万花筒 2009-04-21&04-22 G20峰会，英警察滥用暴力？

It had been widely built as a major test for the police: a series of desperate protests, in and around London’s financial district. At the same time, as the city was playing host to US president Barack Obama and dozens of other world leaders, there was violence and discontent among some protesters.

 

“Well, what is putting me off is the police. They are brutal¹ and some of them I felt were actively² encouraging violence.”

 

But police immediately afterwards said tactics were proportionate and it worked. That was until this video came out. It showed what appeared to be an unprovoked attack on a 47-year-old man, Ian Tomlinson. The newspaper vendor³ returning home from work collapsed⁴ and died on the street just minutes later. After an initial postmortem suggesting a heart attack, a second examination pointed⁵ to abdominal⁶ haemorrhage as the most likely cause of death.

 

The officer involved was questioned on suspicion of manslaughter and an investigation⁷ launched by Britain’s independent police watchdog, the IPCC.

 

Since then, a series of videos have emerged along with an ever growing number of complaints about the use of police force during the G-20 protest.

 

This video shows a 35-year-old woman apparently⁸ being struck by a police baton⁹. This one shows a 24-year-old man being hit with a riot shield.

 

The head of the IPCC has written off his serious concerns about the supervision¹⁰ of officers at the front line and said it was unacceptable that some officers had covered up their identification numbers. One former senior police officer admits it all leaves a worrying impression.

 

The lead-up to this demonstration¹¹ wasn’t the best for the police really. Quotes such as “we are up for it” give the impression that really they are gonna be aggressive and then we are seeing three what appears to be indiscriminate assaults. Take a step back from that. That looks like the police's being more aggressive than the crowd.

 

The head of the body representing Britain’s police chiefs has defended police tactics and said any debate over public order policing needs to be a balanced one.

 

Andrew Carey, CNN London.
 

1 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

2 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

3 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 abdominal   

adj.腹（部）的，下腹的；n.腹肌

参考例句：

• The abdominal aorta is normally smaller than the thoracic aorta.腹主动脉一般比胸主动脉小。
• Abdominal tissues sometimes adhere after an operation.手术之后腹部有时会出现粘连。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

10 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

11 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。