新概念英语第三册第11课:Not guilty

Lesson 11 Not guilty无罪

Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What was the Customs Officer looking for?
Customs Officers are quite tolerant these days, but they can still stop you when you are going through the Green Channel and have nothing to declare. Even really honest people are often made to feel guilty. The hardened professional smuggler, on the other hand, is never troubled by such feelings, even if he has five hundred gold watches hidden in his suitcase. When I returned form abroad recently, a particularly officious young Customs Officer clearly regarded me as a smuggler.
'Have you anything to declare?' he asked, looking me in the eye.
'No', I answered confidently.
'Would you mind unlocking this suitcase please?'
'Not at all,' I answered.
The Officer went through the case with great care. All the thing I had packed so carefully were soon in a dreadful mess. I felt sure I would never be able to close the case again. Suddenly, I saw the Officer's face light up. He had spotted a tiny bottle at the bottom of my case and he pounced on it with delight.
'Perfume, eh?' he asked sarcastically. 'You should have declared that. Perfume is not exempt from import duty.'
'But it isn't perfume,' I said. 'It's hair gel.' Then I added with a smile, 'It's a strange mixture I make myself.'
As I expected, he did not believe me.
'Try it!' I said encouragingly.
The officer unscrewed the cap and put the bottle to his nostrils. He was greeted by an unpleasant smell which convinced him that I was telling the truth. A few minutes later, I was able to hurry away with precious chalk marks on my baggage.
参考译文
现在的海关官员往往相当宽容。但是，当你通过绿色通道，没有任何东西需要申报时，他们仍可以拦住你。甚至是最诚实的人也常弄得觉得有罪似的，而老练的职业 走私犯却使手提箱里藏着500只金表，却也处之泰然。最近一次，我也出国归来，碰上一位特别好管闲事的年轻海关官员，他显然把我当成走私犯。
“您有什么需要申报的吗？”他直盯着我的眼睛问。
“没有。”我自信地回答说。
“请打开这只手提箱好吗？”
“好的。”我回答说。
那位官员十分仔细地把箱子检查了一遍。所有细心包装好的东西一会儿工夫就乱成一团。我相信那箱子再也关不上了。突然，我看到官员脸上露出了得意的神色。他在我的箱底发现了一只小瓶，高兴地一把抓了起来。
“香水，嗯？”他讥讽地说道，“你刚才应该申报，香水要上进口税的。”
“不，这不是香水，”我说，“是发胶。”接着我脸带微笑补充说：“这是一种我自己配制的奇特的混合物。”
“你就闻一闻吧！”我催促说。
海关官员拧开瓶盖，把瓶子放到鼻子底下。一股怪味袭来，使他相信了我说的真话。几分钟后，我终于被放行，手提划着宝贵的粉笔记号的行李，匆匆离去。

New words and expressions 生词和短语
guilty
adj. 犯罪的，违法的

tolerant
adj. 宽容的

declare
v. 申报

hardened
adj. 有经验的

professional
adj. 职业的，专业的

smuggler
n. 走私者

officious
adj. 爱管闲事的

confidently
adv. 自信地

dreadful
adj. 可怕的，一团糟的

pounce
v. 猛抓，扑住

perfume
n. 香水

sarcastically
adv. 讽刺地

exempt
adj. 被免除的

duty
n. 税

gel
n. 凝胶

mixture
n. 混合物

unscrew
v. 拧开

nostril
n. 鼻孔

chalk
n. 粉笔

baggage
n. 行李

Notes on the text课文注释
1 the Green Channel，绿色通道，指海关专供没有携带征税物品进关的旅客所走的通道。
2 hidden in his suitcase是过去分词短语作定语，修饰watches。它相当于一个定语从句:which were hidden in his suitcase.
3 looking me in the eye，直盯着我的眼睛，这是分词短语作状语，表示方式，修饰asked。
4 The officer went through，这里go through作“检查”讲。
5 in a dreadful mess(或in a mess)，乱七八糟，混乱透了。
6 I saw the Officer's face light up.我看到那位官员的脸上露出了得意的神色。
7 You should have declared that，你早该申报了。"should+不定式的完成式”表示本该做而未做之事。
8 he exempt from作“免除”、“豁免，’解。

Lesson 11 课后练习和答案Exercises and Answer