新概念英語(yǔ)第三冊(cè)(含lrc文本)Lesson 53 In the public interest

Lesson 53
In the public interest
為了公眾的利益
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
聽(tīng)錄音，然后回答以下問(wèn)題。
What could not be reported in the official flees?

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 highhanded 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 the 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 layers 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 prosecuted. The Ombudsman's prompt action at once put an end to an unpleasant practice which might have gone unnoticed.

New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)

evolve
v. 逐漸形成

high-handed
adj. 高壓的，專(zhuān)橫的

incompetent
adj. 不夠格的，不稱(chēng)職的

over-zealously
adv. 過(guò)分熱情地

safeguard
v. 保護(hù)

parliamentary
adj. 國(guó)會(huì)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(guó)的）司法特派員

secretive
adj. 保密的

correspondence
n. 來(lái)往信件

alter
v. 改變

accusation
n. 譴責(zé)，指控

ascertain
v. 查出，查明

prejudiced
adj. 有偏見(jiàn)的，不公平的

prompt
adj. 即時(shí)的