【英语趣味课堂】犯罪率下降-Crime Reduction

Gareth: What do you think?

Rebecca: I don't know. A lot of times, I think people who commit crime might commit crime because they want attention, or they don't get the amount of attention that they feel that they need. They want to be loved, or they want people to pay attention to them to know that they existed. You know, - I'm here, hear me roar type thing.

 

And maybe I've heard things that sometimes, abortion¹ might actually potentially be related to a decrease in crime rate, because instead of having this child that maybe you don't want, you won't care for, who will grow up feeling unloved and potentially commit crime, you don't have the child. So then, it becomes not an option.

 

Gareth: Oh, yeah, definitely. Psychologically, when you're not cared for, and you're not loved, and no one's ever said that they love you, that can have a huge impact - yeah, definitely. So to go from one foster² home to another foster home to another foster home, and to have foster parents that don't really care for you; they just put food on the table, and they clothe you, and they send you off to school, and they never hug you, they never kiss you, that I'm sure will have an effect on people, and kind of maybe lead to more crime.

 

Rebecca: But I think another thing that could also be helping³ is we keep ourselves busy a lot more in the home now because of all the new technology. And you know, you can be online chatting for hours on end, or you could be playing video games. Again, a lot of the media tries to say that, you know, the video games is the cause, but sometimes I wonder if maybe because we're all at home playing video games, well, if you're at home doing something else, you can't be out there causing crimes, right?

 

Gareth: Yeah.

 

Rebecca: So sometimes I wonder if maybe that's related.

 

Gareth: Sometimes we don't even know our own neighbors.

 

Rebecca: Yeah.

 

Gareth: I once heard this story, I don't know if this one is true, but if a woman's - and this might be inappropriate - but if a woman is being raped⁵, or someone is going to try and rape⁴ her, she should say - Fire!

 

Rebecca: Fire - yeah. I've heard it.

 

Gareth: Instead of saying 'Rape!'

 

Rebecca: Or - Help!

 

Gareth: Because with fire, it will spread, and it will affect others around that place where the fire started. So if someone owns a shop nearby, and they hear someone say - Fire! then they'd be more worried about helping.

 

Rebecca: Yeah, I've heard a similar thing. If you actually get in a situation where you need help, scream - Fire! because people come running because that might be immediately a danger to themselves.

 

Gareth: Hm.

 

学习内容：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

pay attention

 

They just want people to pay attention.

 

People who want us to pay attention, want us to notice, listen to, or think about them. Notice the following:

 

The teacher repeatedly asked him to pay attention.

Stop talking and pay attention!

potentially be related

 

Abortion might potentially be related to a decrease in crime rate.

 

Things that are potentially related are possibly connected in some way. Notice the following:

 

Some think the unusual weather lately is potentially related to global warming.

Doctors believe stress and heart disease are potentially related.

huge impact

 

That can have a huge impact.

 

When something has a huge impact, that means it affects someone or something in a serious way. It can be positive or negative. Notice the following:

 

The tsunami⁶ had a huge impact on the economy.

The large salary increase had a huge impact on his standard of living..

foster home

 

Children who go from one foster home to another.

 

A foster home is a temporary place where children are cared for by people who are not their parents. Notice the following:

 

He spent much of his childhood in foster homes.

Life in foster homes is generally not great for kids.

inappropriate

 

I don't know if this is appropriate.

 

Something that is appropriate is suitable or correct for a situation. Notice the following:

 

We couldn't decide on an appropriate gift.

I think the gray suit is more appropriate, don't you?

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 foster   

vt.收养，培养，促进；adj.收养的，收养孩子的

参考例句：

• Nowadays young couple sometimes foster.现今年轻夫妇有时领养别人的孩子。
• The captain did his best to foster a sense of unity among the new recruits.队长尽力培养新成员之间的团结精神。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

5 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

6 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。