VOA慢速英语20060503c

EXPLORATIONS - Forensic¹ Science Is Often Used to Solve CrimesBy Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Wednesday, May 03, 2006

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus with Explorations in VOA Special English. Today we tell about forensics 鈥?a special kind of medical science used to solve crimes.


Analia Gonzalez Simonetta of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology³ Team works with human remains⁴ to identify 'disappeared' people

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VOICE ONE:

From nineteen seventy-six to nineteen eighty-three, a military dictatorship in Argentina carried out a campaign to kidnap, torture and kill its critics. About twenty thousand men, women and children were lost in Argentina's so-called dirty war. The victims were never found and became known as the disappeared.

The military government fell in nineteen eighty-three. The new civilian⁵ government invited forensic scientists from the United States to investigate the killings⁷. Anthropologist⁸ Clyde Snow and a group of Argentinean university students discovered remains in hundreds of mass graves. The bones they collected helped prove the mass killings. In nineteen eighty-five, six of nine former Argentine military leaders were found guilty for the deaths of the disappeared.

VOICE TWO:

Clyde Snow and the Argentinean students used archeological techniques and laboratory methods to identify the disappeared. Clyde Snow says such forensic investigations¹¹ are done for three reasons.

CLYDE SNOW: The first is to collect the forensic evidence in the hopes that eventually some justice can serve the needs, such as we did in the junta¹² trial in Argentina.

Mister Snow says the second reason is to establish a historical record that can be used in a court of law. And a third reason for forensic investigations is to return any remains of victims to their families.

VOICE ONE:

Today, the work of forensic investigators¹³ has captured the public's imagination. Several popular television shows, films and best-selling books have led to a new form of entertainment. In most situations, forensic investigators solve violent crimes.

How does forensic medicine establish facts about something that is unexplained? How does it provide evidence that can be used against people guilty of violent crimes? The answer is based on years of work by experts.

VOICE TWO:

French anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon created the first record-keeping system of criminals in eighteen seventy-nine in Paris. It included physical measurements and photographs of individual criminals. French police used the descriptive information to identify suspects.

In eighteen eighty-four, Mister Bertillon used his system to help French police identify more than two hundred repeat criminals. Police in Europe and the Americas used the system as well. In time, law enforcement moved away from this system to fingerprint¹⁴ identification. Yet, parts of the system are still used today. These include the traditional mug shot or photograph of the suspected criminal after he or she is arrested.

VOICE ONE:

In the second half of the nineteenth century, forensic science became interested in other ways to identify criminals. In Argentina, police official Juan Vucetich developed the first workable system of fingerprint identification. In eighteen ninety-two, he was also the first person to successfully use fingerprint evidence in a murder investigation¹⁰. The case involved the murder of two boys in a village near Buenos Aires.

Police suspected a man linked to the boys' mother. But the police could not get their suspect to admit to the crime.

Investigators found a bloody¹⁵ fingerprint while studying the crime area. Mister Vucetich compared the fingerprint to those of the male suspect and the boys' mother. The fingerprint matched one of the mother's. When presented with the evidence, she admitted her guilt⁹.

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VOICE TWO:

In the nineteenth century, low-cost manufactured chemicals began to be used in homes, farms and industry. Many of these chemicals were poisonous to humans. Poisoning became a method of killing⁶ that was sometimes hard to identify. So researchers developed toxicology as a kind of forensic medicine to help solve crimes.

Toxicologists identify small amounts of poisons and other substances through a series of tests. Such tests might involve blood, bodily fluids, tissue or a piece of hair examined under a microscope. In fact, scientists can establish a person's complete history of drug use by studying one small piece of hair.

VOICE ONE:

British chemist James Marsh¹⁶ developed the most famous toxicology test in eighteen thirty-six. The Marsh Test is used to identify small amounts of arsenic¹⁷ poison. Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila used the test in eighteen forty to help solve a disputed murder case in France. Mister Orfila is considered the father of toxicology. He worked to make the study of chemicals a common part of forensic medicine.

Today, researchers continue to discover new ways to separate, study and identify chemical substances in the body. One of the more modern technologies is gas chromatography, which separates substances. Another modern technology is mass spectrometry. This method measures the mass of molecules¹⁹. Both help toxicologists identify very small amounts of poison in the bodies of victims. The technologies also help investigators collect evidence after a crime.

VOICE TWO:

Forensic radiology is another modern method used by investigators to solve crimes. Radiology can make images of what is hidden in the body. Forensic radiologists use X-rays, computer tomography and magnetic resonance²⁰ imaging to follow the path of objects inside the body. Radiologists can use this technology to identify the remains of bodies destroyed beyond recognition.

A forensic odontologist uses radiology to examine evidence related to teeth. Such technology helped solve a horrible crime in two thousand three in Switzerland. Three women were found beaten to death in a building near Zurich. One of the victims had a bite mark on her shoulder. Scientists created models of teeth and used radiological images to prove the guilt of a suspect.

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VOICE ONE:

Today, new technologies are changing forensic science. For example, investigators increasingly use genetic²¹ tests involving D.N.A. to identify people, including criminals. Every cell in every living thing contains D.N.A., the molecule¹⁸ that carries genetic information.

In nineteen ninety-eight, D.N.A. tests helped identify an American soldier buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery²² in Virginia. First Lieutenant²³ Michael Blassie had been shot down over South Vietnam in nineteen seventy-two. Almost twenty years later, his family received word that his remains might be buried in the cemetery near Washington, D.C.

The family urged the Department of Defense²⁴ to open the Tomb of the Unknowns and carry out D.N.A. tests on the damaged bones inside. A match was found and the remains of First Lieutenant Blassie were returned to his family in the state of Missouri.

VOICE TWO:

D.N.A. tests have been used to study blood and other bodily fluids to identify suspects of crimes. These tests have also shown that some people found guilty of crimes were really innocent. For example, in nineteen eighty-five, Kirk Bloodsworth was sentenced to death for the sexual torture and murder of a nine-year-old girl. A Maryland court found him guilty based on information from an unidentified person and reports that placed him near the crime area. No physical evidence had linked him to the killing.

In prison, Bloodsworth learned about D.N.A. testing. With the help of his lawyer, he urged officials to compare his D.N.A. with evidence from the trial. The tests proved his innocence²⁵. Kirk Bloodsworth won his freedom in nineteen ninety-three.

A nonprofit legal organization called The Innocence Project supported the case. The group is based in New York City. It was created to support the use of D.N.A. tests to help release innocent prisoners. The Project says more than one hundred seventy-five prisoners have been found innocent of their crimes because of D.N.A. testing.

VOICE ONE:

The use of forensic science to identify and punish violators of human rights has spread around the world. In two thousand five, there were forensic human rights investigations in more than thirty countries. Investigators have documented victims of mass murders as well as those responsible for the crimes. Anthropologist Clyde Snow says the disappeared in Argentina started the movement.

CLYDE SNOW: Our work in Argentina was the first in which the forensic sciences were used in the investigation of human rights abuses.

But experts say forensic teams work at great personal risk in countries where human rights violators remain in power.

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written and produced by Jill Moss. Our audio engineer was Wojciech Zorniak. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.

1 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

2 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 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。

7 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

8 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

9 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

12 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

13 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 fingerprint   

n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹

参考例句：

• The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
• The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。

15 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

16 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

17 arsenic   

n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的

参考例句：

• His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
• Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。

18 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

19 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

20 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

21 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

22 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

23 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

24 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

25 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。