voa标准英语2008-Strike Force Battles South Africa Copper Thieves

South Africa's recycling industry processes more than a million tons of scrap¹ metal every year. This has created an opportunity for thieves. They are stealing copper² wiring from city streets and selling it at local scrap yards. The city of Cape³ Town has created a special task force to combat copper theft.
　

Pieter van Dalen with stolen wire seized by Cape Town's 'Copperheads' Unit

Pieter van Dalen and five armed inspectors⁴ are picking through a mountain of metal at a Cape Town scrap yard.

"Yes, a lot of copper cables here," he said.

These investigators⁵ have a colorful nickname: the "Copperheads." They're searching for copper wire stolen from the city's telephone and electrical networks

In this warehouse⁶, they discover parts from a power transformer.

"This is something you don't usually find, should not be able to find, in a scrap yard," said van Dalen.

The Copperheads unit was formed last year to fight a plague of copper theft. Van Dalen is a city councilor whose district was hard-hit by thieves.

"When somebody steals one meter of cable, you will have vast neighborhoods sitting without power for two or three days," he added. "So, it was easier to do something about catching⁷ the criminals then what it was to have the cables replaced every time."

The Copperheads raid scrap yards to cut-off the market for stolen metal. They also patrol hot spots and conduct late-night stakeouts to catch thieves in the act.

"Where's your papers?" he asked.

Van Dalen has pulled over to question two men digging a small hole. He can see exposed power lines just a few feet below ground.

"For which company are you working," asked van Dalen.

These workers are legitimate⁸. But, van Dalen is suspicious of anyone with a shovel⁹.

"You'll be driving around a stretch of road like this and all of a sudden you will see there is a hole. We call that the pilot hole. And, what they do is they go and check which type of cable is there, and then at night when it's dark they will dig out, about 100 meters they will take. And, every night they will come back and take another 100 meters," he said.

It its first year on the beat, the Copperheads have arrested 275 thieves and scrap dealers¹⁰. The City of Cape Town says it is now spending 75 percent less to replace stolen wires. Still, not everyone is happy that the strike force raids scrap yards without search warrants.

"We have no objection and we have always been proactively mentioning to our members to be fully¹¹ cooperative," said Bernard Maguire, a spokesman for the Metal Recyclers Association of South Africa. "But it's the manner in which it's being done which we are finding to be quite aggressive."

New regulations may reduce the need for aggressive raids. The new rules will soon tighten¹² licensing¹³ standards for recycling companies and require dealers to investigate where scrap metal comes from before they buy it.

"The legitimate operators have been operating like this from the day they started their businesses. What it will do is restrict, and hopefully get rid of, all these illegitimate operators," he added.

The Copperheads say the new laws will help, but will not eradicate¹⁴ copper theft completely.

"This is all the stuff we have recovered," said van Dalen. "We store it in these containers."

Inside a row of unmarked evidence lockers¹⁵ at a secret location, Councilor van Dalen points out that drug addicts¹⁶ and street gang members will steal anything with copper in it.

"This is a drain cover that has been smashed up. There are parts of statues that were stolen that we have recovered," said van Dalen.

There are water meters, street lights, pipes and bathroom faucets¹⁷ here. Van Dalen smiles as he looks at the loot his team has seized from thieves.

"Yes, and I want to see containers filled up like this a lot," he added.

Van Dalen thinks his Copperheads are a model for how other South African cities can establish their own recycling police.

1 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

2 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

3 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

4 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

7 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

8 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

9 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

10 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

11 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。

12 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

13 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

14 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

15 lockers   

n.寄物柜( locker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I care about more lockers for the teachers. 我关心教师要有更多的储物柜。 来自辞典例句
• Passengers are requested to stow their hand-baggage in the lockers above the seats. 旅客须将随身携带的行李放入座位上方的贮藏柜里。 来自辞典例句

16 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

17 faucets   

n.水龙头( faucet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Water faucets shall be chrome-plated type with ball valve. 水龙头外表为铬镀层。 来自互联网
• The plumber came that afternoon and fixed the faucets in some minutes. 当天下午，管子工来了，几分钟内便把水龙头安装好。 来自互联网