新标准大学英语视听说教程(听力材料文本及答案)(4)

Dodgy deals aren’t the only problems associated with doorstep sellers. Your doorstep presents these unannounced visitors with a real opportunity to undertake distraction burglary where they often pose as bogus officials to gain access to your home.

I’m joined now by Ian Holt, from Thames Valley Police. Ian, just outline for me what does distraction burglary actually entail?

Ian

Holt

Well basically what happens is, somebody uses a story to get inside somebody’s house and then they steal items, usually cash or small items of jewellery.

Presenter

And what are the different techniques that are commonly used?

Ian

Holt

Well basically the er … the people that commit this crime move from area to area, er … they will look at an area, they will try and pick a particular target and they can find that by looking at property, it may beer, an uncut garden, it may be repairs that need doing to the property. Something that indicates that there’s, there’s a vulnerable person in there. It … usually, it’s an elderly person that lives there. Is this quite a common problem now? It is becoming more common. To get it in perspective, of the 14,000 burglaries that were in Thames Valley last year, we had reported 800 crimes of distraction burglary.

But, it … there’s a slight increase this year over last year’s figures.

OK, you mentioned some of the victims

being elderly. What other people are

targeted?

Well, unfortunately, with this type of offence, it is the vulnerable in society and the elderly. The, the national average, if there’s such a thing as a, a victim for this type of crime, is a white female aged 81 years.

And what about things that people can do to prevent it happening, basically?

Well the things they can do are very, very simple. The difficulty comes, is that some of these people, er … it’s very difficult for them to remember what to do. But the three things we, we always say is: stop, chain and check. And that’s stop before you open the door to make sure who’s on the other side. Always apply a chain. If you haven’t got a chain, fit a chain to the door, or a door bar if you’ve got difficulty in handling a chain with arthritic fingers.

But also when you answer the door, check the identity of the person there. Generally the offenders say they are from the Water Board or from utilities. They may say they’re from a charity or even from local authority. But generally, a utility will be in uniform.

Ask for their identification. A genuine person will not mind you doing that and will wait until you can check them out. If you do need to check them, phone the number on, on your last bill. What won’t happen is that if it is a bogus caller, they will become unnerved by this reaction and they will leave.

Presenter

OK and there’s also a couple of gadgets new on the market that also can help as well. Just talk us through that.

Ian

Holt

Certainly, yes. The … a spy er … viewer is fairly standard. But for elderly who may have poor eyesight there’s a spyscope which actually makes it a lot easier for them to see who’s outside. As I mentioned before about the door bar, again, it can be easier to apply than the chain. Very reasonable priced er, and something that is fairly new … as I mentioned before it’s very difficult for some of these people to remember what they have to do when they go to the door and that’s why they become victims.

And this item is called a Memo Minder and actually you can record a message on there and it’s nice to have a grand-daughter or somebody to record a message, but every time the person approaches the door it reminds them with a voice to say “Put

your chain on.”

Listening in

Passage1

Patrick ：I read a funny story today in the paper – true story.

Steve ：Go on, then.

Patrick ：OK. This 72-year old guy stole a pair of trousers from a department store in Paris. A security man saw him and alerted the police and they were waiting for him when he came out of the shop. The shoplifter started running, but the policeman soon caught up with him. The man

thenbit the policeman on his arm several times.

Steve ：He bit the policeman?

Patrick ：Yes – you have to remember, he was 72.

Steve ：I’d forgotten that.

Patrick ：Problem was, it didn’t hurt the policeman at all, ’cause the guy had forgotten to put his false teeth in before he left home.

Steve ：Very funny!

Patrick ：And the moral of the story is –

Steve ：Always remember to wear your false teeth if you’re going to bite someone.

Patrick ：That’s good. I read a funny crime story the other day. Let’s see … yeah … this guy … this guy robbed a supermarket somewhere in America – I can’t remember where exactly – anyway, he got away with about 4,000 dollars. The next week the local newspaper reported the story but said he’d stolen 6,000 dollars. The thief rang the newspaper office to complain. He said, “Look, I only took 4,000 dollars. I’m wondering if the supermarket manager took another 2,000 and said I’d taken it. I did not take 6,000, I promise you.”

Steve ：He was probably telling the truth.

Patrick ：He probably was. Anyway, the newspaper managed to keep the guy talking while they rang the police. And the police traced the call – the guy was ringing from a phone booth – and they arrested him while he was still talking to the newspaper.

Steve ：That’s good. Stupid guy! I’ve got another true story … This – this – old guy was in court for some crime – and he fell asleep. His case began and his lawyer stood up and said, “My client pleads not guilty.” The man suddenly woke up, but wasn’t sure what was happening. He jumped up and shouted, “I plead guilty! I plead guilty!”

Patrick ：So what happened?

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