bench: 法官

在影片《断背山》问鼎反诽谤同性恋者联盟“杰出电影奖”时，李安曾表示：对于同性恋问题，大家的接受是潜移默化的。这话说的没错，日前，美国联邦法院废止了俄克拉荷马州实施两年的“禁止同性家庭收养子女法”，这是美国同志民权组织Lambda Legal争取联邦法官同情的又一胜利。

请看外电相关报道：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 adoptions¹ 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 the bench.

报道中的bench不再是我们日常所见的“无靠背长凳”，它在这里代指“法官”。Bench原用来形容the seat for judges in a courtroom（法官席），就像bar（法庭上把律师或被告席位隔开来的围栏）可以引申为“律师”一样，bench（法官席）后来逐渐借指“法官；法官官衔”。

例如：the full bench of the Supreme² Court（最高法院的全体法官）

The mother was so excited after hearing the news that his son had been appointed to the bench.（听到儿子当上了法官，母亲激动不已。）

另外，大家还可留心一下体育新闻，bench在体育词汇里可以作名词——“替补队员”(老坐在板凳上的队员)，作动词——“因犯规罚（场上队员）出场”，举两个例句：

A weak bench hurt their chances for the championship.（他们因后备运动员力量不足而失去了夺冠的机会。）

The player was benched for failing to follow the rules.（这名选手因不遵守规则而被责令罚下场。）