在影片《斷背山》問鼎反誹謗同性戀者聯盟“杰出電影獎”時，李安曾表示：對于同性戀問題，大家的接受是潛移默化的。這話說的沒錯，日前，美國聯邦法院廢止了俄克拉荷馬州實施兩年的“禁止同性家庭收養子女法”，這是美國同志民權組織Lambda Legal爭取聯邦法官同情的又一勝利。

請看外電相關報道：Gay and lesbian parents in Oklahoma can now breathe a collective sigh of relief because their relationships with their children are no longer threatened by the state of Oklahoma.

A US federal judge struck down a 2-year-old law that prohibits Oklahoma from recognizing adoptions by same-sex couples from other states and countries. It was another triumph for the Gay-rights organization Lambda Legal to have gained a nod from thebench.

報道中的bench不再是我們日常所見的“無靠背長凳”，它在這里代指“法官”。Bench原用來形容the seat for judges in a courtroom（法官席），就像bar（法庭上把律師或被告席位隔開來的圍欄）可以引申為“律師”一樣，bench（法官席）后來逐漸借指“法官；法官官銜”。

例如：the full bench of the Supreme Court（最高法院的全體法官）

The mother was so excited after hearing the news that his son had been appointed to the bench.（聽到兒子當上了法官，母親激動不已。）

另外，大家還可留心一下體育新聞，bench在體育詞匯里可以作名詞——“替補隊員”(老坐在板凳上的隊員)，作動詞——“因犯規罰（場上隊員）出場”，舉兩個例句：

A weak bench hurt their chances for the championship.（他們因后備運動員力量不足而失去了奪冠的機會。）

The player was benched for failing to follow the rules.（這名選手因不遵守規則而被責令罰下場。）


(英語點津陳蓓編輯）