【英语趣味课堂】犯罪的原因-The Cause of Crime

Rebecca: So, what do you think are some theories are then about that could lead into helping¹, you know, prevent crime?

Gareth: Well, there's a story that I once read about, and it's the New York Subway, on how there was so much crime on the New York Subway. And they started cleaning up the subway and the trains, and they wouldn't allow any graffiti on the trains.

 

Rebecca: Mm-hm.

 

Gareth: And if a train went in the morning and stopped at a station, and someone wrote graffiti on the window or on the door, that train will be taken out of service -

 

Rebecca: Wow.

 

Gareth: --cleaned up, and then put back in service. It actually improved, or it kind of decreased the crime rate, so that there weren't so many crimes committed. There's a whole theory about this, and it's called - Broken Glass Theory. Like if you live in a community that doesn't care about the community, then, you're more likely to destroy it or to break it.

 

Rebecca: Yeah.

 

Gareth: If you do have a nice place to live and everyone respects that place, it tends to promote more respect in people.

 

Rebecca: So, maybe a way to help decrease the crime rate would be to get everyone involved more in the community and to build - to start a cleanup program or something along those lines.

 

Gareth: Exactly, yeah. I can't remember a case a while back in America, where a group of students were into The Matrix.

 

Rebecca: Mm-hm.

 

Gareth: And it's a movie where they wear trenchcoats, these black trenchcoats. This group of students went to a school and they started killing² people. And they promoted in the press that it was because of the movies that these kids were into and the games that they played. And they pretty much went into the school and they did everything like a shoot-them-up game, like a game, like Halo, or these games where this first person shoots and you go through the level and you have to destroy the enemies and promote to the next level.

 

Rebecca: Mm-hm.

 

Gareth: They pretty much copied that kind of system strategy when they went into the school. So, the newspapers said that it's because of this that these kids killed everyone.

 

Rebecca: Mm-hm.

 

Gareth: But I don't know if that's actually true. I don't like - there are so many people that do play these games, these shoot-them-up games, and why aren't they going around killing other people? It's probably something else that happened to these kids that triggered⁴ them, and it didn't help that they were shooting people in these video games, but it wasn't the trigger³. It probably was some other trauma⁵ in their life that caused it.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

theory

 

There are theories.

 

A theory is an idea we use to explain something about the world. Sometimes the idea has not been proven. Notice the following:

 

There are several interesting theories on the origin of the universe.

Einstein's theory of relativity is still widely accepted.

graffiti

 

The authorities found graffiti.

 

Graffiti is words or pictures most often spray painted on walls, buildings, trains, etc. Notice the following:

 

Graffiti is a huge problem downtown.

I actually believe that graffiti ads color to the city.

along those lines

 

Something along those lines.

 

The term 'along those lines' has the same meaning as the word 'similar'. Notice the following:

 

We should plan a party or something along those lines for his graduation.

We should plan a party or something similar for his graduation.

trigger

 

Something else triggered that.

 

Something that is triggered happens very fast and is most often negative. Notice the following:

 

The election results triggered protests throughout the country.

They don't yet know what triggered the explosions.

trauma

 

It probably was trauma.

 

Trauma is a very painful and emotional experience from our past. Notice the following:

 

It took years to get over over the trauma of losing his father.

The trauma of war has affected⁶ the entire population there.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 trigger   

n.触发器，板机，制滑机；v.触发（事件）

参考例句：

• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again.他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。
• He pulled the trigger but the gun didn't go off.他打了一枪，没有发火。

4 triggered   

触发的

参考例句：

• An indiscreet remark triggered off a long and costly strike. 一次轻率的讲话导致长时间、代价高昂的罢工。
• The incident triggered an armed clash. 这起事件触发了一场武装冲突。

5 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。