华尔街中级英语学习教程第9课：几年以后Act1 (MP3和文本下载)

NARRATOR: Four years have passed since we last visited our friends in Washdon, two years in which many things have changed. Harry Carter, for example, is now married to Susan, and they have two small children. He now has the top job in the Washdon Police Department which he always wanted, and right now he is being interviewed for a major TV program…

TV DIRECTOR: OK, then. Are you ready, Mr Carter?

HARRY: Yes, I think so.

DIRECTOR: Quiet, everybody! Silence, please!

DIRECTOR: OK, Mary, in five seconds: five, four, three, two...

TV INTERVIEWER: Good evening everybody, and welcome to “Cop on the Hop”, the program which looks at the relationship between the police and the public today. And this week I'm going to talk to Detective-Superintendent Harold Carter, who's the head of the Foreign and Political Department here at The Washdon Police Department.

INTERVIEWER: Well Mr Carter, would you like to start by telling us a bit about what you actually do here as the head of this department?

HARRY: Well, basically, I am in charge of the department; the Foreign and Political Department, that is to say...

INTERVIEWER: Yes?

HARRY: In other words, I am responsible for the department.

INTERVIEWER: That's all very well, but what does the department itself really do, when it comes down to it?

HARRY: Well, as the Foreign and Political Department, it deals with foreign and political questions. That is the origin of the name of the department, in fact.

INTERVIEWER: Foreign and political questions, that's interesting. That means that you see both foreigners and politics as a danger to our way of life, does it?

HARRY: Listen young lady, you just keep to the questions on your list, OK?

INTERVIEWER: But this an interview! It's supposed to develop as it goes along.

HARRY: Young lady, you've got ten questions you are allowed to ask, and that's that.

DIRECTOR: Do what the man says, Mary, for pity’s sake. As you were: next question. Quiet, everyone! In five: five, four, three, two...

INTERVIEWER: Well, let's talk a bit about your career in the police. How long have you been a policeman, Mr Carter?

HARRY: It must be almost 21 years. That's right. I became a policeman at the age of 18, immediately after leaving school.

INTERVIEWER: Well, well, well. Tell me, Mr Carter, what made you choose the police, rather than another profession?

HARRY: Well I think, basically, it was the place where I grew up, which was Kixton, a very poor part of East Washdon. Growing up in Kixton, as I did, I saw a lot of young people get into trouble for stealing cars, stealing things from shops, things like that. And I felt I wanted to do something to stop it all.

INTERVIEWER: What sort of thing did you want to do?

HARRY: Obviously, to teach them a lesson they wouldn't forget, to show them what's what.

INTERVIEWER: To arrest them, maybe? To put them in prison, perhaps; sometimes for years and years?

HARRY: Perhaps, yes. What are you trying to say? Look, if you’re suggesting –

INTERVIEWER: Now, let's move on to your best-known case: the Trinidad drugs case, that is, of course, of four years ago, with that strange Swedish businessman, Hugo Peters, and that airline pilot: what was he called?

HARRY: Roger Temple. Yes, that was one of my better moments.

INTERVIEWER: But you never actually arrested any of them, did you?

HARRY: I didn't get a chance to, did I? Look you're doing it again!

DIRECTOR: Darn it! Cut!

HARRY: I told you to keep strictly to the questions on that list!

INTERVIEWER: I don't have to take orders from you, Mr Carter. I'm not one of your officers!

HARRY: I see! OK then, there's no interview! Everybody out of my office, please. I'm not going to put up with this!

DIRECTOR: Please Mr Carter, you can't let 12 million people miss the chance to hear your ideas and see you in their living-rooms.

HARRY: Did you say 12 million?

DIRECTOR: That's right.

HARRY: I didn't realize this program was so popular. Very well, I'll give you one more chance.

DIRECTOR: Thank you. Take 3! In five: five, four, three, two...

INTERVIEWER: Well now, that brings me to my next question. You're at the top of your profession, Mr Carter, and obviously a very successful man.

HARRY: It's kind of you to say so.

INTERVIEWER: Yes. Well, what does it take to be successful in the police today, would you say?

HARRY: In my opinion, today's policeman needs two things: firstly -

INTERVIEWER: Or policewoman.

HARRY: What?

INTERVIEWER: I mean, there are female officers as well as male ones, aren't there?

HARRY: Yes, of course there are! As I was saying, today's policeman needs two things: firstly,

INTERVIEWER: There you go again: “policeman”. Would you say then, Mr Carter, that success in the police depends on what sex you are?

HARRY: OK, that's it! That does it!

DIRECTOR: Cut!

HARRY: Out of my office, please, and I'll be in touch with the director of the TV company about this.

INTERVIEWER: But that question was on the list!

HARRY: It was not!

INTERVIEWER: Look!

HARRY: Oh! Hmm, so it was. Well I'm still not going to answer it.

DIRECTOR: Can we finish the interview, please, Mr Carter? 12 million people!

HARRY: Very well.

DIRECTOR: Take 4! Three, two, one...

INTERVIEWER: Well Mr Carter, to end with, can we say a word or two about your private life? You're a married man, aren't you?

HARRY: I am indeed.

INTERVIEWER: And you've recently become a father for the second time, isn't that so?

HARRY: Yes, indeed. My son, Harry Junior, was born 6 months ago. My daughter, Geraldine, is exactly 3; it's her birthday today.

INTERVIEWER: Is she going to be a policeman when she grows up?

HARRY: What do you mean by that?

INTERVIEWER: Just a joke, that's all. Well, thank you very much Mr Carter, it's been extremely interesting talking to you.

INTERVIEWER: And that brings us to the end of today’s “Cop on the Hop”.

DIRECTOR: OK, that's it, thank you, great! We'll get the stuff out of your office as soon as we can, Mr Carter.