ãصļ www.27txt.com ӭȥŶ             Unit 1
  
Text
    A young man finds that strolling along the streets without an obvious purpose can lead to trouble with the law. One misunderstanding leads to another until eventually he must appear in court for trial

        A Brush with the Law

    I have only once been in trouble with the law. The whole process of being arrested and taken to court was a rather unpleasant experience at the time, but it makes a good story now. What makes it rather disturbing was the arbitrary circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent fate in court. 
    In happened in February about twelve years ago. I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to university until the following October. I was still living at home at the time.
    One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where I lived. I was looking for a temporary job so that I could save up some money to go travelling. As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was taking my time, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimes just stopping and looking around me. It must have been this obvious aimlessness that led to my downfall.
    It was about half past eleven when it happened. I was just walking out of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought employment there, when I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking to me. I thought he was going to ask me the time. Instead, he said he was a police officer and he was arresting me. At first I thought it was some kind of joke. But then another policeman appeared, this time in uniform, and I was left in no doubt.
    'But what for?' I asked.
    "Wandering with intent to commit an arrestable offence,' he said.
    'What offence?' I asked.
    'Theft,' he said.
    'Theft of what?' I asked.
    'Milk bottles,' he said, and with a perfectly straight face too!
    'Oh,' I said.
    It turned out there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area, particularly that of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps.
    Then I made my big mistake. At the time I was nineteen, had long untidy hair, and regarded myself as part of the sixties' 'youth countercultrue. As a result, I want to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so I said, 'How long have you been following me?' in the most casual and conversation tone I could manage. I thus appeared to them to be quite familiar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief that I was a thoroughly disreputable character.
    A few minutes later a police car arrived.
    'Get in the back," they said. 'Put your hands on the back of the front seat and don't move them.'
    They got in on either side of me. I wasn't funny any more.
    At the police station they questioned me for several hours. I continued to try to look worldly and au fait with the situation. When they asked me what I had been doing, I told them I'd been looking for a job. 'Aha,' I could see them thinking, 'unemployed'.
    Eventually, I was officially charged and told to report to Richmond Magistrates' Court the following Monday. Then they let me go.
    I wanted to conduct my own defence in court, but as soon as my father found out what had happened, he hired a very good solicitor. We went along that Monday armed with all kinds of witnesses, including my English teacher from school as a character witness. But he was never called on to give evidence. My 'trial' didn't get that far. The magistrate dismissed the case after fifteen minutes. I was free. The poor police had never stood a chance. The solicitor even succeeded in getting costs awarded against the police.
    And so I do not have a criminal record. But what was most shocking at the time was the things my release from the charge so clearly depended on. I had the 'right' accent, respectable middle-class parents in court, reliable witnesses, and I could obviously afford a very good solicitor. Given the obscure nature of the charge, I feel sure that if I had come from a different background, and had really been unemployed, there is every chance that I would have been found guilty. While asking for costs to be awarded, my solicitor's case quite obviously revolved around the fact that I had a 'brilliant academic record'.
    Meanwhile, just outside the courtroom, one of the policemen who had arrested me was gloomily complaining to my mother that another youngster had been turned against the police. 'You could have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you,' he said to me reproachfully.
    What did the mean? Presumably that I should have looked outraged and said something like, 'Look here, do you know who you're talking to? I am a highly successful student with a brilliant academic record. How dare you arrest me!' Then they, presumably, would have apologized, perhaps even taken off their caps, and let me on my way.

