Lesson 53 In the public interest
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.What could not be reported in the official flees?
The Scandinavian countries are much admired all over the world for their enlightened social policies. Sweden has evolved an excellent system for protecting the individual citizen from highhanded or incompetent public officers. The system has worked so well, that it has been adopted in other countries too.
The Swedes were the first to recognize that public official like civil servants, police officers, health inspectors or tax-collectors can make mistakes or act over-zealously in the belief that they are serving the public. As long ago as 1809, the Swedish Parliament introduced a scheme to safeguard the interest of the individual. A parliamentary committee representing all political parties appoints a person who is suitably qualified to investigate private grievances against the State. The official title of the person is 'Justiteombudsman', but the Swedes commonly refer to him as the 'J.O.' or 'Ombudsman'. The Ombudsman is not subject to political pressure. He investigates complaints large and small that come to him from all levels of society. As complaints must be made in writing, the Ombudsman receives an average of 1,200 letters a year. He has eight lawyer assistants to help him and examines every single letter in detail. There is nothing secretive about the Ombudsman's work for his correspondence is open to public inspection. If a citizen's complaint is justified, the Ombudsman will act on his behalf. The action he takes varies according to the nature of the complaint. He may gently reprimand an official or even suggest to parliament that a law the altered. The following case is a typical example of the Ombudsman's work.
A foreigner living in a Swedish village wrote to the Ombudsman complaining that he had been ill-treated by the police, simply because he was a foreigner. The Ombudsman immediately wrote to the Chief of Police in the district asking him to send a record of the case. There was nothing in the record to show that the foreigner's complaint was justified and the Chief of Police strongly denied the accusation. It was impossible for the Ombudsman to take action, but when he received a similar complaint from another foreigner in the same village, he immediately sent one of his layers to investigate the matter. The lawyer ascertained that a policeman had indeed dealt roughly with foreigners on several occasions. The fact that the policeman was prejudiced against foreigners could not be recorded in the official files. It was only possible for the Ombudsman to find this out by sending one of his representatives to check the facts. The policeman in question was severely reprimanded and was informed that if any further complaints were lodged against him, he would prosecuted. The Ombudsman's prompt action at once put an end to an unpleasant practice which might have gone unnoticed.New words and expressions生词和短语
