Lesson39 "Anyone Can Sign a Ticket."
The police say hundreds of offenders have been caught by Mrs.
Gordon, a citizen who writes down the license numbers of people who break the law in this way, and sends them into the local police station.
"Anyone can sign a ticket,"said a police office, "and she's signed a lot."A driver was heading down Clifton Avenue this morning, when she found herself stopped behind a school bus with its red lights flashing. Instead of stopping, the driver started to overtake the bus. But Mrs. Gordon was on the spot, and warned her not to do it. However, the driver passed the bus anyway, and Mrs. Gordon took her number.
Another driver received a summons in the mail after a similar incident a few weeks ago. When she entered the courtroom, she found Mrs. Gordon there, notebook in hand."They tell me I should be a policewoman, but I don't want to be," says Mrs.
Gordon. "It's just that these people are breaking the law, and they shouldn't."Every weekday morning Mrs. Gordon stands in front of the main supermarket, notebook and pencil at the ready, waiting to catch people passing school buses illegally. "Nobody else wants to be bothered,"she says, "but I won't just sit there twiddling my thumbs. I want to do something about it."She began her personal campaign a year ago when her 13-year-old Jack started taking the school bus.
But the job is getting harder. She used to give the police the license numbers and sign a complaint, but now they want more evidence before they will act. She must now give a description of the car and the driver, as well as appear in court personally. A lot of people know she's there, and make a pint of stopping, but she knows they wouldn't stop if she wasn't watching.
overtake 赶上，追上
summon 传唤，传唤到庭
twiddle 玩弄，捻弄
campaign 活动
“每个人都可以开罚单。”
警方宣称，市民戈登女士已经抓获了数百个交通违章者，她把违章者的汽车牌照号记下来，再把它们交给当地警察局。
“每个人都可以开罚单，” 一个警官说，“她已经开了许多罚单。”
一天早晨，一个人驾车沿着克利夫顿大街行驶，她发现前面停着一辆闪着红灯的校车，她没有停车，反而试图超过那辆校车。戈登女士正在现场，她警告那个人不要那样做，但她仍旧驾车超过了校车。
戈登女士记下了她的牌照号码。
几星期前，另一个人也因为类似的事情而收到了传票。当她走进法庭时，发现戈登女士也在那里，手里拿着笔记本。
“他们说我应该去做警察，但是我不想，” 戈登女士说。 “我那么做是因为这些人违反了法律，而他们是不应该那么做的。”
每个工作日的早晨，戈登女士站在大超市前，准备好笔和笔记本，等着抓那些非法超校车的人。“没有人愿意自找麻烦，”她说，“但是我不想无聊地坐着拨弄拇指。我要对这种违法的事情采取行动。一年前，当她十三岁的孩子吉克开始乘校车时，戈登女士就开始行动起来了。
不过这事越来越难做了。她以前只要把汽车牌照号码交给警察，并签署申诉单就行了，但是现在警察们希望在采取行动前能得到更多的证据。戈登女士现在必须描述出车和司机的样子，还要亲自出庭作证。许多人知道她蹲守的地方，就稍微刹下车，但是她知道如果她不在那里看着，他们是不会停下来的。 |