《中英對照讀新聞》Stolen sandwich leads to a year in jail 失竊的三明治導致入獄一年

◎ 張沛元

A stolen roast beef sandwich has landed a man in jail for a year and a half.

一個失竊的燒烤牛肉三明治使得一名男子入獄一年半。

Jason Elliot, 27, of Barrington, was arrested last April after a convenience store employee reported he had stolen a $4 sandwich.

在一名便利商店員工報案指稱他偷了一個4美元的三明治後，27歲、來自巴林頓的傑森．艾略特於去年4月被捕。

When police caught up to Elliot, they found drug paraphernalia in his car, the Foster's Daily Democrat reported.

當警方追上艾略特時，他們在他的車內發現毒品隨身用具，佛斯特的民主人日報報導說。

The sandwich theft charge was elevated to a felony because Elliot had theft convictions. After pleading guilty, Elliot was sentenced recently to a year for stealing the sandwich and six months for drug possession.

偷竊三明治的指控被提升為重罪，因為艾略特曾因竊盜被定罪。在坦承有罪之後，日前判決艾略特須為偷竊三明治入獄一年，持有毒品入獄6個月。

新聞辭典

roast：動詞，爐烤，燒烤（動物類食物）；使熱發燙；嚴厲批評（口語）；處以烙刑。

西餐烹調方式中，與「烤」字有關的英文，還有：bake，烘烤，烘焙（烤魚與植物，唯一例外為baked ham）；grill，用烤架炙烤；gratin，焗烤。例句：They should get roasted for what they had done to you。（他們應該為對你所做的那些事情而受到斥責。）

conviction：名詞：定罪；信服；確信。動詞為convict，（經審訊）證明…有罪。convict亦可做名詞使用，意思為「已被判決的犯人」或「陰謀家」（俚語）。例句：Their statements convicted them of ignorance and absurdity。（他們的說辭充分顯示出他們的無知與荒謬。）

plead：動詞，提出…為理由／藉口；作為答辯提出，為案件辯護；認罪；懇求，請求。