新概念英語第三冊課文翻譯及詞匯Lesson40~44

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你覺得學(xué)習(xí)新概念英語并難么。你在為英語成績低拖后腿而煩惱嗎?下面小編就和大家分享新概念英語第三冊課文翻譯及詞匯Lesson49~53，希望有了這些內(nèi)容，可以為大家學(xué)習(xí)新概念英語提供幫助!

新概念英語第三冊課文翻譯及詞匯Lesson49

【課文】

It is a good thing my aunt Harriet died years ago. If she were alive today she would not be able to air her views on her favourite topic of conversation: domestic servants. Aunt Harriet lived in that leisurely age when servants were employed to do housework. She had a huge, rambling country house called 'The Gables'. She was sentimentally attached to this house, for even though it was far too big for her needs, she persisted in living there long after her husband's death. Before she grew old, Aunt Harriet used to entertain lavishly. I often visited The Gables when I was a boy. No matter how many guests were present, the great house was always immaculate. The parquet floors shone like mirrors; highly polished silver was displayed in gleaming glass cabinets; even my uncle's huge collection of books was kept miraculously free from dust. Aunt Harriet presided over an invisible army of servants that continuously scrubbed, cleaned, and polished. She always referred to them as 'the shifting population', for they came and went with such frequency that I never even got a chance to learn their names. Though my aunt pursued what was, in those days, an enlightened policy, in that she never allowed her domestic staff to work more than eight hours a day, she was extremely difficult to please. While she always criticized the fickleness of human nature, she carried on an unrelenting search for the ideal servant to the end of her days, even after she had been sadly disillusioned by Bessie.

Bessie worked for Aunt Harriet for three years. During that time she so gained my aunt's confidence that she was put in charge of the domestic staff. Aunt Harriet could not find words to praise Bessie's industriousness and efficiency. In addition to all her other qualifications, Bessie was an expert cook. She acted the role of the perfect servant for three years before Aunt Harriet discovered her 'little weakness'. After being absent from the Gables for a week, my aunt unexpectedly returned one afternoon with a party of guests and instructed Bessie to prepare dinner. No only was the meal well below the usual standard, but Bessie seemed unable to walk steadily. She bumped into the furniture and kept mumbling about the guests. When she came in with the last course -- a huge pudding -- she tripped on the carpet and the pudding went flying through the air, narrowly missed my aunt, and crashed on the dining table with considerable force. Though this caused great mirth among the guests, Aunt Harriet was horrified. She reluctantly came to the conclusion that Bessie was drunk. The guests had, of course, realized this from the moment Bessie opened the door for them and, long before the final catastrophe, had had a difficult time trying to conceal their amusement. The poor girl was dismissed instantly. After her departure, Aunt Harriet discovered that there were piles of empty wine bottles of all shapes and sizes neatly stacked in what had once been Bessie's wardrobe. They had mysteriously found their way there from the wine cellar!

【課文翻譯】

我的姑媽哈麗特好多年前就去世了，這倒是件好事。如果她活到今天，她將不能就她熱衷的話題“傭人”發(fā)表意見了。哈麗特生活在一個悠閑的年代，家務(wù)事都由雇來的傭人代勞。她在鄉(xiāng)下有一幢巨大雜亂的房子，叫作“山墻莊園”。她對這幢房子在感情上難舍難分。房子實在太大了，但在丈夫去世多年后，她仍然執(zhí)意長年住在那兒。哈麗特姑媽年輕時，喜歡大擺宴席，招待賓客。我小時候常去“山墻莊園”作客。不管去多少賓客，大房子里總是收拾得干干凈凈。鑲木地板潔如明鏡，擦得發(fā)亮的銀器陳列在明亮的玻璃柜里，連姑夫的大量藏書也保存得很好，奇跡般地一塵不染。哈麗特姑媽統(tǒng)率著一支看不見的傭人大軍，他們不停地擦拭、清掃、刷洗。她稱這些傭人叫“流動人口”，因為他們來匆匆，所以我甚至都沒有機會知道他們的姓名。姑媽待傭人在當時算是開明的，從來不讓傭人每天工作超過8小時，但他們很難使她稱心如意。她一方面總是批評人的本性朝三暮四，另一方面她又持之以恒地尋找一個理想的傭人。即使在貝西大大地傷她的心之后，她還在找，一直到她死去。

