【时事聚焦】
SEASCALE, England - A taxi driver drove his vehicle on a shooting spree across northwest England overnight, methodically killing 12 people and wounding 25 others before turning the gun on himself, officials said.
The rampage in the county of Cumbria was Britain's deadliest mass shooting since 1996 and it jolted a country where handguns are banned and multiple shootings rare.
The body of the suspected gunman, 52-year-old Derrick Bird, was found in woods near Boot, a hamlet popular with hikers and holidaymakers in England's hilly, scenic Lake District. Police said two weapons were recovered from the scene.
Eight of the wounded were in the hospital, with three of them in critical condition. Queen Elizabeth II, who rarely issues statements responding to the news, said she shared in "the grief and horror of the whole country" and passed on her sympathy to the families of the victims.
The shootings had "shocked the people of Cumbria and around the country to the core," Police Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde said.
Police said it was too early to say what the killer's motive was, or whether the shootings had been random. Some reports said Bird had quarrelled with fellow cab drivers the night before the killings.
Peter Leder, a taxi driver who knew Bird, said he had seen the gunman Tuesday and didn't notice anything that was obviously amiss. But he was struck by Bird's departing words.
"When he left he said, 'See you Peter, but I won't see you again,"' Leder told Channel 4 News.
The first shootings were reported in the coastal town of Whitehaven, about 560 kilometres northwest of London. Witnesses said the dead there included two of Bird's fellow cabbies.
Police warned residents to stay indoors as they tracked the gunman's progress across the county. Witnesses described seeing the gunman driving around shooting from the window of his car.
Victims died in Seascale and Egremont, near Whitehaven, and in Gosforth, where a farmer's son was shot dead in a field. Workers at the nearby Sellafield nuclear processing plant were ordered to stay inside while the gunman was on the loose.
Hyde said there were 30 separate crime scenes. Many bodies remained on the ground late on Wednesday local time, covered with sheets, awaiting the region's small and overstretched force of forensic officers.
Barrie Walker, a doctor in Seascale who certified one of the deaths, told the BBC that victims had been shot in the face, apparently with a shotgun.
【雅思达人点评】
上面这则新闻摘自http://www.nzherald.co.nz/，报道了先前发生在英国的重大枪击案件，的哥沿路杀死12人。此外，还引用了一些证人的证词还采访了这位的哥的熟人，试图分析其杀人原因和动机。其实这则新闻和雅思写作议论文中的很多话题都有相关，且其中有很多我们在雅思写作中可以借鉴的思路甚至是直接引用的论据。
1. 说到这个杀人狂魔及这个令人惊愕的新闻，我们不禁会想起雅思在2010年1月30的议论文考题，提到一个anti-social behavior“反社会”这个全新的概念，我们不妨先来看一看这道题目：
Today there is a great increase in anti-social behavior and lack of respect to others. What are the causes of this phenomenon? What measures can be taken to reduce the problem?
初见这个题目，很多学生都无从下手，解答这个题目，必须要先弄懂anti-social behavior这个概念。如theft, vandalism, bullying, terrorism, drug abuse, gambling, rape, unmarried pregnancy, fraud等，而新闻中的这个的哥的杀人事件完全可以作为此题的一个具体的例子进行论证。
2. 下面，雅思达人建议考生可以从另外一个角度来分析这个题目，在新闻中提到，的哥是在旅游景区枪击多名市民，所以和“旅游”相关的话题相联系是非常合理的。如2006年5月的A类议论文：
International tourism has become a huge industry in the world. Are the problems exploring this resource causes greater than the advantages it brings?
本题讨论国际旅游的优缺点，考生基本会从经济，文化，环境等方面考虑，而忽略了安全的问题。通过与本则新闻的联系，我们可以通过一个全新的视角来分析旅游的缺点，即安全隐患问题。
3. 再来一题是2009年6月19号关于“英国警察携带枪支”的问题。我们来看一下原题。
Unlike most other countries, the police in the UK do not commonly carry guns. Some people think this practice leaves citizens unprotected, others believe it could reduce the overall violence in the society. Discuss both sides of the view and give your own opinion.
当然英国警察带枪是看情况而定的，而与上则新闻的联系点在于从正面来说：警察带枪能制止暴力事件的再度恶化，而从反面来说：带枪危险，且罪犯很多是冲动情况下犯罪，需要的是沟通而不是另一次暴力事件。
【精彩片段】
下面我们回到刚才的那则新闻摘要中，关注其中对雅思写作构思及语言有帮助的精彩片段：
精选片段1：
The rampage in the county of Cumbria was Britain's deadliest mass shooting since 1996 and it jolted a country where handguns are banned and multiple shootings rare.
这次撒野事件是英国自1996年以来最致命的群众枪击事件，这次事件使这个禁止携带枪支和枪击事件极少发生的国家震惊。通过这句话，我们发现了英国在枪支的一个规定，即民众是不能携带枪支的，这个也是英国警察可以自由选择是否携带枪的重要原因。
精选片段2：
Police said it was too early to say what the killer's motive was, or whether the shootings had been random. Some reports said Bird had quarrelled with fellow cab drivers the night before the killings.
警察表明现在来判断杀手的动机还为时过早，且不易判定其是否无计划无筹划的。一些报道指出其曾在杀人前和同行超过嘴。这个可以理解为杀人事件发生的一个重要原因，即与同行产生纠纷。
【高分词汇】
最后，雅思达人为大家整理了此则新闻中能用于雅思大作文的词汇。
shooting spree 疯狂射击
rampage n. (在街上)橫冲直撞，撒野
deadliest mass shooting 最致命的群众射击
suspected gunman 可疑的持枪歹徒
issue statements 发表声明
on the loose 逍遥法外
in critical condition 在危机情况下
总之，雅思达人在这里鼓励考生们多关注时事，从中挖掘有用的词、句和思路，为雅思考试写作部分的构思搭建“知识库和材料库”，并使自己的文章在千千万万的“八股文”式的，“高谈阔论”式的空洞文章中脱颖而出，让考官立即对自己刮目相看：“哇！这真是一个“与时俱进”，有着“国际化视野”的雅思优秀考生！”
更多信息请查看留学英语写作