听播客学英语 242 走的太快

 　　If you had been in Manchester one day last year, you might have seen a man taking down a road sign, and then carrying it away and putting it up again on a different road. What was going on? It happened like this.

　　In Britain, if you are driving a car, you must stick to certain speed limits. For example, in towns and villages the speed limit is 30 mph, though on some roads you are allowed to drive at 40 mph.

　　Many drivers do not observe the speed limits. They drive too fast. So on some roads, particularly where there have been accidents in the past, the police have installed speed cameras. Speed cameras measure the speed of vehicles and photograph the number plates of cars that are travelling too fast. If you are caught by a speed camera, you are fined and get three penalty points on your driving licence.

　　Speed cameras in Britain are painted bright yellow. They are easy to see, and this means that drivers have time to slow down if necessary. Nonetheless some motorists hate speed cameras. They think that the government uses speed cameras to raise money and to persecute¹ innocent motorists. Some drivers have even tried to destroy or remove speed cameras.

　　Last year, Mr John Hopwood was caught by speed cameras twice on successive days. The first time he was doing 48mph in a 40 mph zone. The second time he was doing 40 mph where the speed limit was 30 mph. He decided² to try to get out of the second offence by removing the “40” sign from the road where he was caught the first time, and placing it on a lamp-post near the spot where he was caught the second time. He photographed the sign, and sent the photograph to the court with a letter saying that it was unreasonable³ to prosecute⁴ him for doing 41mph where there was a sign saying that the speed limit was 40mph. Unfortunately the police soon realised that the sign had been moved. They employed an expert to analyse photographs of the sign in both its new location and the old one, and proved that they were in fact the same sign. Mr Hopwood pleaded guilty in court to having moved it. The court may decide to send him to prison. He would have done better to pay the speeding fine. Even better to have obeyed the speed limits.

　　Note: These three expressions mean the same:

　　you must stick to the speed limit

　　you must observe the speed limit

　　you must obey the speed limit

　　“He was doing 48 mph” means “he was driving at 48 mph”

1 persecute   

vt.迫害，虐待；纠缠，骚扰

参考例句：

• They persecute those who do not conform to their ideas.他们迫害那些不信奉他们思想的人。
• Hitler's undisguised effort to persecute the Jews met with worldwide condemnation.希特勒对犹太人的露骨迫害行为遭到世界人民的谴责。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

4 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？