【轻松英文阅读】一只侦探鼠
时间：2018-12-28 作者：英语课 分类：轻松英文阅读
英语课
Derrick is in training with the Dutch police at the moment. But Derrick is not a person or even a police dog; he’s a police rat.
What is Derrick’s expertise 1? He can sniff 2 out substances such as drugs or gunshot residue 3 and he does it with a 98.8 percent accuracy. He is a part of a group of rats being trained by the Dutch police for criminal investigations 4.
There are machines that can do what Derrick does, but he can do it much faster and cheaper. Under pressure to cut costs, the Dutch police started the program two years ago. For example, a test for gunshot residue requires several technicians, expensive lab equipment and chemicals and can take at least two hours. A rat like Derrick can do the same thing in seconds.
This is the first time ever to use rats in this way and there have been some difficulties in training them. But Derrick and his buddies 5 should begin working in January of next year. It will be interesting to see how they perform.
1 expertise
n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长
- We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
- You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。
2 sniff
vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视
- The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
- When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。
3 residue
n.残余，剩余，残渣
- Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
- Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。
4 investigations
（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究
- His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
- He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。