365个英语简短小故事-117. New Dog-Barking Law

Noise. It gets into your head and under your skin. Too much noise can turn ordinary people into raging maniacs¹. All too-common noises in neighborhoods are the blaring TVs, blaring car radios, and barking dogs. Most cities have ordinances³ against excessive noise. Of course, if you complain about your neighbor’s noise, your neighbor will hate you and start making more noise. So, many people try to ignore their inconsiderate neighbors. Finally, when they can take it no longer, they simply move.

The city council of Los Angeles recently came to the rescue of its residents—or seemed to. It passed a new ordinance²: the owner of a dog that barks for 30 minutes straight will get a warning the first time a complaint is made. For a second complaint, the owner will pay a $100 fine or go to jail for a week maximum, or both. The council wrote no penalty concerning a third or fourth complaint. “Finally,” said Zev Doheny, “we’ve passed a noise law with some teeth in it.”

Of course, there are a few problems with the new law: How does a resident prove that a dog was barking for 30 minutes? Does he present an audio tape? With modern technology, couldn’t that tape easily be “doctored” so that one minute of actual barking magically becomes 30 minutes? Couldn’t a person tape just any old dog barking and then claim that it’s his neighbor’s dog doing all that barking? Do dogs have voiceprints, like humans have fingerprints⁴? Will all dogs have to get “voice-printed?”

“There isn’t one brain among the lot of them,” complained the owner of a pet store when he heard about the council’s new law. “Their ‘solutions’ are almost always worse than the problems themselves.”

 

1 maniacs   

n.疯子（maniac的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Hollywood films misrepresented us as drunks, maniacs and murderers. 好莱坞电影把我们歪曲成酒鬼、疯子和杀人凶手。 来自辞典例句
• They're not irrational, potentially homicidal maniacs, to start! 他们不是非理性的，或者有杀人倾向的什么人！ 来自电影对白

2 ordinance   

n.法令；条令；条例

参考例句：

• The Ordinance of 1785 provided the first land grants for educational purposes.1785年法案为教育目的提供了第一批土地。
• The city passed an ordinance compelling all outdoor lighting to be switched off at 9.00 PM.该市通过一条法令强令晚上九点关闭一切室外照明。

3 ordinances   

n.条例，法令( ordinance的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These points of view, however, had not been generally accepted in building ordinances. 然而，这些观点仍未普遍地为其他的建筑条例而接受。 来自辞典例句
• Great are Your mercies, O Lord; Revive me according to Your ordinances. 诗119:156耶和华阿、你的慈悲本为大．求你照你的典章将我救活。 来自互联网

4 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》