收錄於話題 #經濟學人雙語精讀學習 279個
【導讀】在一些犯罪案件中，警察經常會為一些沒有目擊證人的棘手案件而苦惱，而這些案件的破解率也是不容樂觀。為此，羅斯麥克納特創立了一種持續監控系統為那些因高犯罪率而苦惱的城市提供幫助，即通過在無人機上安裝攝影裝置進行對城市的持續監控。但這一項目卻引起了很大爭議：這些天空之眼是給市民帶來了更安全的生活環境，還是剝奪了人們的隱私與自由？
It was just one of more than 2,000 murders in 2009 in Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican city across the Rio Grande from El Paso,Texas: someone shot in an alley, no witnesses. Seen from above, though, a fuller story emerged. Four cars converged on the area—two for protection, one each to carry the shooter to and from the scene—and,after the murder, several people gave fruitless chase. The people were indistinctdots,and the cars just rolling lozenges, but drone footage showed where the shooter came from and, more important for police,where he went after the crime.
華雷斯市地處墨西哥，與美國德克薩斯州的埃爾帕索市僅隔一條格蘭德河。2009年，華雷斯市曾發生過超過兩千起謀殺案，這只是其中一起：有人在一個小巷裡被槍殺，沒有目擊證人。但是從空中看的話，一個完整的案件浮現眼前。四輛車匯聚在這個區域，兩輛用於保護，另外兩輛中的每輛車載著槍手，槍手在現場來回穿梭，幾人在實施謀殺後逃離了現場，追捕無果。雖然從無人機的畫面看到的人群只是模糊的圓點，汽車只是滾動的菱形，但是這些畫面卻也能顯示出槍手從哪裡來，更重要的是，警方也可以知道案發後他去了哪裡。【詞彙】Converge [kənˈvɜːdʒ] vt. 使匯聚vi. 聚集；靠攏；收斂例：Hundreds of tractors will converge on the capital.Indistinct [ˌɪndɪˈstɪŋkt] adj. 模糊的，不清楚的；朦朧的；難以清楚辨認的The notion of putting cameras on orbiting drones to catch malefactors was born on the battlefields of Iraq, where American armed forces wanted to nab people leaving bombs on roadsides. Ross McNutt, a former air-force engineer, founded Persistent Surveillance Systems (PSS) to offer the same service to American cities (and others, such as Juarez) struggling with high murder rates. PSS drones flew over parts of Baltimore, most recently in May-October2020. St Louis, among America’s most violent cities, also considered but is poised toreject PSS’s services, which raise difficult questions about how much surveillance Americans are willing to tolerate in exchange for the promise of safer streets.在無人機上安裝攝像頭來捕捉罪犯的想法誕生於伊拉克戰場，美國武裝部隊想藉此抓捕在路上留放炸彈的人。前空軍工程師羅斯麥克納特創立了持續監控系統（簡稱為pss：Persistent Surveillance Systems），這為美國那些因高犯罪率而苦惱的城市（以及其他城市，如華雷斯市）提供了幫助。最近一次在2020年5月至10月，持續監控系統的無人機飛越在巴爾的摩的部分地區進行工作（下圖為監控數據顯示）。美國犯罪率最高的城市之一聖路易斯也在考慮是否安裝此系統，但最後準備拒絕該系統的服務，因為其中有著一個棘手的問題，即美國公民願意容忍多少監視，以換取更安全的街道的承諾。【詞彙】malefactor [ˈmælɪfæktə(r)] n. 作惡者；罪犯；壞人nab [næb] vt. 捉住，逮捕；搶奪 （同近義詞seize , noble）【固定搭配】struggle with 與……作鬥爭、與……交戰例He is engaged in a bitter struggle with his rival to get control of the company. 為取得對公司的控制權，他正同對手進行一場激烈的鬥爭。 be poised to信誓旦旦；準備就緒；隨時準備著例 Kate is poised to become the highest-paid supermodel in the fashion world. 【句子分析】The notion of putting cameras on orbiting drones to catch malefactors was born on the battlefields of Iraq, where American armed forces wanted to nab people leaving bombs on roadsides.句子主幹為the notion was born on the battle field. 「of putting cameras on orbiting drones」作notion的定語，to catch malefactors為目的狀語，where引導的狀語從句中 leaving bombs on roadsides用現在分詞作後置定語修飾people，表示抓捕那些在路邊留放炸彈的人。Putting eyes in the sky gives overworked officers extra visibility, literally, into their own city, and makes them less reliant on help from witnesses, who for a variety of reasons are often reluctant to come forward. That is especially important in a city such as St Louis, which last year recorded a record 262 murders. Police solved just over one in three of them. By comparison, London, with around 30 times as many people, reported 126 killings last year; nationally, American police forces solve more than three in five killings. Mr McNutt contends that PSS also has a deterrent effect: if people know they might be under surveillance, they will be less likely to commit crimes.
