Cultural Notes:

Inside View

1  Oxford is divided into colleges, so students need to move around the city from their colleges to faculty buildings[教学楼] for lectures, and also to get to various libraries. Students ither walk or use bikes. For this reason you will see more bikes in Oxford than in almost any other UK city, except perhaps Cambridge.

 

2  Mountain bikes have gears to make it possible to use them on steep slopes.

3  To report a theft, Kate would go to the local police station not far from where the bike was stolen. There a duty officer would help her fill in a report form.

   Oxford is served by the Thames Valley Police. Britain does not have a centralized police organization. Instead, there are a number of police forces belonging to various large cities or areas of the country. Each is headed by a chief constable[（镇、区）警察], who is accountable to the Home Office in London and to a local police authority consisting of elected councillors[（市、镇的）政务会委员], magistrates[地方法官，治安官] and business representatives.

   The police in Britain are not armed. Overall, the community trusts and supports its police. Great efforts are made to train police officers to be courteous and sensitive to the needs of the public.

   Applicants to join a police force have to take a great many tests to ensure they are fit, intelligent and psychologically well-balanced.. Officers are well paid and there are plenty of opportunities for promotion.

   For emergencies one calls 999, but for ordinary matters one uses the number of the local station.