"Happy slap" yobs breed fear, anger

小笨笨

"Happy slap" yobs breed fear, angerWatch out for "happy slapping(1)," the latest youth craze to sweep Britain.

It's not a new dance step or even a new designer drug(2). It's a criminal assault(3).

Groups of teenagers approach an unsuspecting(4) person and begin punching(5) and kicking him or her while capturing it all on their mobile camera phones. The images are later uploaded and shared on the Internet.

The victims can be young or old, male or female. Bus stops, tube(6) stations and parks are considered prime venues(7). In most cases, the injuries are minor.

But on Saturday, British newspapers reported that an 11-year-old London girl had been raped(8) by a gang of(9) happy slappers, and Scotland Yard(10) confirmed that three 14-year-old boys had been arrested.

The craze apparently started in London late last year but has spread across the country. British Transport Police say they have investigated about 200 attacks in London alone since the beginning of the year, but they acknowledge that most go unreported.

Happy slapping is the latest manifestation(11) of what Britons call "yob(12) culture." The word "yob" dates to the 19th Century--it likely derives from "boy" spelled backward--and it denotes a kind of loutish(13), anti-social behavior associated with working-class youth in Britain's urban centers.

小笨笨

背景：据悉，随着“开心掴人”游戏日益风行英国，“开心掴人”成员甚至在网上拉帮结派，成立专门的网站，定期发布掴人录像并互相交流“开心掴人”感想。从这些网站上可以了解到，在他们中间，谁“开心掴人”的次数越多，就越能得到同党的“尊敬”。

更有甚者，一些“开心掴人”成员得意忘形之际，竟异想天开地开始考虑以影视红星，王室成员等名人作为袭击的对象。甚至，有人已经在一家“开心掴人”网站上发起了一项疯狂竞赛———悬赏1万英镑，看谁有胆最先成功掴到刚嫁入王室的查尔斯夫人卡米拉！

小笨笨

1. slap：拍，掌击，拍击

2. designer drug：毒品衍生物，小部分改变现有毒品的化学结构而得到的一种新物质，这种物质与其他被禁止使用的毒品的作用十分相似。

3. assault：攻击, 袭击

4. unsuspecting：没有疑心的

5. punch：猛击

6. tube：地下铁道，地下铁道的隧道

7. venue：犯罪地点，审判地，集合地点，会议地点，比赛地点

8. rape：掠夺，强奸

9. a gang of： 一群，一伙

10. scotland Yard：指英国首都伦敦警务处总部。负责地区包括整个大伦敦地区的治安及维持交通等职务。苏格兰场位于伦敦的威斯敏斯特区，离上议院约200码。所以，苏格兰场本身既不是位于苏格兰，也更不负责苏格兰的警备。

苏格兰场这个名字源自1829年，当时首都警务处位处旧苏格兰王室宫殿（可能是苏格兰国王访问英国时使用的宫殿或苏格兰国王驻英国大使使用的宫殿）的遗迹，因而得名。1890年曾迁至维多利亚堤区(离今天英国国防部不远)，1967年迁至现址。这两个新地址也被称为“新苏格兰场”。

11. manifestation：表现

12. yob：游手好闲且而令人讨厌的人

13. loutish：粗野的，无礼的