貝西在哈麗特家干了3年。在此期間，她贏得了姑母的賞識，甚至當上了大管家。哈麗特不知該用什么言辭來贊揚貝西的勤奮與高效。貝西除了有各種本領(lǐng)以外，還是一個烹飪大師。她擔(dān)任“理想仆人”角色3年之后，哈麗特終于發(fā)現(xiàn)她有“小小的弱點”。一次，姑媽有一個星期沒在“山墻莊園”住。一天下午，她出其不意地回來了，帶來一大批客人，吩咐貝西準備晚飯。結(jié)果，不僅飯菜遠不如平時做得好，而且貝西走起路來似乎東倒西歪。她撞到了家具上，嘴里還不斷咕咕噥噥議論客人。當她端著最后一道菜——一大盤布丁——走進屋來時，在地毯上絆了一跤。布丁飛到半空，從姑母身邊擦過，然后狠狠地砸在餐桌上。這件事引起了客人們的歡笑，但哈麗特卻著實嚇了一跳。她不得不認定貝西是喝醉了?？腿藗冏匀粡呢愇鳛樗麄冮_門那一刻起就看出來了，在好長一段時間里，即最后這個亂子發(fā)生前，他們努力克制才沒笑出聲來。貝西當即被解雇了。貝西走后，哈麗特姑媽發(fā)現(xiàn)在貝西以前用過的衣柜里整整齊齊地放著一堆堆形狀各導(dǎo)、大小不一的酒瓶子。這些酒瓶神不知鬼不覺地從酒窖來到了這里。

【詞匯】

rambling adj. 雜亂無章的

sentimentally adv. 感情上，多情地

lavishly adv. 慷慨地，大方地

immaculate adj. 清潔的，無污點的

parquet n. 鑲木地板

gleam v. 發(fā)亮，閃光

preside v. 指揮

invisible adj. 看不見的，無形的

scrub v. 擦拭，刷洗

enlightened adj. 開明的

fickleness n. 變化無常

unrelenting adj. 不屈不撓的，不松懈的

disillusion v. 使幻想破滅

industriousness n. 勤奮

qualification n. 資格，能力

mirth n. 歡笑，高興

stack v. 整齊地堆放

cellar n. 地窖

新概念英語第三冊課文翻譯及詞匯Lesson50

【課文】

The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally, at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of 'dos' and 'don'ts'. The same old favorites recur year in year out with monotonous regularity. We resolve to get up earlier each morning, eat less, find more time to play with the children, do a thousand and one jobs about the house, be nice to people we don't like, drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day. Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure. Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my resolutions to myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions: to do physical exercise every morning and to read more of an evening. An all-night party on New Year's Eve provided me with a good excuse for not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day of the year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.

The daily exercises lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the morning before anyone had got up. The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable. Nevertheless, I managed to creep down into the living room for two days before anyone found me out. After jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human frame into uncomfortable positions, I sat down at the breakfast table in an exhausted condition. It was this that betrayed me. The next morning the whole family trooped in to watch the performance. That was really unsettling, but I fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good-humouredly and soon everybody got used to the idea. However, my enthusiasm waned. The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero. By January 10th, I was back to where I had started from. I argued that if I spent less time exhausting myself at exercises in the morning, I would keep my mind fresh for reading when I got home form work Resisting the hypnotizing effect of television, I sat in my room for a few evenings with my eyes glued to a book. One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I went downstairs and sat in front of the television pretending to read. That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to my old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen. I still haven't given up my resolution to do more reading. In fact, I have just bought a book entitled How to Read a Thousand Words a Minute. Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just haven't had time to read it!

