英国新闻听力 刑警或可通过香水追凶

Should detectives be sniffing¹ out criminals literally²? Could their noses be as useful as their eyes in the hunt for clues?

We are looking to determine the potential of perfume to act as a form of trace evidence. But in order to do so, we need to understand how perfume transfer from one piece of fabric⁴ to another. Only when we have an understanding of that, we can assign evidential value to that trace evidence.

And what is trace evidence?

So trace evidence is anything that is found at the crime scene in very small amount. It can be anything from dust, to pollen⁵ to gunshot residue⁶.

So these are traditionally physical things but you are looking at a scent⁷.

Yes. Yes. We are looking at scent. For example, there’s a lot of studies done on the scent of explosives, of drugs, for example marijuana or cocaine⁸.

Well, you are specifically looking at perfume?

Yes, perfumes are widely used. They are used on a regular basis by both men and women.

We have the analytical⁹ technique. And it’s a very accurate and reliable technique. So putting these together, we can obtain a lot of information.

And what types of crimes are we talking about here?

It would have to involve contact.

Human to human?

Yes, it’ll be physical contact that will involve some transfer of fragrance¹⁰ from one piece of fabric to another or to this kin³.

So it will be something like sexual assault or for example a pub fight, anything that involves contact.

And what does your research suggest, I mean how accurate can detectives be in tracking down someone from their perfume?

There are many variables that affect the transfer of the perfume, but also the persistence¹¹.

I was looking at for how long a perfume stays on a fabric before transferring. So if the offender¹² had perfume on his fabric that was one day old or seven days old, how that influences the transfer onto a secondary piece of fabric.

So how many days potentially would police forces have for this evidence to be credible¹³?

We saw that after seven days, we found 6 perfume components¹⁴ out of the 44 originally identified in a male perfume.

But to be clear, this is not like DNA¹⁵ evidence.

Yes, I think there is a very clear difference between DNA and all other forms of trace evidence and that would include perfume evidence.

And this will just be one bit of evidence. You suspect that this wouldn’t be, you know, the piece of evidence that could be used in court and specifically identify a killer¹⁶.

刑警真的应该通过嗅觉找出犯罪分子吗？在搜寻线索方面，他们的鼻子可以和眼睛一样灵敏吗？

我们想确定香水是否能作为一种痕迹证据，为此，需要了解香味从一块布料转移到另一块布料的过程。只有掌握了这一点，才能给这个痕迹证据添加证据价值。

什么是痕迹证据呢？

痕迹证据是在犯罪现场发现的非常少量的东西，从灰尘到花粉再到涉射击残留物都有可能成为痕迹证据。

所以传统上这些都是实物，但你们研究的是气味。

对，对，我们研究的是气味。比方说，关于爆炸物以及大麻和可卡因等毒品的气味有很多研究。

而且你们具体研究的是香水？

没错，香水的使用非常普遍。男性和女性都会经常使用香水。

我们拥有特定的分析技术，非常准确可靠。把分析结果汇总起来就能获得很多信息。

那我们在这里讨论的具体是哪些犯罪类型？

涉及接触的犯罪类型。

人身接触？

是的，身体接触，因为其中涉及香气从一块布料转移到另一块布料或同类物质的过程。

所以一般是性侵案或者比方说酒吧斗殴等涉及身体接触的案件。

那你们有什么研究成果，换句话说，刑警通过香水追捕嫌犯的准确度可以达到多高？

影响香水的转移及其持久性的变量有很多，我一直在关注香水在布料上停留多长时间才会转移，如果犯罪分子衣服上的香水是昨天或者一周前喷的，会对香味的转移有什么影响。

那将来警方大概需要几天才能确认这个证据呢？

我们发现，7天后可以在男士香水原有的44种成分中找到6种。

明确一下，这种证据不同于DNA证据对吧？

对，我认为DNA和其他所有形式的痕迹证据都大有不同，其中就包括香水证据。

而且这只会成为证据中的一种，你认为它不会成为可以在法庭上使用的或专门用于认定凶手的证据？

1 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

4 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

5 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

6 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。

7 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

8 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

9 analytical   

adj.分析的；用分析法的

参考例句：

• I have an analytical approach to every survey.对每项调查我都采用分析方法。
• As a result,analytical data obtained by analysts were often in disagreement.结果各个分析家所得的分析数据常常不一致。

10 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

11 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。

12 offender   

n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者

参考例句：

• They all sued out a pardon for an offender.他们请求法院赦免一名罪犯。
• The authorities often know that sex offenders will attack again when they are released.当局一般都知道性犯罪者在获释后往往会再次犯案。

13 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

14 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

15 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

16 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。