考研英语作文：为上班不迟到 美国男子让红绿灯随心变

　　日前，美国一名男子因偷偷使用改变交通灯信号灯的装置，被指控涉嫌妨碍交通信号并被处以50美元的罚款。

　　A man who said he bought a device that let him change traffic lights from red to green has received a $50 ticket on suspicion of interfering with a traffic signal.

　　据美联社4月17日报道，这名来自科罗拉多州朗蒙特市的男子名叫尼克姆。为了在驱车上班途中不被红绿灯耽误时间，他在网上购买了这个价值100美元的交通信号灯改变装置。他说：“我上班总是迟到，在使用它的这两年里，它完全物有所值。”

　　Jason Niccum of Longmont told the Daily Times-Call that the device, which he bought on eBay for $100, helped him cut his time driving to work.

　　"I guess in the two years I had it, that thing paid for itself," he told the newspaper Wednesday.

　　上月末，警方发现尼克姆使用一个类似频闪灯的装置来改变交通信号灯。这种装置又被称作Opticon，与消防员应对突发事件时改变信号灯的装置相似。最初，该市的交通工程师们注意到，每当一辆白色福特车经过十字路口时，所有的交通信号灯都会中断信号。

　　Niccum was cited March 29 after police said they found him using a strobe-like device to change traffic signals.

　　The device, called an Opticon, is similar to what firefighters use to change lights when they respond to emergencies. It emits an infrared pulse that receivers on the traffic lights pick up.

　　Niccum was cited after city traffic engineers who noticed repeated traffic-light disruptions on certain intersections spotted a white Ford pickup passing by whenever the light patterns were disrupted.

　　朗蒙特市交通工程师奥尔森指出，他们计划在今年更新该市的Opticon系统，查处那些未经许可擅自使用的改变信号灯装置。

　　City traffic engineer Joe Olson said traffic engineers plan to update the city’s Opticon system this year to block unauthorized light-changing signals.