【課文翻譯】

新年是下決心的時候，至少在大多數(shù)人的心里會編排出一份“應(yīng)做什么”和“不應(yīng)做什么”的令人生畏的單子。相同的決心以單調(diào)的規(guī)律年復(fù)一年地出現(xiàn)。我們決心每天早晨起得早些;吃得少些;多花點時間與孩子們一起做游戲;做大量的家務(wù);對不喜歡的人友善一些;小心駕車;每天都要帶著狗散步;等等。以往的經(jīng)驗告訴我們有些事是辦不到的。如果我們煙癮大，戒不掉，那是因為屢戒屢敗，失去信心。我們大多數(shù)人想自我完善卻遭到失敗，這是因為我們的規(guī)劃過于宏大，而又根本沒有時間去實施。我們還犯有一個根本性的錯誤，即把我們的決心向大家宣布。這樣一旦滑回到那些老習(xí)慣上去，我們在別人的眼里會顯得更加難堪。我深知這些問題，于是，今年我對自己的計劃要嚴加保密，只給自己定下兩項適中的任務(wù);每天早上鍛煉身體，每天晚上多看點書。新年除夕舉辦的一次通宵晚會，使我理直氣壯地在新年頭一天免去了這兩項任務(wù)。不過，新年第二天，我全力以赴地照著去做了。

早鍛煉一共只有11分鐘，我打算在別人起床之前進行。這就要求我比平時早11分鐘把自己從床上拽起來，這種自我約束是很艱苦的。不過開頭兩天我還是成功地躡手躡腳地來到樓下起居室，被誰也沒發(fā)現(xiàn)。我在地毯上跳來蹦過去，扭曲身子，擺出各種姿勢，弄得渾身不舒服，然后坐到桌邊吃早飯，一副筋疲力盡的樣子。正是這副模樣泄露了我的秘密。第二天早晨全家人結(jié)隊來到起居室看我表演。這真叫人不好意思，但我心平氣和地頂住全家人的嘲笑和奚落。不久，大家對我習(xí)以為常了，而這時我的熱情卻減退了。我花在鍛煉上的時間逐漸減少，慢慢地從11分鐘減到了零。到了1月 10日，我恢復(fù)了原來的作息時間。我辯解說，早晨少耗費精力鍛煉，晚上下班回家看書時頭腦更清醒些。有幾天晚上，我極力擺脫了電視的誘惑，坐在自己的房間里，兩眼盯在書上。可是，有一天夜里，我感到又冷又孤單，便來到樓下坐在電視機前假裝看書。這下我可完了，因為不一會兒，我就恢復(fù)了以前的壞習(xí)慣，在屏幕前打起瞌睡來。但我還沒有放棄多看些書的決心。事上，我剛買來一本叫《一分鐘讀一千字的訣竅》的書。也許這本書能解決我的問題，但我一直還沒時間去看這本書!

【詞匯】

resolution n. 決心

mentally adv. 內(nèi)心里

compile v. 編輯，編制

formidable adj. 令人畏懼的

recur v. 再發(fā)生，又出現(xiàn)

regularity n. 規(guī)律性

accomplishment n. 成就

attainment n. 達到

inveterate adj. 根深蒂固的

self-improvement n. 自我完善

cheme n. 簡單的計劃，方案

ambitious adj. 雄心勃勃的

pitfall n. 意外的困難，易犯的錯誤

modest adj. 要求不過分的

assiduously adv. 刻苦地

self-discipline n. 自我約束

frame n. 軀體

betray v. 暴露，顯露

troop v. 成群結(jié)隊地走動

unsettle v. 使不安

taunt n. 嘲笑，奚落人的話

jibe n. 嘲弄，挖苦

good-humouredly adv. 和氣地，心情好地

wane v. 逐漸變小，變?nèi)?/p>

diminish v. 減少，縮小

hypnotize v. 使欲睡，使朦朧

undoing n. 禍根，毀滅的原因

screen n. 電視機屏幕

新概念英語第三冊課文翻譯及詞匯Lesson51

【課文】

Predicting the future is notoriously difficult. Who could have imagined, in the mid 1970s, for example, that by the end of the 20th century, computers would be as common in people's homes as TV sets? In the 1970s, computers were common enough, but only in big business, government departments, and large organizations. These were the so-called mainframe machines. Mainframe computers were very large indeed, often occupying whole air-conditioned rooms, employing full-time technicians and run on specially-written software. Though these large machines still exist, many of their functions have been taken over by small powerful personal computers, commonly known as PCs.

