2013年自考英語(二)課文譯文:鎖鏈囚隊的復(fù)現(xiàn)
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鎖鏈囚隊的復(fù)現(xiàn)
Eyewitnesses say it was a scene straight out of a black and white movie from the 1950s. As the sun rose over the fields of Huntsville, Alabama, in the American South, the convicts got down from the trucks that had brought them there. Watched over by guards with guns, they raised their legs in unison and made their way to the edge of the highway, Interstate 65. The BBC's Washington correspondent Clare Bolderson was there and she sent this report:
目擊者說，這簡直就是50年代某部黑白電影的一幕：太陽升起在美國南部阿拉巴馬州享茨維爾市的田野上，一群罪犯從運送他們的卡車上下來。在持槍衛(wèi)兵的監(jiān)視下，這些囚犯邁著一致的步伐朝州際65號高速公路走去。英國廣播公司的駐華盛頓記者克萊爾?博爾德森就在現(xiàn)場并發(fā)回如下報道：
"They wore white uniforms with the words "Chain Gang' on their backs and, in groups of five, were shackled together in leg irons joined by an eight-foot chain. The prisoners will work for up to 90 days on the gang: they'll clear ditches of weeds and mend fences along Alabama's main roads. While they are working on the gang, they’ll also live in some of the harshest prison conditions in the United States. There'll be no televisions or phone calls; many other day-to-day privileges will be denied.”
“他們穿著背部寫有“ChainGang”的白色囚服，他們五人一組，用一條八英尺長的鐵鏈把腿腳連在一起。這些囚犯要這樣連在一起勞動多達90天：他們要清除布滿雜草的排水溝，修復(fù)阿拉巴馬主干道上的防護欄。在連在一起勞動期間，囚犯們還生活在美國監(jiān)獄一些最為惡劣的環(huán)境中。他們沒有電視，不能接打電話，許多日常生活的權(quán)力也被剝奪?！?/STRONG>
The authorities in Alabama say there is a lot of support for the re-introduction of chain gangs in the State after a gap of 30 years (the last gangs were abolished in Georgia in the early 1960s). Many people believe it is an effective way to get criminals to pay back their debt to society.
阿拉巴馬州當(dāng)局聲稱，事隔30年之后，許多人贊成恢復(fù)鎖鏈囚隊這種刑罰(喬治亞州在60年代早期廢除了最后一支鎖鏈囚隊)。許多人認為，這是讓罪犯向社會贖罪的有效方法。
The prisoners stay shackled when they use toilets. They reacted sharply to the treatment they are given:
囚犯們?nèi)鶗r帶著鐐銬，他們對遭受的待遇反應(yīng)強烈：
Prisoner one: "This is like a circus. A zoo. All chained here to a zoo. We're all animals now."
囚犯甲說：“這樣對待我們就像馬戲團，像動物園。所有的人被鏈子鎖在這里，我們現(xiàn)在都是動物園的動物。”
Prisoner two: "It's degrading. It's embarrassing.” Prisoner three: "In chains. It's slavery!"
囚怨乙說：“這讓人感到恥辱，這讓人感到尷尬?！?囚犯丙說：“戴著鐵鏈，十足的奴隸制!”
Six out of every ten prisoners in chains are black, which is why the chain gangs call up images of slavery in centuries gone by, when black people were brought from Africa in leg irons and made to work in plantations owned by white men. Not surprisingly, although three-quarters of the white population of Alabama supports chain gangs, only a small number of black people do. Don Claxton, spokesman for the State Government of Alabama, insists that the system is not racist:
用鐵鏈鎖在一起的囚犯60%是黑人，正是因為如此，鎖鏈囚隊讓人想起過去幾百年前奴隸制的影子：當(dāng)時黑人們帶著腳鐐被白人們從非洲帶來，強迫他們在白人的種植園里干活。這不足以為怪，因為阿拉巴馬州有3/4的白人贊成帶鏈服刑，而只有一小部分黑人不反對。阿拉巴馬州政府支持這樣做。發(fā)言人唐?克萊克斯頓堅持認為這種辦法不是種族歧視。
"This isn't something that's done for racial reasons, for political reasons. This is something that's going to help save the people of Alabama tax money because they don't have to pay as many officers to work on the highways. And it's going to help clean up our highways and it's going to help clean up the State.”
“這樣做并非是種族和政治原因。這樣做是為了幫助阿拉巴馬州人減少稅金，因為他們不必負擔(dān)工作在高速公路上那么多的官員。而且，這樣做將有利于清理高速公路的衛(wèi)生，也有利于清理全州的衛(wèi)生?！?/STRONG>
However, the re-introduction of these measures has caused a great deal of strong disagreement. Human rights organizations say that putting prisoners in chains is not only inhumane but also ineffective. Alvin Bronstein, member of the Civil Liberties Union, says that study after study has shown that you cannot prevent people from committing crimes by punishment or the threat of punishment: "What they will do is make prisoners more angry, more hostile, so that when they get out of prison, they will increase the level of their criminal behaviour.”
但是，恢復(fù)這些措施招致了許多人的非議。人權(quán)組織聲稱，給囚犯帶上鎖鏈既不人道也不起作用。“公民自由協(xié)會”會員阿爾文?布朗斯坦說，一次又一次的研究表明，用懲罰或用懲罰進行威脅并不能阻止人們犯罪。”用懲罰和用懲罰進行威脅會使罪犯更惱怒，更敵對，結(jié)果當(dāng)他們出獄后，他們會變本加厲地進行犯罪活動。”
Civil liberties groups say that chaining people together doesn't solve the causes of crime, such as poverty or disaffection within society. What it does is punish prisoners for the ills of society. They say the practice takes the United States back to the Middle Ages, and that it is a shame to American society. But that’s not an argument likely to win favour among many people in the Deep South of the United States. Alabama's experiment is to be widened to include more prisoners, and other States, such as Arkansas and Arizona, will very probably introduce their own chain gang schemes.
“公民自由組織”認為，用鎖鏈將犯人串在一起解決不了犯罪的根源，例如社會上的貧困與不滿，這樣做是為社會的罪惡而懲罰罪犯。這些組織說，這種做法把美國帶回到了中世紀(jì)時代，是美國社會的恥辱。然而，這種觀點不可能贏得美國南方腹地許多人的贊成。阿拉巴馬州的這種嘗試將會推廣到更多的犯人身上，諸如阿肯色和亞利桑那等其他四州也很有可能推出自己的鎖鏈囚隊的計劃。
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