             NEW WORDS
    brush
n.  brief fight or encounter СͻСӴ

    process
n.  course; method, esp. one used in manufacture ̣

    arbitrary
a.  based on one's own opinion only, not on reason ģϵ

    circumstance
n.  (usu. pl.) conditions, facts, etc. connected with an event or person 

    subsequent
a.  following, later ģȥ

    fate
n.  what will happen or happened to sb. or sth. 

    due
a.  expected; supposed (to) ԤڵģԼģڵ

    temporary
a.  lasting only for a limited time ʱ

    stroll
a.  walk at leisure ɢй

    obvious
a.  easily seen or understood; clear ԵģԶ׼

    downfall
n.  ruin ̨˥

    employment
n.  one's regular work or occupation; job ְҵ

    wander
vi. move about without a purpose й䣻

    commit
vt. do (sth. wrong, bad, or unlawful)ɣ£

    arrestable
a.  deserving to be arrested

    offence (AmE offense)
n.  crime; the hurting of feelings; something unpleasant Уð

    straight face
    a face or expression that shows no emotion, humor, or thought ŵ
    petty
a.  small; unimportant Сģ

    doorstep
n.  a step in front of a door

    regard
vt. consider in the stated way ѡΪ(as)

    counterculture
n.  a culture, esp. of the young who oppose the traditional standards and customs of their society Ļ

    unconcerned
a.  not worried; untroubled; indifferent ǵģĮ

    casual 
a.  careless; informal ĵģ

    conversational
a.  of or commonly used in talking Ựã

    confirm
vt. make certain; support ֤ʵ϶ȷ

    belief
n.  something believed; trust ţ

    thoroughly
ad. completely; in every way ȫأ׵

    thorough  a.

    disreputable
a.  having or showing a bad character; having a bad name Ǽ

    worldly
a.  experienced in the ways of society ʵ

    au fait
a.  (F) familiar Ϥģͨ

    aha
int. a cry of surprise, satisfaction, etc. 

    magistrate 
n.  civil officer acting as a judge in the lowest courts ط

    conduct
vt. direct the course of; manage ָ֣

    defence (AmE defense)
n.  the act of defending in court the person who has been charged 滤

    solicitor
n.  (esp. in Britain) lawyer who advises clients on legal matters and speaks on their behalf in lower courts ʦ

    witness
n.  a person who gives evidence in a court of law; sth. serving as evidence or proof ֤ˣ֤

    trial
n.  the act or fact of examining and deciding a civil or criminal case by a law court 

    dismiss
vt. (of a judge) stop (a court case) أԡ

    cost
n.  (pl.) the cost of having  a matter settled in a law court. esp. that paid to the winning party by the losing party Ϸ

    award
vt. give by a decision in court of law; give or grant by  an official decision и

    accent
n.  way of speaking typical of the natives or residents of a region, or of any other group ǻ

    respectable
a.  deserving respect ֵ𾴵

    reliable
a.  that may be relied or depended upon ɿģ

    given
prep. taking into account; if allowed or provided with ǵٶ

    obscure
a.  not clearly seen or understood ģģɬ

    guilty
a.  having broken a law; showing or feeling that one has done wrong ģھε

    revolve
v.  (cause to) go round in a circle ʹת

    brilliant
a.  causing great admiration or satisfaction; splendid Ի͵ģ׿Խ

    courtroom
n.  a room where a law court is held 

    meanwhile
ad. during the same period of time ͬʱ

    gloomily
ad. depressedly, dejectedly أɥ

    complain
vi. speak in an unhappy, annoyed, dissatisfied way Թ

    complaint  n.
  
    reproachfully
ad. 𱸵

    presumably
ad. probably

    outrage
vt. arouse anger or resentment by injury or insult 𡭡

    successful
a.  having done what one has tried to do; having gained a high position in life, one's job. etc. ɹģгɾ͵

    apologize
vi. say one is sorry Ǹл

    apology  n.

         PHRASES & EXPRESSIONS
  take sb. to court
  start an action in law against sb. ĳ

  a couple of
  (informal) a small number of, a few, usually two  һ

  save up
  keep for future use; put money away in the form of savings 

  take one's time
  do sth. in a leisurely manner; not hurry ż

  at first
  at the beginning 

  turn out
  prove to be ֤

  call on
  ask (sb.) to do sth. esp. formally Ҫ

  stand a chance 
  have an opportunity; be likely to do or get sth. лᣬϣ

  revolve around
  have as a center or main subject

  turn against 
  (cause to) oppose, be hostile to

          PROPER NAMES
  Richmond
  ʿӢ

  Richmond Magistrates' Court 
  ʿطԺ