安裝「天空之眼」可以讓那些過度勞累的警察更清楚明了地看到自己所在的城市，也減少了他們對目擊證人提供幫助的依賴，因為那些目擊者往往有各種原因不願站出來作證。這對像聖路易斯這樣的城市尤為重要，該市去年創下262起謀殺案的記錄。警方只破解了其中的三分之一。相比之下，倫敦的人口大約是聖路易斯的30倍之多，但上年僅有126起謀殺案。而且在美國全國範圍內，警方破除謀殺案的比率為百分之六十多。麥克納特認為持續監控系統的存在也有威懾作用：假使人們知道他們處於監控之下，他們就不太可能去犯罪。【句子分析】Putting eyes in the sky gives overworked officers extra visibility, literally, into their own city, and makes them less reliant onhelp from witnesses, who for a variety of reasons are often reluctant to come forward.句子主幹為 putting eyes in the sky gives officers visibility and makes them less reliant on help from witnesses. Putting eyes動名詞於句首作主語, 謂語動詞用第三人稱單數，and並列謂語gives和makes。Who引導非限制性定語從句修飾先行詞witness.例Likewise, the world economy will be reliant on oil and gas for decades to come. 例She was reluctant to admit she was wrong. 她不願承認自己有錯。【詞彙】deterrent [dɪˈterənt] adj. 遏制的，威懾的；制止的n. 威懾；妨礙物例They seriously believe that capital punishment is a deterrent. Yet many Americans are uneasy about being put under surveillance, despite having been suspected of committing no crimes. Baltimore first used PSS drones for eight months in 2016, but kept the programme secret until a report from Bloomberg Businessweek revealed its existence. The backlash was severe. The experiment ended, but in its aftermath Mr McNutt conducted extensive public outreach—involving as many as 80 community meetings,according to Benjamin Snyder, a professor of sociology at Williams College who was embedded with pss.然而許多美國人對處於監視下還是感到不安，儘管他們並沒有被懷疑犯罪。巴爾的摩在2016年首次使用持續監控系統無人機達8個月之久，但這個項目一直是秘密進行的，直到《彭博商業周刊》揭露了無人機監控的存在這項實驗才結束，因為抵制的聲譽非常強烈。但是在實驗結束後麥克納特（對實驗好的結果）進行了廣泛的公眾宣傳，據參與PSS研究的威廉士學院社會學教授班傑明斯奈德所說，麥克參加過多達80次的社區會議宣傳。【句子分析】Yet many Americans are uneasy about being put under surveillance, despite having been suspected of committing no crimes.句子主幹為Many Americans are uneasy. Despite 引導讓步狀語從句，從句中邏輯主語是Americans 與suspect懷疑之間是被動，用完成時的被動 have been done，難點在於no的翻譯位置應該否定前移，即翻譯時不能譯作「儘管他們已經被懷疑沒有犯罪」，而是譯為「儘管他們並沒有被懷疑犯罪」。【詞彙】backlash [ˈbæklæʃ] n. 反衝；強烈抵制vt. 強烈反對例 The government is facing an angry backlash from voters over the new tax. embed [ɪmˈbed] vt. 栽種；使嵌入，使插入；使深留腦中（在文中譯為加入，參與其中）例：I think that hatred of the other is deeply embedded in our society.
Lieber，畢業於遼寧工程技術大學，英語專業八級，現高中英語教師一枚，熱愛英語，喜歡讀書、旅遊、翻譯，夢想能成為一名優秀的自由翻譯者並為之努力著。座右銘：身體和靈魂總要有一個在路上！
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