BBC英语口语:青少年持刀行凶犯罪

Background: 在英国近几个月来很多青少年成为了一些青少年持刀行凶犯罪的牺牲品。2008年6月英国首相戈登. 布朗号召起诉方对发现携有凶器的青少年给予更严厉的处罚。

【文本】

Almost every week it seems another British teenager ends up dead as a result of a knife attack.

While official figures suggest violent crime overall is falling, more offences are being committed by youngsters, and injuries are getting more severe.

The government has already begun an advertising campaign to try to stop people carrying knives.

Now the prime minister, Gordon Brown, has said under 18s caught in possession should be prosecuted for a first offence instead of just let off with a warning.

The police are also being given extra funding to increase weapons' searches and education.

Critics say a zero tolerance approach will not solve the underlying problems, with young people often carrying knives to protect themselves.

But everyone agrees something has to be done to end what a senior judge  has called an "epidemic" of knife crime .