Passage Twenty (NCB in Interpol)

The organization known to the world as Interpol has sometimes been described as an outfit¹ of chisel-jawed gimlet-eyed crime fighters who put their lives in jeopardy² 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 shuffling³ mountains of paper whose cheeks are sallow from indoor life. Consider the charisma⁴ of the name alone: INTERPOL, the international police force. Continents leaped in a single bound, oceans crossed in the space of a breath, villains⁵ watched by eyes that never sleep. Surprisingly, a lot of it happens almost that way.

Four groups coordinate⁶ 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 Treasury⁷ 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 geographic⁸ zone. The regional stations are connected to the Central Station in France. The radio network is versatile⁹. 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 fingerprints¹⁰ 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                           国际刑警组织

2.           outfit                             全班人马，有组织团体

3.           chisel-jawed                       仪表英俊的

4.           gimlet-eyed                        目光锐利的

5.           jeopardy                          危险

6.           flatteringly                        奉承

7.           choke                            闷死

           choking on their own statistics  被自己的统计数字弄的喘不过气来

8.           as with most generalities             和大多数笼统说法一样

9.           grim                             冷酷的

10.       drone                            懒汉，懒洋洋的人

11.       shuffle                           反复挪动，乱翻，洗（纸牌）

12.       charisma                         超凡的魅力

13.       National Central Bureaus             国家中心局

14.       Treasury Department                财政部（美）

15.       Questura                          警察局（意）

16.       Melbourne                         墨尔本警察局

17.       chore                             日常零星工作

18.       to be bound to                      受……的约束，义务，一定……

19.       geographic zone                    地区，地带

20.       versatile                          有多方面用途的

21.       radio-teleprinter                    无线电打印机

22.       phototelegraph                     传真

23.       daring                            大胆的

24.       holdup                           抢劫

25.       alert                              使警惕，使处于待命状态

 

难句译注

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.

[结构简析] 两个句子都是被动语气，都有分词短语。前一句known 修饰organization，后一句stuffed 修饰 cabinet.

[参考译文] 闻名于世的国际刑警组织长被描述成一群仪表英俊，目光犀利和罪犯斗争的战士的群体组织。他们的生命无时无刻不处于危险之中。国际刑警组织也被描述为一个大型的档案室，里面挤满了工作人员，他们被自己的统计数字忙得喘不过气来。

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.

[结构简析] 这是两个句子，都是引导词there句型。

[参考译文] 这里肯定能见到和罪犯斗争的冷酷无情的斗士在国际刑警组织工作，同样可以肯定，这里有那些懒洋洋的人在翻动如山的文件档案，他们的脸颊由于室内生活而消瘦如刀。

3.       Continents leaped in a single bound, oceans crossed in the space of a breath, villains watched by eyes that never sleep.

[结构简析] 这是省略句。正常句型应该是Continents are leaped in…，Oceans are crossed in…, villains are watched by …。

[参考译文] 大洲可一步跨过。大洋可以在转眼之间越过，坏蛋可以由日夜不眠的眼睛紧盯着。

4.       These are the front-line troops, the action people.

[参考译文] 这些人是前线军，具体行动的人（执行人）。

 

写作方法与文章大意

这是一篇介绍国际刑警组织的文章。采用一般到具体的写作方法。头二段是对国际刑警组织的一般介绍，后面是具体到NCB，组成国际刑警组织四个部门之一——国家中心局是各国负责和国际刑警保持联系部门，如英国的苏格兰场，美国的财政部等，最后一段讲联系的多种渠道和方式方法。

 

答案祥解

1.        C. 国际刑警组织。上面文章大意已经说明介绍国际刑警组织，其职能性质只是附带涉及。所以

A. B. 不对。    D. 迅速发展，文章没有涉及。

2.        A. 文章是一般到具体的组织结构。

B. 因果   和    C. 对比。  不对。    D. 展开，任何文章都得展开。

3.        C. stuff=crowd  办公室挤满了工作人员，忙于分析处理收集来的信息和数据。见难句译注1参考译文。

A. 有许多雇员忙于工作；  B. 许多办公室人员忙于各种文件；   D. 忙于自己信息的工人。   这三项都没有。

4.  B. 无线电通讯。纵然第四段内提及种种手段：卫星，无线电，打印机，传真电报。但无线电通讯仍是他们运用的最方便和最得力的工具，因为他们的无线电网络灵活多用，网络站能监控中央和各地区站点，而且一次能把信息传至好几台。至于卫星，电报，传真电报只是在特殊情况下运行，如快速传送照片，指纹等。所以A. 卫星， C. 无线电打印机， D. 传真电报，不对。

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