Prison Break 1《越狱》1（精讲之二）-英语点津

4. Be on someone's ass

意思是bother someone，“Crab Simmons was on my ass for the 90 grand I owed him.”意思就是“因为我欠他九万块钱，Crab Simmons一直烦着我。”

5. I've seen your kicks, Sucre. You got something like 40 cents to your name.

Kicks 在这里是shoes的一种俚语叫法，You got something like 40 cents to your name. 并不是说真的只有四十美分，意思其实是“You're poor.”整句话解释一下就是：I've seen your shoes, Sucre. They're worn, old-looking and cheap. You're poor.

文化面面观

Prisons in the United States美国的监狱

Prisons in the United States are operated by the Federal government, as well as by each of the state governments. Incarceration (监禁) is one of the main forms of punishment for the commission of felony offenses in the United States. Less serious offenders, including those convicted of misdemeanor offenses, may be sentenced to a short term in a local jail or with alternative forms of sanctions such as community corrections (e.g. halfway house), probation, and/or restitution. In the United States, prisons are operated at various levels of security, ranging from minimum-security prisons that mainly house non-violent offenders to Supermax facilities that house well-known criminals and terrorists such as Terry Nichols, Zacarias Moussaoui, and Richard Reid.

The national (federal) government, states, counties, and many individual cities have facilities to confine people. Generally, "prison" refers to facilities for holding convicted felons (i.e., crimes where the sentence is more than one year). Individuals awaiting trial, and those convicted of misdemeanors (crimes which carry a sentence of less than one year), are generally held in county jails. In most states, cities operate jails, used only for very short-term incarceration--usually a day or so, until the prisoner comes before a judge for the first time. Some states operate "unified" systems, where the state operates all the jails and prisons.

Many of the smaller county and city jails do not classify prisoners (that is, there is no separation by offense type and other factors). While some of these small facilities operate as "close security" facilities, to prevent prisoner-on-prisoner violence and increase overall security, others may put many prisoners into the same cells without regard to the criminal histories of the prisoners. Other local jails are large, and have many different security levels. For example, one of the largest jails in the United States is Cook County (located in Chicago). This facility has eleven different divisions (including one medical unit, and two for women prisoners), each classified at a different security level, ranging from dormitory style open housing to super-secure lock-down.

Security levels
Prisoners reside in different facilities that vary by security level, especially in security measures, administration of inmates, and weapons and tactics used by corrections officers. Both the federal government and the state prisons in the United States use a numbered scale from one to six to represent the security level. Level six is the most secure, while level one is the least.

Supermax
Supermax prison facilities provide the highest level of prison security. These prisons house the most dangerous of inmates. These include serial killers, inmates who have committed murders in less secure prisons, and high-profile criminals such as Theodore Kaczynski, Terry Nichols, Zacarias Moussaoui and (formerly) Timothy McVeigh.

Maximum security
All have individual cells with sliding doors controlled from a secure remote control station. Often prisoners are confined in their cells 23 hours a day, but in some institutions, prisoners are allowed out of their cells for most of the day. When out of their cells, prisoners remain in the cellblock or an exterior cage. Movement is tightly restricted using restraints and escorts by correctional officers.

Close security
Prisons have individual cells operated from a remote control station. Each cell has its own toilet and sink. Inmates may leave of their cells for work assignments or correctional programs. The fences are generally double fences with watchtowers, housing armed guards.