专门练过英文写作的同学会发现，英语记叙文比议论文要更加难写。这是因为记叙文对动词和时态的应用要更为灵活，另一个原因是很多人接触到的记叙文素材也严重不足，缺少模仿材料。
昨天的川普枪击事件成了全球媒体头条，其中路透社有一篇报道生动描写了这场枪击的全过程，堪称记叙文写作的范本。
文章标题起得很形象：Pop, pop, pop, then a bloodied Trump rushed from election rally，其中pop在英语中一般用来形容枪声或者爆炸声，相当于“砰”。标题意思相当于：砰，砰，砰，然后流血的川普被紧急送离选举集会。
下面是正文部分：
(1) Donald Trump was standing on a stage behind a podium, six minutes into his speech at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, talking about immigrants under a clear sky and in broiling heat.
在宾夕法尼亚州巴特勒市的一次户外集会上，川普正站在演讲台后方的舞台上谈论移民问题。此时天空晴朗，天气炙热，演讲也已经进行了六分钟。
解析：句子使用了过去进行时was doing something，这种时态有一个特殊的用法：可以用来表示一个历时较长的“背景”动作或情况，比如：As I was walking down the road, I saw Bill. 其中"I was walking down the road"就是故事发生的背景，句子真正强调的是I saw Bill这一部分。文章开头将川普的演讲作为“背景”，也是为了强调接下来发生的枪击事件。
(2) Suddenly there was a volley of "pops" - what sounded like gunshots. Trump immediately clutched his right ear, looked at the blood on his hand and then quickly dropped to the ground behind the podium.
突然周边响起了一连串“砰砰”的声音——这听起来像是枪声。川普立即捂住右耳，看了看手上的血迹，然后迅速趴到讲台后面的地上。
解析：句子中what相当于the things that，这样的用法在what引导的名词性从句中也很常见，比如：Romance novels are what (=the things that) she enjoys reading.
作者用了几个动词来描述川普的动作：clutched, looked at, dropped to the ground，其中clutched his right ear准确地写出了“捂住耳朵”这个动作。
(3) The crowd screamed and those in the bleachers behind him crouched.
人群尖叫起来，他身后看台上的人都蹲了下来。
解析：crouch指的是“蹲下”这个动作，比如：He crouched in the shadows near the doorway. 他蹲在门道近旁的阴影里。
(4) A half dozen Secret Service agents ran onto the stage and piled on and around Trump, who was kneeling behind the podium. Other law enforcement officers armed with rifles also took to the stage. There was a second volley of apparent gunshots. The Secret Service agents kept Trump on the ground for 25 seconds. Someone could be heard shouting: "Shooter is down!" Someone else yelled: "Move!" as many in the crowd continued to scream.
一群特勤局特工跑上台，围着跪在演讲台后的特朗普。其他携带步枪的执法人员也跳上了讲台。很明显有第二轮枪声响起。特勤局特工将川普护在地上长达25秒。有人在喊：“枪手倒下了！” 还有人喊：“快走！”人群中许多人继续尖叫。
解析：piled on and around Trump出现了省略，相当于piled on and (piled) around Trump，意思相当于“将川普从上面和四周都包围起来”。
作者这里用词也做到了多样化，比如同样是“到讲台上”，可以说ran onto the stage，也可以说took to the stage，人群的喊话，可以用shouted，也可以用yelled
(5) The agents raised Trump to his feet, his red "Make America Great Again" baseball cap no longer on his head, his hair disheveled, his ear bloodied and streaks of blood smeared on his face. "Let me get my shoes. Let me get my shoes," Trump said, as the agents lifted him from the ground. He then said: "Wait, wait, wait", before he started pumping his fist.
特工们将川普扶起来，他头发凌乱，耳朵上沾满了血迹，脸上也有血痕，头上的红色MAGA棒球帽也已经不见踪影。特工将他从地上抬起来，川普说“让我穿上鞋，让我穿上鞋”。然后他说：“等等，等等，等等”，并开始挥舞拳头。
解析：第一句后半部分出现了四个并列的独立主格结构：his red…his hair…his ear…and streaks of blood… 它们准确地写出了川普遭遇枪击后的狼狈状态。
川普此时挥舞拳头的标志性动作，用英文表达是pump his fist
(6) One agent raised his arm above Trump's head, to shield it from more potential shots. Trump continued to pump his fist towards the crowd, mouthing "fight." Many in the crowd began chanting "USA, USA".
一名特工将手臂举过川普头顶，以挡住更多可能到来的子弹。川普继续朝着人群挥舞拳头，嘴里念叨着“fight”。人群中的许多人开始高呼”USA, USA”。
解析：我们熟悉的单词mouth除了可以作为名词，还可以作为动词使用，表示“轻声念叨”，这里也可以看出英语小词用法有多灵活。
(7) As the Secret Service agents surrounded Trump and moved him to a nearby black SUV, Trump continuously raised his fist as they pushed him into the vehicle, to more chants of "USA!"
特勤局特工将川普团团围住，并将他转移到附近的一辆黑色SUV 上。在特工将他推进车内时，川普不断举起拳头，现场响起更多“USA”的呼喊声。
解析：raised his fist是上文pumped his fist的同义表达，用来增加用词多样性。
to more chants of “USA!”，这里to的意思相当于“与（音乐或其他声音）同时，伴随”，比如：He left the stage to the sound of booing. 他在一片嘘声中离开了舞台。
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