问答题
Read carefully the following excerpt on armed police arguments in the UK, and then write your response in NO LESS THAN 200 words, in which you should:
Summarize the main message of the excerpt, and then
Comment on whether policemen are able to carry gun or not.
You should support yourself with information from the excerpt.
Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
Gun law: firearms on the street
The decision to introduce armed patrols on some inner-city housing estates in Nottingham has raised eyebrows.
Paul Acres is Chief Constable of the Hertfordshire force, and spoke to us as chairman of ACPO firearms committee. He insists that the decision to issue guns to officers in some parts of Nottingham does not amount to routine arming.
"Many think the British public cherish the image of a police officer who is very much part of the community and is very close to them, and we recognise that firearms create a bit of distance," he says.
Policy-makers in the UK have to keep the risks in perspective. Gunrelated crime is still a very small element in our crime statistics. Last year there were about 4,000 armed incidents in England and Wales and 42 people died from gunshot wounds. In the US about 30,000 people each year are killed by guns-and another 90,000 injured.
In deciding whether to put more armed officers onto the streets, the police also have to consider the possibility that it could lead to more deaths. In the US a significant number of police officers have been killed by their own guns, and when they have opened fire on criminals, it has often led to controversy.
【正确答案】
【答案解析】Police can be armed
There is no doubt that in recent years people in many countries have become more used to seeing police officers carrying guns. Although the move has become a big concern for some citizens and police forces, it is still very necessary to arm the police on patrols.
Admittedly, armed police officers patrolling its streets can unease the public and police forces themselves. There are fears that armed officers are not approachable and probably bring danger to the public and officers themselves. Paul Acres, chairman of ACP0 firearms committee, states that firearms prevent police officers from being close to the local community. Data from the US has also proved that some police officers are killed by their own guns. In this way, police equipped with weapons is not so welcome among some residents.
However, for a time when guns are abused widely, police men and women should be armed. The weapons are a visible deterrent to terrorists at airports like Heathrow, and attract little comment when carried by officers mounting guard on major trials in a neighborhood with a reputation for drugs and violence or a place where gang rivalry has led to shootings. In the meanwhile, street patrols being routinely armed targeted at specific areas intends to reassure the public and send a strong message to criminals not to use guns.
To conclude, although putting more armed officers on the streets may cause the public unease and lead to some deaths due to misuse of guns, the deployment of armed police officers is necessary in response to armed criminals. The unease could be reduced as long as better training and management of armed situations are carried out.
[解析] 这篇文字材料讨论警察是否应该全部配枪。这篇短文首先引用一警官观点：枪支在某些场合可以配给警察，但不能作为常规装备进行配置，会拉开警察和市民的距离，然后短文列举枪杀案件相关的数据，同时也提出警察死于自己枪支的事实。因此，我们考生在综述这一话题时，不能漏掉这三个重要信息点，在论证过程中也要对这些主要信息进行展开叙述。