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Lesson 53 In the public interest 为了公众的利益

Listen to the tape then answer the question below.

What could not be reported in the official files?

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 high-handed 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 officials 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 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.Aa complains 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 he 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 be 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 the Police in the district asking him to send a record of the case.These 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 lawyers to investigate the matter.The lawyer ascertained that a policeman had indeed dealt roughly with foreigners on several occations.The fact that the policeman was prejudiced against foreigners could not be recorded in the official files.It was only possilbe 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 be 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

evolve v. 逐渐形成 ombudsman n.司法特派员

high-handed adj.高压的，专横的 secretive adj.保密的

incompetent adj.不够格的，不称职的 correspondence n.来往信件

over-zealously adv.过分热情地 alter v.改变

safeguard v.保护 accusation n.谴责，指控

parliamentary adj.国会的 ascertain v.查出，查明

qualified adj.合格的 prejudiced adj.有偏见的，不公平的

grievance n.不平，冤屈 prompt adj.即时的

Justiteombudsman n.司法特派员

Notes on the text 课文注释

1、in the interest of ,符合......的利益。

2、in the belief that...,自以为.....。

3、be qualified to do sth,胜任做某事。

4、be subject to .....,受.....的控制，应服从......。

5、complaints large and small,程度不同的怨言，large and small 作名词complaint的定语。这样两个意义相反的形容词并用时要置于被修饰的词之后。

6、in writing,以书面形式。

7、in detail,详细地。

8、on one's behalf,代表某人。

9、in question,当事的，所涉及的。

10、put an end to,制止，结束。