美国国家公共电台 NPR Opinion: The Real Problem At A Beltway Dog Park? Hint: It's Not The Dogs

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

There are signs hanging up in Chevy Chase Village, Md., an upscale suburb inside that circle of highway around metro¹ Washington, D.C., called the Beltway that may help us see what so much of America distrusts about Beltway insiders. The signs say, no excessive barking. That might be wise advice for some of the lawyers, lobbyists and influencers who live in those posh precincts, but the signs are displayed in a Chevy Chase Village dog park. Even Chevy Chase dogs who've been to the best obedience² schools probably can't actually read signs that admonish³ no excessive barking.

A Washington Post story admirably reported by Jessica Contrera detailed⁴ this week how local police have gotten calls from neighbors who grumble⁵ that dogs are barking in the dog park - the nerve of those dogs to act like dogs. People in Chevy Chase Village think big, after all. They need contemplative quiet. The Chevy Chase Village Board of Managers held public hearings this summer. Several residents complained that many of the cars they've spied parking at the dog park so dogs could leap out, frolic, sniff⁶, scratch and, yes, bark had District of Columbia license⁷ plates - reverse commuters, ooh, D.C. urban types, city folk, you know, with their loud, yapping dogs.

Elissa Leonard, chair of the Village board - who happens, by the way, to be married to Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve - reminded her neighbors that a public dog park can't be run like a private club. But all mention of the dog park was struck from the Village website, which makes it harder for outsiders to find. The board hired a trained epidemiologist to track down how many outsiders park and bark at the dog park. She found that it was perhaps only seven of the 54 dogs and their owners that she observed, and just one had relieved themselves outside the bounds of the park - one dog, presumably.

The story of the sign and the Chevy Chase Village dog park may remind us why so many Americans of different views can share a disdain⁸ for Beltway insiders. They think of Beltway burghers as people who say something sounds like a great idea, as long as you keep it out of their backyard. They fear outsiders who cross borders. And Beltway denizens⁹ don't see the absurdity¹⁰ in legal commandments that may sound appealing, like no excessive barking, but are as impossible to enforce as telling a dog not to bark.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MORE BOYS I MEET")

CARRIE UNDERWOOD: (Singing) I close my eyes, and I kiss that frog, each time finding the more boys I meet, the more I love my dog.

1 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

2 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

3 admonish   

v.训戒；警告；劝告

参考例句：

• I will tactfully admonish him not to behave like this again.我会婉转的规诫他不要再这样做。
• Admonish your friends privately,but praise them openly.要私下告戒朋友，但是要公开夸奖朋友。

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。

6 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

7 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。

8 disdain   

n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑

参考例句：

• Some people disdain labour.有些人轻视劳动。
• A great man should disdain flatterers.伟大的人物应鄙视献媚者。

9 denizens   

n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• polar bears, denizens of the frozen north 北极熊，在冰天雪地的北方生活的动物
• At length these denizens of the swamps disappeared in their turn. 到了后来，连这些沼泽国的居民们也不见了。 来自辞典例句

10 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。