4

　　ADJ Accurate information,measurements,and statistics are correct to a very detailed level.An accurate instrument is able to give you information of this kind.精确的

　　但一个试图追捕马丁·路德·金的部门制作的文档真的可信吗？加罗认为这是可信的，他提到了1977年司法部的一份报告，该报告称转录内容准确地反映了录音带上的内容。马丁·路德·金作为已婚人士，却仍有很多风流韵事，这已经是众所周知的事了。

　　But the documents describe powerful men arranging nights of sex with women and make for uncomfortable reading.One of the documents has a note scribbled in pencil in the margin saying that King was present when a parishioner was raped in a hotel room.That detail is the most controversial of Mr Garrow’s findings,because of the nature of the allegation and because it is not clear whether it describes something on tape.

　　scribble/ˈskrɪbəl/TEM4

　　V-T/V-I If you scribble something,you write it quickly and roughly.草草地写

　　parishioner/pəˈrɪʃənə/

　　N-COUNT A priest's parishioners are the people who live in his or her parish,especially the ones who go to his or her church.教区居民

　　但这些文件描述了有权有势的男人安排晚上与女性发生性关系，让人读来很不舒服。其中一份文件的页边空白处用铅笔潦草地写着，当一名教民在酒店房间被强奸时，马丁·路德·金在场。这一细节是加罗调查结果中最具争议的部分，既因为这一指控的性质，也因为不清楚它是否描述了录音中的内容。

　　【表达与搭配】

　　the nature of

　　具有…的性质

　　&Mr Sharp would not comment on the nature of the issues being investigated.

　　夏普先生不愿就被调查问题的性质发表评论。

　　The FBI tried to spread this information around Washington,but in an age when men,including a sitting president,could get away with coercing women into having sex there was little take-up.The agency then tried a more direct route.Agents made a tape and sent it to King with an anonymous note.

　　coerce/kəʊˈɜːs/TEM8

　　V-T If you coerce someone into doing something,you make them do it,although they do not want to.胁迫

　　anonymous/əˈnɒnɪməs/CET6 TEM4

　　ADJ If you remain anonymous when you do something,you do not let people know that you were the person who did it.匿名的

　　联邦调查局试图在华盛顿散布这一信息，在这个时代，当男性，包括一位在任总统强迫女性发生性关系却逍遥法外时，几乎没有人接受。联邦调查局随后选择了一种更为直接的方式。特工们做了一盘磁带，连同一张匿名纸条寄给了马丁·路德·金。

　　【搭配与表达】

　　get away with

　　（做坏事而）未受惩罚;（做冒险之事而）未遭遇不测

　　&The criminals know how to play the system and get away with it

　　这些罪犯知道如何钻体制的空子以逃脱惩罚。

　　“You are a colossal fraud and an evil,vicious one at that,”the letter said.“You could not believe in God and act as you do.”The letter went on to instruct King to commit suicide,or the tape would be released:“King,there is only one thing left for you to do.You know what it is.”

　　fraud/frɔːd/CET4 TEM4

　　N-VAR Fraud is the crime of gaining money or financial benefits by a trick or by lying.诈骗罪

　　suicide/ˈsuːɪˌsaɪd/CET4 TEM4

　　N-VAR People who commit suicide deliberately kill themselves because they do not want to continue living.自杀

　　“你是一个巨大的骗子，一个邪恶、恶毒的骗子，”信中写道，“你不能既信奉上帝，又像现在这样行事。”信中还命令马丁·路德·金自杀:“马丁·路德·金，你只有一件事要做，你知道那是什么。”，如若不然，录音带将被公之于众。

　　By any standards,the discovery of these documents by a reputable historian is newsworthy,because King was probably the greatest American of the 20th century.

　　reputable/ˈrɛpjʊtəbəl/TEM8

　　ADJ A reputable company or person is reliable and can be trusted.声誉好的

　　newsworthy/ˈnjuːzˌwɜːðɪ/

　　ADJ An event,fact,or person that is newsworthy is considered to be interesting enough to be reported in newspapers or on the radio or television.有新闻价值的

　　无论以何种标准衡量，一位著名历史学家认为这些文件都具有新闻价值，因为马丁·路德·金也许是20世纪最伟大的美国人。

　　Yet Mr Garrow says he could not interest a mainstream outlet in publishing his findings,which instead came out in Standpoint,a small right-wing British magazine.The tapes themselves will be declassified in 2027,at which point people will be able to hear them and decide for themselves.

　　mainstream/ˈmeɪnˌstriːm/CET4 TEM4

　　N-COUNT People,activities,or ideas that are part of the mainstream are regarded as the most typical,normal,and conventional because they belong to the same group or system as most others of their kind.主流

　　declassify/diːˈklæsɪˌfaɪ/

　　V-T If secret documents or records are declassified,it is officially stated that they are no longer secret.消密

　　然而，加罗表示，他并不希望主流媒体发表他的研究成果，相反，他的研究结果发表在一家小型右翼英国杂志《立场》上。录音带本身将于2027年解密，届时人们将能够听到录音内容并自己作出决定。

　　加罗认为这是可信的，他提到了1977年司法部的一份报告，该报告称转录内容准确地反映了录音带上的内容。马丁·路德·金作为已婚人士，却仍有很多风流韵事，这已经是众所周知的事了。更多奇速英语阅读资讯，请持续关注奇速英语官网：www.qisuabc.com