稻草人与笼中鸟

　　Scarecrow Guards Jail Birds

　　A judge on an inspection¹ visit to a Brazilian jail discovered a straw scarecrow dressed in police uniform on the watchtower "guarding" some 735 jail birds, police said. The judge removed the scarecrow, which had apparently² been manning the watchtower for days, and took it to the court as evidence. Police opened an investigation³. "It is considered a grave breach⁴ of security rules," a police spokesman said, adding that a prison guard or a police officer should have been on the tower at all times. The Taubate Provisional Detention⁵ Center for prisoners awaiting trial near Brazil's biggest city of Sao Paulo was opened at the end of 2001 and has already had one publicized escape via an underground tunnel. Brazil's prison system is plagued with break-outs and violent riots due to extreme overcrowding, lack of funds and poor pay for prison officers.

　　巴西警方说，一位法官到巴西一座监狱视察，结果发现在了望塔中“看守”着735名囚犯的竟然是一个穿着警服的稻草人。法官拿走了稻草人--显然它已经在这个岗位上呆了不少日子了--并将它呈上法庭作为证物。警方已经展开调查。“我们认为这严重违反了安全条例，”警方发言人说，并指出任何时候了望塔上都应该有一名监狱警卫或是警官。等候审判的陶贝特临时拘留中心位于巴西最大城市圣保罗附近，2001年底才启用，但这里已经发生过了一起广为人知的犯人通过地道逃走的事件。巴西的监狱系统存在着严重的越狱和暴力骚乱问题，原因是监狱极度拥挤、缺乏资金以及监狱管理人员收入过低。

　　Remarks：挖地道逃走的犯人一定感到了莫大的耻辱--居然被稻草人吓到了，没敢堂而皇之地从地面上出去。

1 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

5 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。