e （=ex）出 + volv 卷，转 + e → 转出来 → 进化The idea evolved from a drawing I discovered in the attic.Most people condemned his high-handed action. incompetent [ɪnˈkɑːmpɪtənt] adj. 不够格的，不称职的in 无 + competent 有能力的 → 无能的competent [ˈkɑːmpɪtənt] adj.有能力的;称职的;合格的;足以胜任的;不错的;尚好的;有决定权的com 共同 + pet 寻求；力争 + ent 形容词后缀 →〔敢于〕竞争的 → 有能力的The Prime Minister was attacked as incompetent to lead.over-zealously adv. 过分热情地zealous [ˈzeləs] adj.热心的;热情的;热烈的;充满激情的zeal 热心 + ous 形容词后缀 → 热心的泽洛斯（Zelos）是希腊神话中的神灵，是拟人化的“热情”、“好胜”和“妒忌”。他是泰坦神帕拉斯（Pallas）和斯梯克斯（Styx）的儿子，也是尼克（胜利）、比亚（暴力）和克拉托斯（力量）的兄弟。英语单词zeal就来自泽洛斯的名字Zelos。英语中表示“嫉妒”的单词jealous也来源于此，本意指“占有欲强，猜疑的”，用于爱情方面。zealous：['zeləs] adj.热情的，热心的，狂热的zealot：['zelət] n.狂热者，犹太教狂热信徒jealous：['dʒeləs] adj.妒忌的，猜疑的，唯恐失去的parliamentary [ˌpɑːrləˈmentri] adj. 国会的parliament [ˈpɑːrləmənt] n.议会;国会;英国议会(包括下议院和上议院);一届议会的会期;(两次大选之间的)一届议会parl 说，谈 + ia + ment 组织，机构 → 大家讨论国家大事 → 国会在中世纪的英国，当国王觉得有必要召集一些贵族、教士来讨论朝政时，就会专门召集一次会议，这种会议就叫做parliament。这个单词来自法语parlement，是动词parler（说话、发言）的名词形式。parliament的字面意思就是“开会、讨论”，后来才演变成了一种常设机构和国家政治制度。最初在英语中保持了parlement这种法语拼写形式，后来受了拉丁语parliamentum的影响，才演变为现在的拼写形式parliament。源自法语单词parler的英语单词还有parlour（会客室）、parley（会谈）等。Her parliamentary career has occupied all of her time qalified [ˈkwɑːlɪfaɪd] adj. 合格的qualify [ˈkwɑːlɪfaɪ] v.具有资格;合格;取得资格(或学历);使合格;使具备资格;有权，使有权(做某事)He qualified as a doctor last year.grievance [ˈɡriːvəns] n. 不平，冤屈griev 重 + ance 表状况 →〔工作〕很繁重 → 抱怨Parents were invited to air their grievances (= express them) at the meeting.justiteombudsman n. （瑞典的）司法特派员ombudsman [ˈɑːmbʊdzmən] n. （瑞典和英国的）司法特派员The leaflet explains how to complain to the banking ombudsman.He's very secretive about his work.correspondence [ˌkɔːrəˈspɑːndəns] n. 来往信件cor 共同 + respond 回答；反应 + ence 表行为，correspond的名词 → 通信；来往The editor welcomes correspondence from readers on any subject.Prices did not alter significantly during 2004.accusation [ˌækjuˈzeɪʃn] n. 谴责，指控accuse [əˈkjuːz] vt.指责;控告;谴责;控诉ac(=at)朝，向 + cus 原因 + e → 把原因都指向谁 → 指责accusations of corruption/cruelty/racismascertain [ˌæsərˈteɪn] v. 查出，查明as 加强 + certain 肯定的 → 一再区别 → 确定
It can be difficult to ascertain the facts.prejudiced adj. 有偏见的，不公平的prompt [prɑːmpt] adj. 即时的pro前 + empt 拿 → 拿到前面 → 方便的，迅速的Prompt payment of the invoice would be appreciated.参考译文
斯堪的纳维亚半岛各国实行开明的社会政策，受到全世界的推崇。在瑞典，已逐渐形成了一种完善的制度以保护每个公民不受专横的和不称职的政府官员的欺压。由于这种制度行之有效，已被其他国家采纳。
是瑞典人首先认识到政府工作人员如文职人员、警官、卫生稽查员、税务人员等等也会犯错误或者自以为在为公众服务而把事情做过了头。早在1809年，瑞典论会就建立一个保护公民利益的制度。议会内有一个代表各政党利益的委员会，由它委派一位称职的人选专门调查个人对国家的意见。此人官衔为“司法特派员”，但瑞典人一般管他叫“J.O.”，即“司法特派员”。司法特派员不受任何政治压力的制约。他听取社会各阶层的各种大小意见，并进行调查。由于意见均需用书面形式提出，司法特派员每年平均收到1,200封信。他有8位律师作他的助手协助工作，每封信都详细批阅。司法特派员的工作没有什么秘密可言，他的信件是公开的，供公众监督。如果公民的意见正确，司法特派员便为他伸张正义。司法特员采取的行动因意见的性质不同而有所不同。他可以善意地批评某位官员，也可以甚至向议会提议修改某项法律。下述事件是司法特派员工作的一个典型例子。
一个住在瑞典乡村的外国人写信给司法特派员，抱怨说他受到警察的虐待，原因就是因为他是个外国人。司法特派员立即写信给当地警察局长，请他寄送与此事有关的材料。材料中没有任何文字记载证明外国人所说的情况符合事实，警察局长矢口否认这一指控。司法特派员难以处理。但是，当他又收到住在同一村庄的另一个外国人写的一封内容类似的投诉信时，他立即派出一位律师前去调查。律师证实有个警察确实多次粗鲁地对待外国人。警察歧视外国人的事在官方档案中不可能加以记载，司法特派员只有派他的代表去核对事实才能了解真相。当事的警察受到严厉的斥责，并被告知，如果再有人投诉他，他将受到起诉。司法特派员及时采取的行动，迅速制止了这一起不愉快的事件，不然这件事可能因未得到人们注意而不了了之。
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