【英语趣味课堂】犯罪的类型-Types of Crime

Gareth: So, Rebecca, where are you from?

Rebecca: I'm from America, actually, yeah.

 

Gareth: I've never been to America. What's crime like in America?

 

Rebecca: I think it probably depends a lot, city to city. It varies¹ a lot, depending on the city. I actually lived for a while in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Living there, I never actually thought it was unsafe or anything, but looking back, it makes me go like, - We actually lived with that? That's insane²! Like there are certain areas in town you just don't drive, because if you stop your car in that area, you know, it's extremely dangerous.

 

Gareth: So, what's the most common kind of crime?

 

Rebecca: Um, we had a lot of gang³ problems, a lot of robberies⁴, a lot of guns, and there are a lot of shootings in Albuquerque, especially in the - I can't remember the name of the area now, but down in this one area, there were a lot. Down in the valley, there were a lot of gang problems.

 

Gareth: Really? What's the best way to stop it, do you think?

 

Rebecca: Oh, God, I have no idea. Like the only thing we can say is, you know, - Trust the police to do their job and save us all. But even just that, like to be honest, a lot of the problem in the States come from the fact that we're allowed to have guns.

 

Gareth: Hm.

 

Rebecca: And as an American, like yeah, it's part of our, you know, national right to have guns. And if you say, - You can't have guns, then it would be very upsetting, as an American, because it's like part of, you know, what built the country.

 

Gareth: Yeah.

 

Rebecca: But because we have so many guns, that makes crime a whole lot easier to do.

 

Gareth: Yeah. In England, they've banned guns. You can only keep like a shotgun if you keep your shots away from the gun. But still, they smuggle⁵ pistols⁶ into the country -

 

Rebecca: Yeah.

 

Gareth: --and there are gangs⁷ that have guns. And if they don't have guns, they have knives.

 

Rebecca: Right. So it's like I think maybe if they were to ban the guns in America, I wonder if it would help or just make it so like the normal people who have these weapons no longer have them, and the bad people who had the - (the bad people), the criminals, or whatever, you know, the gangs - who had the weapons before, I don't think they'll not have the weapons anymore. I think they'll still have them.

 

Gareth: Yeah.

 

Rebecca: They'll smuggle them in. Because they're doing all these other bad things, why would it matter? So, I don't know. it just leaves the innocent⁸ people a little more defenseless, but I don't - I don't know; I really don't know.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

insane

 

I thought it insane that we lived in those areas!

 

Here, the word insane is used informally to express surprise. Notice the following:

 

That's insane!

No way! Are you insane?

upsetting

 

It would be very upsetting.

 

Something that is upsetting makes us angry. Notice the following:

 

His drunken behavior at the party was upsetting.

That's upsetting news.

banned

 

In England, they banned guns.

 

Something that is banned is forbidden, usually by the government. Notice the following:

 

In my hometown, smoking has been banned in all public places.

There's an alcohol⁹ ban at all school functions.

smuggle

 

People smuggle pistols into the country.

 

The word smuggle means to secretly and illegally move people or things from one place to another. Notice the following:

 

Alien smuggling¹⁰ is a big problem at the border.

The gang was arrested for drug smuggling.

matter

 

Why would it matter?

 

Something that matters is important to us. Notice the following:

 

Your opinion matters to me.

Does it matter what I say?

 

1 varies   

变化( vary的第三人称单数 )； [生物学]变异； 相应变化； 呈现不同

参考例句：

• The need for sleep varies considerably from person to person. 不同的人对睡眠的需要差异相当大。
• the stultifying effects of work that never varies 一成不变的工作造成的使人呆滞的后果

2 insane   

adj.蠢极的，荒唐的，精神错乱的，疯狂的

参考例句：

• Insane people are sometimes dangerous.精神病人有时非常危险。
• The letter made her insane with jealousy.那封信使她妒忌得发疯。

3 gang   

n.一伙，一帮；结伴的朋友

参考例句：

• The gang live abroad,beyond reach of the British police.这帮匪徒住在国外，英国警方鞭长莫及。
• Some gang came in and shot the place up.有股匪帮进来对这个地方开枪扫射。

4 robberies   

n.抢劫案( robbery的名词复数 )；明抢；敲竹杠；明目张胆地索取高价

参考例句：

• He said he teamed up with Miller in a number of robberies. 他说他和米勒合作搞了一系列的抢劫。 来自辞典例句
• He was arrested in connection with a series of armed bank robberies. 因受一系列武装抢劫银行案的牵连，他被捕了。 来自辞典例句

5 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

6 pistols   

n.手枪( pistol的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Meantime he was loading the pistols. 而同时他在往手枪里装子弹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Two strangers menaced him with pistols and forced him to give up his money. 两个陌生人用手枪威胁他并强迫他拿出所有的钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 gangs   

n.（罪犯有组织的）一帮( gang的名词复数 )；一伙；（闹事青少年的）一群；（工人有组织的）一队

参考例句：

• Gangs of youths went on the rampage in the city yesterday. 成群结伙的年轻人昨天在城里横冲直撞。
• a vicious turf war between rival gangs of drug dealers 对立贩毒团伙之间的猛烈火并

8 innocent   

adj.无罪的，清白的；无害的；天真的，单纯的

参考例句：

• I'm not quite so innocent as to believe that.我还不至于简单到相信那种事的地步。
• I was very young,and very innocent.我那时非常年轻，幼稚无知。

9 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

10 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。