Scarecrow Guards Jail Birds 

　　A judge on an inspection visit to a Brazilian jail discovered a straw scarecrow dressed in police uniform on the watchtower "guarding" some 735 jail birds, police said. The judge removed the scarecrow, which had apparently been manning the watchtower for days, and took it to the court as evidence. Police opened an investigation. "It is considered a grave breach of security rules," a police spokesman said, adding that a prison guard or a police officer should have been on the tower at all times. The Taubate Provisional Detention Center for prisoners awaiting trial near Brazil's biggest city of Sao Paulo was opened at the end of 2001 and has already had one publicized escape via an underground tunnel. Brazil's prison system is plagued with break-outs and violent riots due to extreme overcrowding, lack of funds and poor pay for prison officers. 


　　巴西警方说，一位法官到巴西一座监狱视察，结果发现在了望塔中“看守”着735名囚犯的竟然是一个穿着警服的稻草人。法官拿走了稻草人--显然它已经在这个岗位上呆了不少日子了--并将它呈上法庭作为证物。警方已经展开调查。“我们认为这严重违反了安全条例，”警方发言人说，并指出任何时候了望塔上都应该有一名监狱警卫或是警官。等候审判的陶贝特临时拘留中心位于巴西最大城市圣保罗附近，2001年底才启用，但这里已经发生过了一起广为人知的犯人通过地道逃走的事件。巴西的监狱系统存在着严重的越狱和暴力骚乱问题，原因是监狱极度拥挤、缺乏资金以及监狱管理人员收入过低。


　　Remarks：挖地道逃走的犯人一定感到了莫大的耻辱--居然被稻草人吓到了，没敢堂而皇之地从地面上出去。

来源：《英语学习》