進入英語學習論壇下載音頻 去聽寫專區一展身手

The 22-year-old loner accused of trying to assassinate a US congresswoman and killing six others appeared in court and looked on impassively as a judge told him he could face the death penalty for the shooting rampage that shocked the nation.

Gabrielle Giffords lay about 160 km away in an intensive care unit, gravely wounded after being shot through the head but able to give a thumbs-up sign that doctors found as a reason to hope.

Thirteen other people were wounded in the bursts of gunfire at the Democratic congresswoman's outdoor meeting with constituents on Saturday outside a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona. Jared Lee Loughner was tackled to the ground minutes after the shooting began, authorities said. He has been silent ever since.

The shootings, which claimed the lives of six people, including a federal judge, a congressional aide and a 9-year-old girl, have prompted outrage throughout the US and sparked a debate over gun control measures and whether toxic political rhetoric fueled the incident.

Loughner, his head shaved, a cut on his right temple and in handcuffs, stared vacantly at the packed courtroom before sitting down to listen to whispered instructions from his newly appointed attorney, Judy Clarke. A veteran of death penalty cases, the San Diego attorney succeeded in negotiating a guilty plea and a life sentence for the "Unabomber," Theodore Kaczynski.

Loughner seemed impassive and at one point stood at a lectern in his beige prison jumpsuit. A US marshal stood guard nearby.

The judge asked if he understood that he could get life in prison - or the death penalty - for killing federal Judge John Roll, in the shooting rampage.

"Yes," he said. His lawyer stood beside him as the judge ordered Loughner held without bail.

Throngs of reporters and TV news crews lined up outside the federal courthouse in Phoenix, where the hearing was moved from Tucson. The entire federal bench in Tucson recused itself because Roll was the chief judge there.

President Barack Obama will travel to Tucson on Wednesday to speak at a memorial service for the victims at the University of Arizona.

Earlier in the day, the nation observed a moment of silence for the victims, from the South Lawn of the White House and the steps of the US Capitol to legislatures beyond Arizona and the planet itself.

去聽寫專區一展身手

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.