Passage Twenty (NCB in Interpol)
The organization known to the world as Interpol has sometimes been described as an outfit of chisel-jawed gimlet-eyed crime fighters who put their lives in jeopardy every working hour. Less flatteringly, Interpol has also been described as a huge filing cabinet, stuffed with clerks choking on their own statistics.
As with most generalities, there is some truth in both statements. There are, certainly, some grim battlers of crime to be found working with Interpol. There are, just as surely, those drones shuffling mountains of paper whose cheeks are sallow from indoor life. Consider the charisma of the name alone: INTERPOL, the international police force. Continents leaped in a single bound, oceans crossed in the space of a breath, villains watched by eyes that never sleep. Surprisingly, a lot of it happens almost that way.
Four groups coordinate and direct the activities of Interpol. One of them is the National Central Bureaus, or NCBs, bodies designated by the member nations to serve as their link with Interpol. These are the front-line troops, the action people. IN the United States, the Treasury Department is the National Central Bureau. In the United Kingdom, it is Scotland Yard; the Questura in Italy and the Melbourne City Police in Australia. Because police organization varies from country, the NCBs were established to act as the one special group to handle Interpol chores and unsure maximum cooperation between nations. Each NCB is usually an official government body with police powers if a country has only one central police authority, that body becomes the National Centre Bureau. Of course, any service appointed as an NCB is bound to its nation’s law and authority and retains its national title.
Each NCB is connected by radio to the regional station for its geographic zone. The regional stations are connected to the Central Station in France. The radio network is versatile. Network stations can monitor the Central station or any regional station. Because of this messages can be broadcast to more than one station at a time. A coding system determines the urgency of each message so that those with high priority can be given precedence. Besides, other communication tools, such as radio-teleprinters and phototelegraphy equipment. Permit rapid transfers of fingerprints and photographs. Sometimes ever more advanced technology is employed. When the police all over the world were looking for a Canadian named George Leray, they turned to the Early Bird Satellite. Leray had led his gang on a daring holdup of a Montreal bank and gotten away with $4 million. Scotland Yard broadcast Leray’s photo to the world by satellite. An American who saw the picture in Florida recognized Leray as a man who was living on a yacht in Fort Lauderdale under an assumed name. The police were alerted and arrested Leray.
1. What is the best title for this passage?
[A]. The Function of the Interpol. [B]. The Quality of the Interpol.
[C]. The Organization of the Interpol. [D]. The Rapid Development of the Interpol.
2. The organization of this passage is
[A]. general to specific. [B]. cause and effect.
[C]. comparison and contrast. [D]. development.
3. The sentence “stuffed with clerks choking on their own statistics” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to
[A]. a lot of employees busying in their work.
[B]. many office workers busying with various documents.
[C]. crowded with office workers busying with their own collected data.
[D]. workers busying in their own information.
4. Which is the easiest tool to communicate?
[A]. Satellite. [B]. Radio.
[B]. Teleprinter. [D]. Phototelegraphy.
Vocabulary
1. Interpol 國際刑警組織
2. outfit 全班人馬，有組織團體
3. chisel-jawed 儀表英俊的
4. gimlet-eyed 目光銳利的
5. jeopardy 危險
6. flatteringly 奉承
7. choke 悶死
choking on their own statistics 被自己的統計數字弄的喘不過氣來
8. as with most generalities 和大多數籠統說法一樣
9. grim 冷酷的
10. drone 懶漢，懶洋洋的人
11. shuffle 反復挪動，亂翻，洗(紙牌)
12. charisma 超凡的魅力
13. National Central Bureaus 國家中心局
14. Treasury Department 財政部(美)
15. Questura 警察局(意)
16. Melbourne 墨爾本警察局
17. chore 日常零星工作
18. to be bound to 受……的約束，義務，一定……
19. geographic zone 地區，地帶
20. versatile 有多方面用途的
21. radio-teleprinter 無線電打印機
22. phototelegraph 傳真
23. daring 大膽的
24. holdup 搶劫
25. alert 使警惕，使處于待命狀態
難句譯注
1. The organization known to the world as Interpol has sometimes been described as an outfit of chisel-jawed gimlet-eyed crime fighters who put their lives in jeopardy every working hour. Less flatteringly, Interpol has also been described as a huge filing cabinet, stuffed with clerks choking on their own statistics.
[結構簡析] 兩個句子都是被動語氣，都有分詞短語。前一句known 修飾organization，后一句stuffed 修飾 cabinet.
[參考譯文] 聞名于世的國際刑警組織長被描述成一群儀表英俊，目光犀利和罪犯斗爭的戰士的群體組織。他們的生命無時無刻不處于危險之中。國際刑警組織也被描述為一個大型的檔案室，里面擠滿了工作人員，他們被自己的統計數字忙得喘不過氣來。
2. There are, certainly, some grim battlers of crime to be found working with Interpol. There are, just as surely, those drones shuffling mountains of paper whose cheeks are sallow from indoor life.
[結構簡析] 這是兩個句子，都是引導詞there句型。
[參考譯文] 這里肯定能見到和罪犯斗爭的冷酷無情的斗士在國際刑警組織工作，同樣可以肯定，這里有那些懶洋洋的人在翻動如山的文件檔案，他們的臉頰由于室內生活而消瘦如刀。
3. Continents leaped in a single bound, oceans crossed in the space of a breath, villains watched by eyes that never sleep.
[結構簡析] 這是省略句。正常句型應該是Continents are leaped in…，Oceans are crossed in…, villains are watched by …。
[參考譯文] 大洲可一步跨過。大洋可以在轉眼之間越過，壞蛋可以由日夜不眠的眼睛緊盯著。
4. These are the front-line troops, the action people.
[參考譯文] 這些人是前線軍，具體行動的人(執行人)。
寫作方法與文章大意
這是一篇介紹國際刑警組織的文章。采用一般到具體的寫作方法。頭二段是對國際刑警組織的一般介紹，后面是具體到NCB，組成國際刑警組織四個部門之一——國家中心局是各國負責和國際刑警保持聯系部門，如英國的蘇格蘭場，美國的財政部等，最后一段講聯系的多種渠道和方式方法。
答案祥解
1. C. 國際刑警組織。上面文章大意已經說明介紹國際刑警組織，其職能性質只是附帶涉及。所以
A. B. 不對。 D. 迅速發展，文章沒有涉及。
2. A. 文章是一般到具體的組織結構。
B. 因果 和 C. 對比。 不對。 D. 展開，任何文章都得展開。
3. C. stuff=crowd 辦公室擠滿了工作人員，忙于分析處理收集來的信息和數據。見難句譯注1參考譯文。
A. 有許多雇員忙于工作; B. 許多辦公室人員忙于各種文件; D. 忙于自己信息的工人。 這三項都沒有。
4. B. 無線電通訊。縱然第四段內提及種種手段：衛星，無線電，打印機，傳真電報。但無線電通訊仍是他們運用的最方便和最得力的工具，因為他們的無線電網絡靈活多用，網絡站能監控中央和各地區站點，而且一次能把信息傳至好幾臺。至于衛星，電報，傳真電報只是在特殊情況下運行，如快速傳送照片，指紋等。所以A. 衛星， C. 無線電打印機， D. 傳真電報，不對。 |
