Scam City行骗天下∶布拉格

by Marcus Maurice

Scams come in all shapes and sizes around the globe.

形形色色的骗局遍及全球。

Imagine you are a male tourist in Prague in the Czech Republic. While you're having a few drinks at a local bar, an attractive woman comes up and starts flirting. You are taken aback by her forward nature, but you also enjoy the attention that this beautiful stranger is giving you. However, the woman mysteriously disappears just as quickly as she showed up. A few minutes later, you reach for your wallet to pay for your spirits and soon realize why she left in a flash—your wallet has been stolen. This scam as well as many others is showcased on Scam City: Prague this month on National Geographic Channel (NGC).

The NGC camera crew goes to Prague to learn about all the latest cons that criminals are pulling. They are extremely surprised to learn about the brazen nature of certain women. The cameramen have heard about the swindle, so they interview an American expatriate who leads a pub crawl that has had its share of trouble with the good-looking women. At first, they suggest using hidden cameras, but this turned out to be unnecessary. While interviewing the subject with a crew of men with cameras, lights, and microphones in tow, these flirtatious pickpockets still come up and try to get their hands on the men's wallets. It seems as though they don't care about being filmed at all. This fraud added to currency exchange hoaxes and taxi rip-offs makes Prague one of the biggest scam cities in the world.

flirt vi. 调情（与介词 with 并用）

Robert always flirts with his female

co-workers.

罗伯特总是跟女同事打情骂俏。

be taken aback by sth

对某事感到吃惊 （恒用被动语态）

Miss Chen was taken aback by John's rude remarks.

约翰粗鲁的言词让陈小姐很吃惊。

nature n. 本性；本质

Kyle's friendly nature makes him popular.

凯尔亲切的个性让他广受欢迎。

show up出现

Did Annie show up at the dance last night?

安妮出席了昨晚的舞会吗？

reach for...伸手去拿……

When Tina reached for the milk, she knocked it over by accident.

蒂娜伸手去拿牛奶时，不小心把它打翻了。

in a flash一瞬间

Computers can make big calculations in a flash.

电脑可以瞬间完成大量的计算。

sb's share of...相当多的……

They've had their share of problems over the years, but now their marriage is stronger than ever.

他们多年来一直有不少的问题，但现在他们的婚姻比以前更稳固了。

suggest vt. 建议

suggest V-ing建议……

My son suggested having a picnic in the backyard.

我儿子建议我们在後院野餐。

get one's hands on...获取　得到……

I've been dying to get my hands on one of those iPads for ages.

我渴望拥有其中一款 iPad 很久了。

hoax n. 骗局；欺骗

My neighbor was the victim of a cruel hoax.

我的邻居是一场残酷骗局的受害者。

rip-off敲竹杠

rip vi. & vt. 裂开；撕，扯

rip sb off / rip off sb敲某人竹杠

Does it really cost NT$250 for a cup of coffee? What a rip-off!

一杯咖啡真的要价 250 元？真是敲竹杠啊！

Taxi drivers in Taiwan rarely rip passengers off anymore.

台湾的计程车司机已很少再向乘客敲竹杠了。

集合名词 crew 的使用方法

crew 是集合名词，不可数，表在飞机或船上服务的全体机组人员或水手。这个字本身就是复数形式，不可再加 "s"。常用方法如下∶

a. 以全体为单位时为单数名词，以组员为单位时为复数名词∶

The film crew was on location deep in the forest.

电影剧组深入森林拍摄外景。

The crew members were ordered to swab the deck.

船员们奉命擦洗甲板。

b. 用於复数时的其他表示方法∶

We have 24 crews on our plane. (×)

→ We have a crew of 24 on our plane. (○)

= We have 24 crew members on our plane.

我们机上有 24 位工作人员。

＊类似的集合名词还有 staff（全体职员），faculty（全体教职员）。

scam n. 诈欺

the Czech Republic捷克共和国

forward a. 过分主动的；放肆的]

attention n. 注意

mysteriously adv. 神秘地

spirit n. 烈酒

realize vt. 了解

showcase vt. 展现

con n. 诈欺

brazen a. 无耻的，厚脸皮的

swindle n. 诈骗行为

expatriate n. 旅居国外者

a pub crawl穿梭酒吧活动

flirtatious a. 调情的；轻挑的

pickpocket n. 扒手

fraud n. 骗局

come in all shapes and sizes 有形形色色的种类

come up趋前

at first起初

turn out to...结果是……

in tow伴随著

行骗天下∶布拉格

形形色色的骗局遍及全球。

想像一下你是身处捷克布拉格的男性观光客。你在当地酒吧小酌时，有一位很吸引人的女子趋前向你卖弄风骚。你被她那过分主动的本性给吓得措手不及，却又同时陶醉在这名美丽的陌生女子所献的殷勤当中。然而，这女子神秘消失的速度就像她出现时一样快。几分钟後，你伸手掏钱包要支付酒钱时，才恍然大悟她为何瞬间消失，因为你的皮夹已被扒走了。这起骗局和其他许多诈骗手法将在本月国家地理频道的《行骗天下∶布拉格》中展现在众人眼前。

国家地理频道摄影团队走访布拉格，一探诈骗罪犯的最新技俩。他们对某些女性的厚颜无耻感到十分惊讶。摄影师都听过这类的骗术，因此采访了一位旅居布拉格的美国人，他带领大家来一场已经因那些美女而惹了不少麻烦的酒吧穿梭之旅。起初，他们建议使用隐藏式摄影机，但结果根本没有这个必要。纵使有一群工作人员架设了摄影机、灯光及麦克风来采访被扒窃的对象，这些娇艳轻挑的扒手仍然靠过来，试图觊觎男人们的皮夹。她们似乎一点也不在乎上镜头。这类的骗局再加上货币兑换时的诈骗以及搭计程车时敲竹杠的行为，在在都让布拉格成为全世界最大的诈骗城市之一。