In 1975, a primitive machine called the Altair, was launched in the USA. It can properly be described as the first 'home computer' and it pointed the way to the future. This was followed, at the end of the 1970s, by a machine called an Apple. In the early 1980s, the computer giant, IBM produced the world's first Personal Computer. This ran on an 'operating system' called DOS, produced by a then small company named Microsoft. The IBM Personal Computer was widely copied. From those humble beginnings, we have seen the development of the user-friendly home computers and multimedia machines which are in common use today.

Considering how recent these developments are, it is even more remarkable that as long ago as the 1960s, an Englishman, Leon Bagrit, was able to predict some of the uses of computers which we know today. Bagrit dismissed the idea that computers would learn to 'think' for themselves and would 'rule the world', which people liked to believe in those days. Bagrit foresaw a time when computers would be small enough to hold in the hand, when they would be capable of providing information about traffic jams and suggesting alternative routes, when they would be used in hospitals to help doctors to diagnose illnesses, when they would relieve office workers and accountants of dull, repetitive clerical work. All these computer uses have become commonplace. Of course, Leon Bagrit could not possibly have foreseen the development of the Internet, the worldwide system that enables us to communicate instantly with anyone in any part of the world by using computers linked to telephone networks. Nor could he have foreseen how we could use the Internet to obtain information on every known subject, so we can read it on a screen in our homes and even print it as well if we want to. Computers have become smaller and smaller, more and more powerful and cheaper and cheaper. This is what makes Leon Bagrit's predictions particularly remarkable. If he, or someone like him, were alive today, he might be able to tell us what to expect in the next fifty years.

【課文翻譯】

眾所周知，預(yù)測未來是非常困難的。舉個例子吧，在20世紀70年代中葉又有誰能想得到在20世紀末的時候，家庭用的計算機會像電視機一樣普遍?在70年代，計算機已經(jīng)相當普及了，但只用在大公司，政府部門和大的組織之中，它們被稱為主機。計算機主機確實很大，常常占據(jù)了裝有空調(diào)的多間房間，雇用專職的技師，而且得用專門編寫的軟件才能運行。雖然這種大計算機仍然存在，但它們的許多功能已被體積小但功能齊全的個人電腦——即我們常說的 PC機——所代替了。

1975年，美國推出了一臺被稱為“牛郎星”的原始機型。嚴格地說起來，它可以被稱為第一臺“家用電腦”，而且它也指了今后的方向。70年代末，在牛郎星之后又出現(xiàn)了一種被稱為“蘋果”的機型。80年代初，計算機行業(yè)的王牌公司美國國際商用機器公司(IBM)生產(chǎn)出了世界上第一臺個人電腦。這種電腦采用了一種被稱為磁盤操作系統(tǒng)(DOS)的工作程序，而這種程序是由當時規(guī)模不大的微軟公司生產(chǎn)的。IBM的個人電腦被大規(guī)模地模仿。從那些簡陋的初級階段，我們看到了現(xiàn)在都已普及的、使用簡便的家用電腦和多媒體的微機的發(fā)展。

想一想這些發(fā)展的時間多么短，就更覺得英國人萊昂.巴格瑞特有著非凡的能力。他在60年代就能預(yù)言我們今天知道的計算機的一些用途。巴格瑞特根本不接受計算機可以學(xué)會自己去“思考”和計算可以“統(tǒng)治世界”這種想法，而這種想法是當時的人們都愿意相信的。巴格瑞特預(yù)示有一天計算機可以小到拿在手上，計算機可以使辦公室人員和會計免除那些枯燥、重復(fù)的勞動。計算機的所有這些功能現(xiàn)在都變得很平常。當然了，萊昂.巴格瑞特根本沒有可能預(yù)測到國際交互網(wǎng)——就是把計算機連結(jié)到電話線路上，以便和世界上任何一個地方的人立即進行聯(lián)系的一個世界范圍的通訊系統(tǒng)——的發(fā)展。他也無法預(yù)測到我們可以利用國際交互網(wǎng)獲取有關(guān)任何已知專題的信息，以便在家里的屏幕上閱讀，如果愿意的話甚至可以將其打印出來。計算機已經(jīng)變得體積越來越小，功能越來越多，價格越來越低，這就是萊昂.巴格瑞特的預(yù)測非凡的地方。如果他或是像他的什么人今天還活著的話，他大概可以告訴我們下一個50年后會發(fā)生什么事情。

