托福阅读材料(1)

　　You can call me A. J., which is an abbreviation of my full name, Alexander Justice. I like to abbreviate my name because it's easier for people to remember. I work for a museum that collects aboriginal artifacts.
　　I would like to tell you why I have an abidding faith in the legal system. The story you're about to read has been abridged to reduced its length.
　　I used to live in an area where criminals abounded and where the legal system seemed powerless. One day, my daughter was abducted. Although I abided by the kidnapper's monetary demands, they refuse to release her. I had no choice but put my faith in the legal authorities. The police responded immediately and searched the area. Despite their lack of success, they refused to abandon their search or to call an abort to their mission. They knew that any abortive action would surely result in my daughter's death.
　　The investigation eventually led the police to conduct an abrupt search at the home of a local office who was abashed when he learned of the search. My daughter was found in his basement. She had abrasions to her wrists where the abrasive rope had scraped her. The official was arrested along with his bodyguard who abetted him in the kidnapping.
　　The office was forced to abdicate his position and was sent to prison for life. The judge told him that he was lucky that the capital punishment had been abolished and that it was only due to this abolition that he would not be executed. The swift apprehension and strict punishment fo these criminals help to abate my lack of faith in the legal system. These days, I truly believe in "justice", and it's not because of my name!
　　你可以叫我A.J, 这是我的全名Alexander Justice的缩写。我喜欢缩写我的名字，因为这样人们更容易记住。我在一家收藏土著手工艺品的博物馆工作。
　　我要告诉你为什么我会始终不渝的信任法制。下面你将读到的故事已经被删减，以免冗长。
　　我曾经住在一个罪犯多如牛毛而法律又软弱的地区。一天，我的女儿遭到了绑架。尽管我遵从了绑架者的金钱要求，他们仍然拒绝释放她。我别无选择，只好寄希望于法律机构。警察部门立刻行动，全面搜查该地区。虽然徒劳无获，但他们不愿中止行动、放弃搜查，因为他们知道任何失败都将导致我女儿的死亡。
　　调查到最后，警察部门出其不意的搜查当地一名官员的家。那名官员得知要被搜查时，羞愧难当。警察在他的地下室找到了我的女儿。她的手腕有多出磨伤，那是被粗糙的绳子擦伤的。那名官员连同唆使他绑架的保镖双双被捕。
　　那名官员被迫辞职，判处终身监禁。法官告诉他，他该庆幸极刑已被废除，并且由于该项惩罚的废除，他将免遭处决。迅速抓获罪犯并对其严加处置的做法减少了我对法律的不信任感。现在我真正信任“司法Justice”，但并不是因为我的名字叫Justice !