特别广播英语第 138 课：Return of The Chain Gang 又把犯人串在一起了-1

Eyewitnesses say it was a scene straight out of a black and white movie from the 1950s. 看到这个情景的人说，这就像50年代一部黑白电影中的场景：

As the sun rose over the fields of Huntsville, Alabama, in the American South, the convicts got down from the trucks that had brought them there. 当太阳从美国南部阿拉巴马州的亨茨威尔的田野上升起时，罪犯们从运送他们的卡车上下来。

Watched over by guards with guns, they raised their legs in unison and made their way to the edge of the highway, Interstate 65. 在持枪的卫兵监视下，他们步伐整齐地向65号州际的高速公路的路边走去。

The BBC's Washington correspondent Clare Bolderson was there and she sent this report: 英国广播公司驻华盛顿记者克莱尔德森就在现场，并发回如下报道：

"They wore white uniforms with the words 'Chain Gang' on their backs and, in groups of five, were shackled together in leg irons joined by an eight-foot chain. 罪犯们穿着白我号衣，背上写有"Chain Gang"字样。他们五人一组，用一条八英尺长的铁链把他们的腿拴在一起。

The prisoners will work for up to 90 days on the gang: they'll clear ditches of weeds and mend fences along Alabama's main roads. 这些囚犯要这样串在一起干90天活儿；他们要清理排水沟上的杂草，要维修沿阿拉巴马主干道的防护栏。

While they are working on the gang, they'll also live in some of the harshest prison conditions in the United States. There'll be no televisions or phone calls; many other day-to-day privileges will be denied." 他们要串在一起劳动不说，他们监狱的有些条件也是美国最恶劣的：没有电视，不让接电话；其他日常生活的权利也被剥削。

The authorities in Alabama say there is a lot of support for the re-introduction of chain gangs in the State after a gap of 30 years (the last gangs were abolished in Georgia in the early 1960s). 阿拉巴马州当局说，事隔30年，有许多人赞成恢复使用这种刑罚认为这是让罪犯向社会赎罪的有效方法。

Many people believe it is an effective way to get criminals to pay back their debt to society.