A foreigner living in a Swedish village wrote to the Ombudsman complaining that he had been ill-treated by the police, simply because he was a foreigner.

write to sb.  ^{向某人写信}

• I said I would write to you, but as usual I never got around to it. ^{我说过要写信给你，但像往常一样总是抽不出时间来。}
• Please write to me soon. ^{请尽快给我写信。}
• Chan probably write to Amy in the note? ^{陈可能写了纸条给艾米？}

ill-treat ^{v. to treat sb. in a cruel or unkind way, abuse 虐待}

• ill-treat one's dog
• They thought Mr. Smith had been ill-treating his wife. 
• The girl was ill-treated by her father. ^{那个女孩受到她父亲的虐待。}

ill ^{adv. badly  非谓语动词做形容词}

• ill-treated animals ^{被虐待的动物}
• ill-will ^{n.敌意；憎恶}
• ill-at-ease ^{adj.局促不安的；不自在的}
• ill-being ^{n.不幸；贫困；不健康}

simply because …  ^仅仅因为

• Often people break laws simply because the laws are there. ^{人们往往只是因为法律的存在而违反法律。}
• I think this is simply because people are naturally conservative and do not like change. ^{我认为这仅仅是因为人们天生保守，不喜欢改变。}
• It is not the birth right of every mother to have children simply because she wants them. ^{每个母亲不能仅仅因为想要孩子就有生下他们的权利。}

The Ombudsman immediately wrote to the Chief of Police in the district asking him to send a record of the case.

Chief of Police ^{n. the most senior police officer in a city who is in charge of all the police there 警察局长}

• I'm glad to hear the Chief of Police is a good personal friend of yours. ^{我很高兴警察总长是你一个很好的私交。}
• Like Shepherd, Chief Inspector Chen of the Shanghai police is also a cop. ^{与谢弗德一样，上海市的陈探长也是一位警官。}
• My dad's Charlie, he's the chief of police. ^{我的爸爸查理，他是个警长。}

There was nothing in the record to show that the foreigner's complaint was justified and the Chief of Police strongly denied the accusation.

deny an accusation / a charge ^否认指控

• Mr Sanader told the court that he denied "the charge of being a war profiteer with repugnance." ^{萨纳德告诉法庭他否认“被指控是一名令人厌恶的战时投机商。”}
• Khartoum accuses the groups of giving evidence to the court, a charge the charities deny. ^{喀土穆指责这些慈善组织向国际刑事法庭提供证据，不过这些组织予以否认。}

It was impossible for the Ombudsman to take action, but when he received a similar complaint from another foreigner in the same village, he immediately sent one of his lawyers to investigate the matter.

sent sb. to investigate ^{派某人去调查}

• It is not unusual for the NTSB to send a team to investigate, he said. ^{他说，对于全国运输安全委员会来说，派一个安全小组去调查事故的原因是很正常的事。}

The lawyer ascertained that a policeman had indeed dealt roughly with foreigners on several occasions.

deal well / badly etc. by / with sb. ^{(fml.) treat sb. well, badly etc. 对某人好、坏等}

• He has always dealt well by me. 
• You've been badly dealt with.
• The police dealt roughly with the rioters. 
• He deals fairly with all people.
• I consider he has been dealt with leniently.

The fact that the policeman was prejudiced against foreigners could not be recorded in the official files.

be prejudiced against ^{对…有偏见}

• They are prejudiced against older applicants. ^{他们对年长一些的申请人抱有成见。}
• Now we know why she was prejudiced against the redskins. ^{现在我们知道她为什么对红皮肤的印第安人有偏见了。}
• He is prejudiced against [towards] foreigners. ^{他对外国人反感[有偏见]。}

It was only possible for the Ombudsman to find this out by sending one of his representatives to check the facts.

It was only possible for ^{这是唯一的可能}

• A place where it is only possible for a ship to leave the coast at high tide. ^{某处，船只只有在涨潮时才能离岸。}
•  It is only possible for Stevedores to work in two shifts everyday. ^{装卸工每天只能工作两个班。}

The policeman in question was severely reprimanded and was informed that if any further complaints were lodged against him, he would be prosecuted.

in question ^{being discussed 正在被讨论的，提到的，谈到的}

• The woman in question is sitting over there.
• The job in question is available for three months only. 

lodge a complaint against sb.  ^投诉某人

• One day a man went to the magistrate to lodge a complaint against the secretary. ^{一天，有人到王鲁这儿控告他的主簿。}
• We have to lodge a claim against you for inferior quality. ^{我们不得不对你们的劣质产品提出索赔。}
• We'll lodge a claim against the Insurance Company for the goods damaged during transit. ^{对于货物在运输途中损坏，我们将向保险公司提出索赔。}

The Ombudsman's prompt action at once put an end to an unpleasant practice which might have gone unnoticed.

put / bring an end to sth. ^{stop sth. from happening any more; abolish sth. 终止…，废止…}

• The government is determined to put an end to terrorism.
• It's hoped the talks may bring an end to the violence. 

go / pass unnoticed ^{不为人知的过去了（unnoticed主语补足语）}

• The event went unnoticed. 
• Her death passed unnoticed.
• If they had only had one more child, the fact would have passed unnoticed.

虚拟语气

课文补全：The Ombudsman's prompt action at once put an end to an unpleasant practice which might have gone unnoticed if there had not been the Ombudsman's prompt action.