【詞匯】

notoriously adv. (尤指因壞事)眾所周知地

full-time adj. 專職的

technician n. 技師

software n. 軟件

user-friendly adj. 容易操作的，好用的

mainframe n. 主機，中央處理機

multimedia adj. 多媒體的

alternative adj. 選擇的

diagnose v. 診斷

relieve v. 減輕

accountant n. 會計

repetitive adj. 重復(fù)的

clerical adj. 辦公室工作的

Internet n. 國際交互網(wǎng)

network n. 網(wǎng)絡(luò)

新概念英語第三冊課文翻譯及詞匯Lesson52

【課文】

My cousin, Harry, keeps a large curiously-shaped bottle on permanent display in his study. Despite the fact that the bottle is tinted a delicate shade of green, an observant visitor would soon notice that it is filled with what looks like a thick, grayish substance. If you were to ask Harry what was in the bottle, he would tell you that it contained perfumed mud. If you expressed doubt or surprise, he would immediately invite you to smell it and then to rub some into your skin. This brief experiment would dispel any further doubts you might have. The bottle really does contain perfumed mud. How Harry came into the possession of this outlandish stuff makes an interesting story which he is fond of relating. Furthermore, the acquisition of this bottle cured him of a bad habit he had been developing for years.

Harry used to consider it a great joke to go into expensive cosmetic shops and make outrageous requests for goods that do not exist. He would invent fanciful names on the spot. On entering a shop, he would ask for a new perfume called 'Scented Shadow' or for 'insoluble bath cubes'. If a shop assistant told him she had not heard of it, he would pretend to be considerably put out. He loved to be told that one of his imaginary products was temporarily out of stock and he would faithfully promise to call again at some future date, but of course he never did. How Harry managed to keep a straight face during these performances is quite beyond me.

Harry does not need to be prompted to explain how he bought his precious bottle of mud. One day, he went to an exclusive shop in London and asked for 'Myrolite', the shop assistant looked puzzled and Harry repeated the word, slowly stressing each syllable. When the woman shook her head in bewilderment, Harry went on to explain that 'myrolite' was a hard, amber-like substance which could be used to remove freckles. This explanation evidently conveyed something to the woman who searched shelf after shelf. She produced all sorts of weird concoctions, but none of them met with Harry's requirements. When Harry put on his act of being mildly annoyed, the assistant promised to order some for him. Intoxicated by his success, Harry then asked for perfumed mud. He expected the assistant to look at him in blank astonishment. However, it was his turn to be surprised, for the woman's eyes immediately lit up and she fetched several bottles which she placed on the counter for Harry to inspect. For once, Harry had to admit defeat. He picked up what seemed to be the smallest bottle and discreetly asked the price. He was glad to get away with a mere twenty pounds and he beat a hasty retreat, clutching the precious bottle under his arm. From then on, Harry decided that this little game he had invented might prove to be expensive. The curious bottle, which now adorns the bookcase in his study, was his first and last purchase of rare cosmetics.

【課文翻譯】

我的堂兄哈里在他的書房里一直擺著一只形狀古怪的大瓶子。盡管那只瓶子呈淡綠色，但細心的客人很快就會發(fā)現(xiàn)瓶里裝的是一種看上去黏稠，顏色發(fā)灰的東西。要是你問哈里瓶里裝著什么，他會告訴你是香水泥。如果你表示懷疑或驚奇，他會立即請你聞一聞，然后取出一些抹在你的皮膚上。這一簡單的試驗會消除你可能存有的一切疑慮。瓶里裝的的確是香水泥。哈里如何得到這種稀奇古怪的東西的，這里有個有趣的故事，而且他挺愛把它講給別人聽。此外，得到這瓶香水泥還治好了他多年的一個壞習(xí)慣。

