VOA标准英语2011--Do You Keep a Horse in a Bathtub?
时间：2018-12-16 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2011年(三月)
If you're planning a trip to the United States, be very careful. You could easily break one of our laws and not know it. We're not talking about obvious illegal behavior, like punching your taxi driver or throwing a chair through your hotel window. No, there are other, more obscure offenses 2 that could get you in trouble.
According to a law still on the books in Glendale, Arizona, for instance, you can get arrested for driving in reverse!
And be warned: you may not sleep in a cheese factory in South Dakota. Can't legally set a mousetrap in California without a hunting license 3, either. Tease a skunk 4 in Minnesota, or gargle in public in New Orleans, Louisiana, and they can haul you off to jail.
iceplee, Flickr Creative Commons
This lad's OK. He's blowing his nose out of public view.
If you have business in the western state of Utah, be especially vigilant 5. In particular, don't go whale-hunting there. It's illegal. Doesn't matter that Utah is 1,500 kilometers from the nearest ocean!
And be aware while you're in Utah that you cannot legally fish from horseback, refuse to drink milk, detonate a nuclear weapon, or cause a catastrophe 6. Of course, setting off a nuclear weapon most likely would BE a catastrophe.
These are OLD, OLD laws that probably that had some reason behind them that makes no sense today. But nobody ever bothered to take them off the books.
aaron_anderer, Flickr Creative Commons
Is this legal?
Why not? Well, suppose you're on the council in a town that has an ordinance 7 that makes it illegal to blow your nose in public. If you stood up and proclaimed that it's high time to do away such an arcane 8 law, the voters would toss you out of office for wasting time on frivolous 9 matters.
And since a lot of these old laws have to do with sex, religious beliefs, and cuddly 10 animals, some interest group would probably take offense 1 and make you sorry you opened your mouth. So laws like one in Indiana that makes it illegal for monkeys to smoke stay on the books because people are simply too embarrassed to bring them up.
- I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
- His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。
- It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
- The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
- The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。
- That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了，你这卑鄙的家伙！
- The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。
- He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
- The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。
- I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
- This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。
- The Ordinance of 1785 provided the first land grants for educational purposes.1785年法案为教育目的提供了第一批土地。
- The city passed an ordinance compelling all outdoor lighting to be switched off at 9.00 PM.该市通过一条法令强令晚上九点关闭一切室外照明。
- The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
- Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。