VOA慢速英语2016--伊朗成立“道德警察”

AS IT IS 2016-04-25 ‘Morality Police’ Formed in Iran 伊朗成立“道德警察”

Iran has a new “morality police” unit to observe its citizens.

Tehran’s police chief Hossein Sajedinia said the 7,000 officers – male and female – will make sure women follow Islamic dress codes.

They will also stop dangerous driving and noise pollution, he said. Some in Iran consider popular music to be a form of noise pollution.

The new police unit appears to be aimed mostly at women. It is enforcing laws that require women to cover their hair and bodies.

According to the U.S. State Department, women of all religious groups in Iran are expected to follow “Islamic dress” rules in public. That includes covering their hair and wearing loose clothing that fully¹ covers the body.

Members of the “morality police” will not wear police uniforms. This allows them to watch people without showing they are part of the police.

Iran’s police chief said morality officers will not take action themselves. Instead they will give information – such as license² plate numbers – to regular police who will follow up on reported violations³.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized the announcement, according to the BBC and Foreign Policy.com. The president promised during his election campaign to give people more freedom.

Rouhani said government’s “first duty” is to “respect dignity” and allow people to express their “personalities.”

The announcement also drew criticism on social media.

“Big Brother is watching you,” one person wrote on Twitter.

BBC reported some people created a phone app to report locations of “morality police” so women can avoid them. An app is a computer program on phones and computers that allow people to get information, music or other material.

Words in This Story

unit – n. a group that is a part of something larger

dress code – n. rules for what people can wear

uniforms – n. special kind of clothing that is worn by all the members of a group or organization

dignity – n. the quality of being worthy⁴ of honor or respect

personality – n. the set of emotional qualities, ways of behaving, that makes a person different from other people

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

3 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

4 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。