哈里曾認為走進一家名貴化妝品商店，荒.唐地提出要買一種根本不存在的商品是件開心的事兒。他會當場編造出一些稀奇古怪的貨名。他走進商店后，會提出要一種名叫“香影”的新型香水或什么“不溶浴皂”。要是女售貨員告訴他從未聽說過這些東西，他會裝出十分遺憾和不安的樣子。他愛聽售貨員說他想像出來的那種東西暫時脫銷，于是他就煞有介事地許諾改天再來光顧。當然，他再也不會來了。我實在想像不出哈里在這些表演中是怎樣裝出一本正經(jīng)的樣子的。

毋須暗示哈里就會向你講起他買下那瓶珍貴香水泥的經(jīng)過。一天，他去倫敦一家高級商店要買一種叫“密諾萊特”的東西，店員露出詫異的神色。哈里又慢慢地，一字一頓說了一遍這個詞，那個女售貨員還是迷惑不解地搖了搖頭。哈里便進一步解釋“密諾萊特”是一種質(zhì)地堅硬、狀似琥珀的東西，可以用來除去雀斑。他的解釋顯然對女售貨員有些啟示。她一個貨架接著一個貨架地尋找，拿出各種各樣稀奇古怪的化妝品，但沒有一樣能夠符合哈里的要求。哈里裝出不高興的樣子時，女售貨員答應(yīng)為他定貨。哈里為他的騙術(shù)而感到洋洋得意，又提出要買香水泥。他原想女售貨員會驚奇地望著他，不知所措，沒料到這回該輪到他自己吃驚了。因為那女售貨員聽完哈里的話后，馬上眼睛一亮，拿出幾瓶東西放在柜臺上讓哈里挑選。哈里只好認輸。他挑出一個看上去最小的瓶子，謹慎地問了價。他慶幸自己只破費了20英鎊便得以脫身。他把那寶貴的瓶子放在腋下夾著，溜之大吉。從那以后，他認識到自己發(fā)明的小小惡作劇是要付出很大的代價的。在他書房的書柜里擺著那瓶形狀古怪的香水泥就是他第一次也是最后一次購買的稀有化妝品。

【詞匯】

permanent adj. 永久的

tint v. 給……染色

delicate adj. 淡色的

shade n. 色度

observant adj. 觀察力敏銳的

greyish adj. 淺灰色的

dispel v. 驅(qū)散，消除

outlandish adj. 稀奇古怪的

acquisition n. 獲得

cosmetic n. 化妝品

outrageous adj. 無理的，令人不能容忍的

fanciful adj. 想像出來的

insoluble adj. 不可溶解的

prompt v. 敦促，激勵

exclusive adj. 專售高檔商品的

syllable n. 音節(jié)

bewilderment n. 迷惑，糊涂

freckle n. 雀斑

evidently adv. 顯然的，明顯地

weird adj. 奇異的，古怪的

concoction n. 調(diào)制品

intoxicate v. 陶醉，得意忘形

blank adj. 無表情的，茫然的

discreetly adv. 謹慎地

clutch v. 抓住

adorn v. 裝飾，打扮

新概念英語第三冊課文翻譯及詞匯Lesson53

【課文】

The Scandinavian countries are much admired all over the world for their enlightened social policies. Sweden has evolved an excellent system for protecting the individual citizen from high-handed or incompetent public officers. The system has worked so well, that it has been adopted in other countries too.

The Swedes were the first to recognize that public official like civil servants, police officers, health inspectors or tax-collectors can make mistakes or act over-zealously in the belief that they are serving the public. As long ago as 1809, the Swedish Parliament introduced a scheme to safeguard the interest of the individual. A parliamentary committee representing all political parties appoints a person who is suitably qualified to investigate private grievances against the State. The official title of the person is 'Justiteombudsman', but the Swedes commonly refer to him as the 'J.O.' or 'Ombudsman'. The Ombudsman is not subject to political pressure. He investigates complaints large and small that come to him from all levels of society. As complaints must be made in writing, the Ombudsman receives an average of 1,200 letters a year. He has eight lawyer assistants to help him and examines every single letter in detail. There is nothing secretive about the Ombudsman's work, for his correspondence is open to public inspection. If a citizen's complaint is justified, the Ombudsman will act on his behalf. The action he takes varies according to the nature of the complaint. He may gently reprimand an official or even suggest to parliament that a law be altered. The following case is a typical example of the Ombudsman's work.

