UNIT 1A Brush with the Law 一次与法律的小冲突教材.docx

1、UNIT 1 A Brush with the Law 一次与法律的小冲突教材UNIT 1TEXTA young man finds that strolling【闲逛】 along the streets without an obvious purpose can lead to trouble with the law. One misunderstanding leads to another until eventually【最后】 he must appear in court【法庭】 for trial【审判】.A Brush【小冲突】 with the LawI have on

2、ly 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【麻烦】 was the arbitrary【混乱的】 circumstances【情况】 both of my arrest and my subsequent【随后的】 fate in co

3、urt.It happened in February about twelve years ago. I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due【到期，到时间】 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【郊区】 of London near where I lived. I was looking

4、 for a temporary【临时的】 job so that I could save up【攒下，存】 some money to go traveling. As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry【be in no hurry 一点都不着急】, 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 obvio

5、us aimlessness【漫无目的】 that led to my downfall【衰落】.It was about half past eleven when it happened. I was just walking out of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought【sink 的过去式，寻找】 employment there, when I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention【意图】 of talking to me.【with th

6、e intention of doing sth.】 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 them another policeman appeared, this time in uniform, and I was left in no doubt.【我确信无疑了】But what for? I asked.Wan

7、dering with intent to commit an arrestable【可逮捕的】 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 bo

8、ttles 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 counterculture【60年代的青年反主流文化】. As a result, I wanted to appear cool and unconcerned【漠不关心的】 with the incident, so I said, How long have you been following

9、 me? in the most casual【随便的】 and conversational tone【口气】 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【完全地】 disreputable 【不体面的】character.A few minutes later a police car arrived.Get in the back,

10、 they said. Put your hands on the back of the front seat and dont move them.They got in on either side of me. It wasnt funny any more.At the police station they questioned me for several hours. I continued to try to look worldly【世故的】 and au fait【熟练的】 with the situation. When they asked me what I had

11、 been doing, I told them Id been looking for a job. Aha, I could see them thinking, unemployed.Eventually, I was officially【依法】 charged【罚款】 and told to report to Richmond Magistrates Court the following Monday. Then they let me go. I wanted to conduct my own defence【进行我的防御】 in court【法庭】, but as soon

12、 as my father found out what had happened, he hired a very good solicitor【初级律师】. We went along that Monday armed with【提供】 all kinds of witnesses【目击者】, including my English teacher from school as a character witness. But he was never called on【传召】 to give evidence. My trial didnt get that far. 【我的案件还

13、没到那一步】The magistrate【法官】 dismissed【驳回】 the case after fifteen minutes. I was free. The poor police had never stood a chance【没希望】. 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

14、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【模糊】 nature【性质】 of the charge, I feel sure that it I had come from a different background, and h

15、ad really been unemployed, there is every chance that I would have been found guilty. While asking for costs to be awarded, my solicitors case quite obviously revolved around【围绕】 the fact that I had a brilliant【优秀的】 academic record.Meanwhile, just outside the courtroom, one of the policemen who had

16、arrested me was gloomily【阴郁地】 complaining to my mother that another youngster had been turned against【和对着干】 the police. You could have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you, he said to me reproachfully【责备地】.What did he mean? Presumably【大概】 that I should have looked outraged【被激怒的】 and said something like, Look here, do you know who youre talking to? I am a highly successful student with a brilliant