节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-10-26
难易度:Medium
关键字:agent, bureau, lieutenant, assembly, Interpol, Criminal Investigation
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Hi, friends. Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Steve.
In this month's LIFE EXPERIENCE feature,
we are going to look into the workings of the second largest international
organization in the world, right behind the United Nations.
It's called Interpol.
The name Interpol comes from the two words international and police, which is a
little misleading because Interpol is not an international police force.
So what is it?
Well, to help explain things, we are going to interview a former Interpol agent
Charles Chang.
Let's get started with our first question - "What is Interpol?" - on page 46.
Working for Interpol.
A look at the life of a real-life, global crime fighter.
This month Studio Classroom talks to Charles Chang about life as an Interpol
agent.
Charles is now retired from law enforcement.
What is Interpol?
Interpol is the popular name of the International Criminal Police Organization
(ICPO).
How is it different from other police organizations?
Sometimes people think that Interpol is some sort of international police force,
but it isn't.
Its agents arrest people, but they don't chase criminals from country to
country.
Instead, each ICPO member sets up a central bureau that acts as a window for
joint operations and exchanging information on criminal activities.
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us here in the studio today.
We are in our LIFE EXPERIENCE article.
My name is Kaylah.
And my name is Ryan.
And yes, we are going to look at what it is like to work for Interpol.
Ooh. This is going to be fun because "Interpol" is an exciting and interesting
company to look at.
It is the international police force.
That's right.
They work together with other countries to find and catch criminals all around
the world.
That's right.
They're an international police force that work with individual national police
forces to catch criminals from all over and bring them to the right places.
OK. So these are not just local crime fighters, these are global crime fighters.
And we want to look at what their real life might be like.
OK. So a "real-life," we refer to something that is happening now in the real
world and actual situations.
But I like this term: a crime fighter.
Yes. Crime fighter is someone who goes and catches people who commit crimes or
do something that is illegal or wrong.
And you that word "global" there.
"Global" means all over the world or international.
OK. Now this is an interview article.
This month Studio Classroom talks to Charles Chang about life as an Interpol
agent.
Now Charles is now retired from law enforcement but did work with Interpol when
he was, well, a police officer.
Yes. So he's retired now.
That means he's no longer doing that job.
He's no longer working.
That's right.
So let's get started with Studio Classroom's first question.
I think it's a great first question.
What is Interpol?
Now yes, it's a great question.
Friends, we are all learning about this organization that catches criminals, so
Charles answers for us.
He says Interpol is the popular name of the International Criminal Police
Organization.
So it's the popular name, which means it's what we refer to it as.
But its official and formal name would be the International Criminal Police
Organization.
Yes, or the ICPO.
OK, so we call it Interpol, though.
That is how we will refer to it.
Next we ask: How is it different from other police organizations?
OK. Now most police organizations are in a country.
And so we want to know like depending on which police organizations are and
which country, how does Interpol differ from those?
How is it different?
That's right.
And actually, police forces are often different depending on what city you're
in.
They might work together, but they're different forces.
And when we refer to a police force, "force" would be the officers and the cars
and everyone working together to bring justice, bring law.
OK. And we'll see how this is used in the next sentence.
We see: Sometimes people think that Interpol is some sort of international
police force, but it isn't.
So it's not.
We're going to talk a little bit more after we visit Liz with Grammar on the Go.
Hi there, friends.
How are you doing today?
My name is Liz.
And it's time for Grammar on the Go.
Our article is called "Working for Interpol." And we read:
Sometimes people think that Interpol is some sort of international police
force...
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus today is on the phrase, some sort of.
It is another way of saying a kind of.
So today's Grammar Tip sentence can be re-written as:
Sometimes people think that Interpol is a kind of international police force.
"Some sort of" is a phrase that's most often used in conversations and is
usually used to describe a subject that isn't very clear.
For example, let's say you were at a job interview and you had to first answer a
lot of strange questions on several forms.
So you can say:
I had to fill out some sort of paperwork before they interviewed me.
Or, it's not always easy for a foreigner to describe a Chinese food item, so a
foreigner might describe a tangyuan as:
A tangyuan is some sort of Chinese desert dumpling made from rice.
If you want to see some more example sentences, they're available in today's
Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
That's it for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
Thank you, Liz.
So now we know that Interpol is not an international police force.
It's actually a little different in the way it works.
That's right.
We said a force is the group of people that are working together.
Well, its agents arrest people.
OK, stop there.
The force is made up of agents.
What's an agent?
OK. An "agent" is someone who works for or represents another organization.
So maybe an agent in a police force or police organisation would be someone who
goes out and finds criminals and represents the police force.
Or you might watch American movies and know an FBI agent or a CIA agent is the
person who works for the organization that you say before or after their name.
Exactly. So they represent the government then, in that case.
So they do arrest people, which means they take them and put them in jail for
doing something wrong, but they don't chase criminals from country to country.
OK. So instead, each ICPO member sets up a central bureau that acts as a window
for joint operations and exchanging information on criminal activities.
Now "bureau" is kind of spelled strange.
Let's define that word for you.
It's a government organization that collects and provides information.
So the FBI, that's the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
So they would be collecting information and it's run by a government.
OK. Now we use some words here.
They say they act as a window.
That means the are very... they share information, as a window for joint
operations.
That means many organizations are working together for a single goal.
And then they exchange, or share, information on what the criminals are doing.
We're going to talk more about what these agents are doing after we visit the
Chat Room.
Wow! This is huge.
I can't believe it!
Is something wrong, Bryan?
No, there's nothing wrong.
I just received an e-mail from the City Council.
They want me to act as the window person between them and the library.
Window person, eh?
I would like that.
I'm more of an aisle person myself.
No, Ken. I'm not talking about my preference for seats on an airplane.
I'm talking about a specific role, a window person, or simply a window.
Wait. I thought a window person was a person who worked at the window of a bank
or post office.
No, Ken.
Those workers are simply called clerks or cashiers.
A window person is someone who helps two parties or two companies communicate,
especially when they must work on a big project together.
So they want you to be the window person, or the window between the two.
That's right.
But you should really say they want me to be the window person, or act as a
window.
You might also hear the term, go-between.
Go-between?
What part of speech is that?
"Go-between" is a noun, and there's a hyphen between the words go and between.
A go-between is the same thing as a window person, someone who assists with the
communication between two parties or go as between them.
It almost sounds like this window person is like a bridge between two parties.
Yes. That's an accurate observation, Ken.
Both windows and bridges act as ways for things to pass from one point to
another.
OK, I think I get it.
Windows allow light to pass through them, and bridges allow people to cross
easily between two sides of a river.
Yes, that's the idea.
As the window person, I'll need to carry messages back and forth between the two
parties.
Well, that sounds like a challenging job.
Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks. I'll try my best.