A foreigner living in a Swedish village wrote to the Ombudsman complaining that he had been ill-treated by the police, simply because he was a foreigner. The Ombudsman immediately wrote to the Chief of Police in the district asking him to send a record of the case. There was nothing in the record to show that the foreigner's complaint was justified and the Chief of Police strongly denied the accusation. It was impossible for the Ombudsman to take action, but when he received a similar complaint from another foreigner in the same village, he immediately sent one of his lawyers to investigate the matter. The lawyer ascertained that a policeman had indeed dealt roughly with foreigners on several occasions. The fact that the policeman was prejudiced against foreigners could not be recorded in the official files. It was only possible for the Ombudsman to find this out by sending one of his representatives to check the facts. The policeman in question was severely reprimanded and was informed that if any further complaints were lodged against him, he would be prosecuted. The Ombudsman's prompt action at once put an end to an unpleasant practice which might have gone unnoticed.

【課文翻譯】

斯堪的納維亞半島各國實行開明的社會政策，受到全世界的推崇。在瑞典，已逐漸形成了一種完善的制度以保護每個公民不受專橫的和不稱職的政府官員的欺壓。由于這種制度行之有效，已被其他國家采納。

是瑞典人首先認識到政府工作人員如文職人員、警官、衛(wèi)生稽查員、稅務(wù)人員等等也會犯錯誤或者自以為在為公眾服務(wù)而把事情做過了頭。早在1809年，瑞典論會就建立一個保護公民利益的制度。議會內(nèi)有一個代表各政黨利益的委員會，由它委派一位稱職的人選專門調(diào)查個人對國家的意見。此人官銜為“司法特派員”，但瑞典人一般管他叫“J.O.”，即“司法特派員”。司法特派員不受任何政治壓力的制約。他聽取社會各階層的各種大小意見，并進行調(diào)查。由于意見均需用書面形式提出，司法特派員每年平均收到1,200封信。他有8位律師作他的助手協(xié)助工作，每封信都詳細批閱。司法特派員的工作沒有什么秘密可言，他的信件是公開的，供公眾監(jiān)督。如果公民的意見正確，司法特派員便為他伸張正義。司法特員采取的行動因意見的性質(zhì)不同而有所不同。他可以善意地批評某位官員，也可以甚至向議會提議修改某項法律。下述事件是司法特派員工作的一個典型例子。

一個住在瑞典鄉(xiāng)村的外國人寫信給司法特派員，抱怨說他受到警察的虐待，原因就是因為他是個外國人。司法特派員立即寫信給當?shù)鼐炀珠L，請他寄送與此事有關(guān)的材料。材料中沒有任何文字記載證明外國人所說的情況符合事實，警察局長矢口否認這一指控。司法特派員難以處理。但是，當他又收到住在同一村莊的另一個外國人寫的一封內(nèi)容類似的投訴信時，他立即派出一位律師前去調(diào)查。律師證實有個警察確實多次粗魯?shù)貙Υ鈬?。警察歧視外國人的事在官方檔案中不可能加以記載，司法特派員只有派他的代表去核對事實才能了解真相。當事的警察受到嚴厲的斥責(zé)，并被告知，如果再有人投訴他，他將受到起訴。司法特派員及時采取的行動，迅速制止了這一起不愉快的事件，不然這件事可能因未得到人們注意而不了了之。

【詞匯】

evolve v. 逐漸形成

high-handed adj. 高壓的，專橫的

incompetent adj. 不夠格的，不稱職的

over-zealously adv. 過分熱情地

safeguard v. 保護

parliamentary adj. 國會的

qalified adj. 合格的

grievance n. 不平，冤屈

Justiteombudsman n. (瑞典的)司法特派員

ombudsman n. (瑞典和英國的)司法特派員

secretive adj. 保密的