Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: What could not be reported in the official files?
Vocabulary:
evolve v .逐渐形成
ombudsman n .（瑞典和英国的）司法特派员
high-handed adj .高压的，专横的
incompetent adj .不够格的，不称职的
secretive adj .保密的
correspondence n .来往信件
over-zealously adv .过分热情地
safeguard v .保护
alter v .改变
parliamentary adj .国会的
accusation n .谴责，指控
qualified adj .合格的
ascertain v .查出，查明
grievance n .不平，冤屈
prejudiced adj .有偏见的，不公平的
Justitieombudsman n .（瑞典的）司法特派员
prompt adj.即时的
Passage:
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.
斯堪的纳维亚半岛各国实行的开明的社会政策，受到全世界的推崇。在瑞典，已
逐渐形成了一种完善的制度以保护每个公民不受专横的和不称职的政府官员的
欺压。由于这种制度行之有效，已被其他国家采纳。
The Swedes were the first to recognize that public officials 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 ‘Justitieombudsman’, 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 he 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.
是瑞典人首先认识到政府工作人员如文职人员、警官、卫生稽查员、税务人员等
等也会犯错误或者自以为在为公众服务而把事情做过了头。早在 1809 年，瑞典
议会就建立了一个保护公民利益的制度。议会内有一个代表各政党利益的委员会，
由它委派一位称职的人选专门调查个人对国家的意见。此人官衔为“司法特派员”，
但瑞典人一般都管他叫“J.O. ℽ, 即“司法特派员”。司法特派员不受任何政治压
力的制约。他听取社会各阶层的各种大小意见，并进行调查。由于意见均需用书
面形式提出，司法特派员每年平均收到 1 ，200 封信。他有 8 位律师做他的助手
协助工作，每封信都详细批阅。司法特派员的工作没有什么秘密可言，他的信件
是公开的，供公众监督。如果公民的意见正确，司法特派员便为他伸张正义。司
法特派员采取的行动因意见的性质不同而有所不同。他可以善意地批评某位官员，
也可以甚至向议会提议修改某项法律。下述事件是司法特派员工作的一个典型例
子。
Notes:
1 in the interest of，符合……的利益。
2 in the belief that…， 自以为……。
3 be qualified to do sth .，胜任做某事。
4 be subject to…，受……的控制，应服从……。
5 complaints large and small，程度不同的怨言，large and small 作名词 complaint
的定语。这样两个意义相反的形容词并用时要置于被修饰的词之后。
6 in writing ，以书面形式。
7 in detail ，详细地。
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.
一个住在瑞典乡村的外国人写信给司法特派员，抱怨说他受到警察虐待，原因就
是他是个外国人。司法特派员立即写信给当地的警察局长，请他寄送与此事有关
的材料。材料中没有任何文字记载证明外国人所说的情况符合事实，警察局长矢
口否认这一指控。司法特派员难以处理。但是，当他又收到住在同一村庄的另一
个外国人写的一封内容类似的投诉信时，他立即派出一位律师前去调查。律师证
实有个警察确实多次粗鲁地对待外国人。警察歧视外国人的事在官方档案中不可
能加以记载，司法特派员只有派他的代表去核对事实才能了解真相。当事的警察
受到严厉斥责，并被告知，如果再有人投诉他，他将受到起诉。司法特派员及时
采取的行动，迅速制止了这一起不愉快的事件，不然这件事可能因未得到人们注
意而不了了之。
Notes:
8 on one's behalf，代表某人。
9 in question，当事的，所涉及的。
10 put an end to ，制止，结束。
53.2【阅读理解】In the public interest
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 Scandinavian countries are admired all over the world. What for? (Their enlightened
social policies.)
2 Which country has evolved a system for protecting the individual citizen from
high-handed or incompetent public officers? (Sweden.)
3 Has the system worked well? (Yes, it has.)
4 How well? (So well that it has been adopted in other countries.)
5 Can public officials make mistakes or act over-zealously? (Yes, they can.)
6 When did the Swedish Parliament introduce a scheme to safeguard the interest of
the individual? (In 1809.)
7 Who appoints a person qualified to investigate private grievances against the State?
(A parliamentary committee [representing all political parties])
8 The official title of the person is ‘Justitieombudsman’, but what is he commonly
called? (The ‘J.O.’or ‘Ombudsman’.)
9 Is the Ombudsman subject to political pressure? (No, he isn't)
10 Does he investigate all kinds of complaints? (Yes, he does.)
11 How many letters a year does he receive? (About 1,200.)
12 How many assistants has he got to help him? (Eight.)
13 Where was the foreigner living when he w rote to the Ombudsman? (In a Swedish
village.)
14 Who did he complain that he had been ill-treated by? (By the police.)
15 What did the Ombudsman do? (He wrote to the Chief of Police asking him to send
a record of the case.)
16 Was there anything in the record to show that the foreigner's complaint was
justified? (No, there wasn't.)
17 What did the Chief of the Police do about the accusation? (He denied it.)
18 When did the Ombudsman send one of his lawyers to investigate the matter?
(When he received a similar complaint from another foreigner.)
19 What did the lawyer ascertain? (That the policeman had dealt roughly with
foreigners on several occasions.)
20 What happened to the policeman in question? (He was severely reprimanded.)
21 Might the practice have gone unnoticed? (Yes, it might.)
22 So what did the Ombudsman's prompt action do? (It put an end to an unpleasant
practice.)
53.3【拓展写作】In the public interest
Step 3: Composition
Write a composition in about 300 words on the following topic:
• Describe the work of any one of the following: a policeman, a civil servant, a
health officer, a social worker.
Key to composition
Plan and ideas for composition
Tile: The work of a policeman
Introduction: In Britain — people—different attitudes to police—generally appreciate
them (not criminals!)
What do police do?
Development: Number of jobs in one:
Traffic ；keeping the peace; solving crime; helping to keep order in emergencies
—air crashes, fires, road accidents, etc.
Conclusion: Police do excellent job - don't envy them
Composition
In Britain, people have different attitudes to the police. Most people generally
appreciate them and the job they do — although there are certain people (including
criminals, of course) who do not believe that the police should have the power that
they do.
What does a policeman actually do? It is not an easy job to describe. After all, a
policeman has a number of jobs in one. A policeman often has to control traffic, either
on foot in the centre of a town, or in a police car on the roads. Indeed, in Britain, he
might be in the Traffic Police and spend all, or a lot of, his time driving up and down
main roads and motorways. A traffic policeman has to help keep the traffic moving,
stop speeding motorists and help when there is an accident.
A policeman has to help keep the peace, too. If there is a fight or some other
disturbance, we expect the police to come and assess the situation and restore order.
And they often have to deal with situations at great risk to themselves and their own
safety.
We expect the police to solve crimes, of course, so an ordinary policeman, even if
he is not a detective, will often have to help look for and arrest criminals.
And who do we call when there is an emergency — an air crash, a fire, a road
accident, or a burglary? We call the police. So a policeman has to be prepared to face
any unpleasant emergency that may happen in the modern world.
The police do an absolutely necessary job, they do it extremely well and I support
them, but I do not envy policemen. I do not think that I could ever do the job of a
policeman.
(296 words)
课外练习：
1 In what respect does the institution of Ombudsman reflect enlightened social
policy?
(a) Other countries have followed the Swedish example.
(b) Each party appoints its own Ombudsman to ensure equal representation.
(c) It admits the possibility of official oppression and guards against it
(d) It aims to eliminate prejudice against foreigners living in Sweden.
2 The authority exercised by the Ombudsman is impartial in that .
(a) the complaints he deals with come from all levels of society
(b) he will only take action if written evidence justifies a complaint
(c) every letter of complaint receives legal attention
(d) his decisions are not influenced by any one political party
3 What happened to the policeman in the case?
(a) He was sent to prison.
(b) He was prosecuted.
(c) He was officially rebuked.
(d He was dismissed from the police force.
4 The case taken as an example of the Ombudsman's work shows that .
(a) an official may not be prosecuted until a law is altered by parliament
(b) the Ombudsman cannot take action if he lacks supporting evidence
(c) it needs two similar complaints before the Ombudsman can take action
(a) the Swedish police are corrupt and prejudiced against foreigners
5 recognized that public officials like civil servants can make mistakes.
(a) It was the Swedes who first
(b) They were Swedes who had first
(c) The Swedes were the first who have
(d) First it was the Swedes that
6 If a citizen has , the Ombudsman will act on his behalf.
(a) the complaint justifiably
(b) the justified complaint
(c) a justified complaint
(d) justified his complaint
7 The policeman was informed that complaints were lodged against
him, he ...
(a) the next time any
(b) after any further
(c) unless no further
(d) furthermore
8 If the Ombudsman hadn't acted promptly, this unpleasant practice .
(a) might have continued
(b) might continue
(c) will continue
(d) would continue
9 - protecting the individual citizen from and incompetent ...
(a) efficient
(b) quick-tempered
(c) officious
(d) handy
10 The action he takes the nature of the complaint.
(a) depends on
(b) alternates with
(c) differs from
(d) agrees with
11 The Chief of Police in the district denied the accusation.
(a) bitterly
(b) firmly
(c) mildly
(d) roughly
12 The policeman was severely reprimanded…
(a) questioned
(b) concerned
(c) described
(d) interrogated
答案：1c 2d 3c 4b 5a 6c 7a 8a 9c 10a 11b 12b
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: Was the writer successful in protecting his peach tree? Why not?
Vocabulary:
insect n .昆虫
entranced adj .出神的
wage v .进行（斗争）
beetle n . 甲虫
contaminate v .弄脏