Question

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（隨意的）circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent （隨后的） fate in court．

It 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 traveling．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 pan of the sixties' 'youth counterculture'．As a result, I wanted to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so I said, 'How long have you been following me?  in the most casual and conversational 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 （品行不端的） 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．It wasn't funny any more．

         At the police station they questioned me for several hours．I continued to try to look worldly and familiar 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 defense in court, but as soon as my father found out what had happened, he hired a very good solicitor （律師） ．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 （法官） dismissed the case after fifteen minutes．1 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 （回轉） 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 （責備地） ．

What did he mean? Probably that I should have looked outraged （暴怒）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, probably, would have apologized perhaps even taken off their caps, and let me on my way．

1.Judging from the first paragraph, the writer's attitude towards his story is _______．

A．angry                                          B．sad

C．amused                                      D．more than just one of the above

2.The first man who came up to him was ______．

A．a uniformed policeman                  B．a policeman in plainclothes

C．not a policeman                          D．a good joker

3.The court never asked the author's English teacher to give evidence because _______．

A．the time for the trial was limited to fifteen minutes only

B．the author wanted to conduct his own defense in court

C．the case was dismissed before the trial reached that stage

D．he was found to be unqualified as a character witness

4.The author believes that he would most probably have been declared guilty if _______．

A．the magistrate had been less gentle

B．he had really been out of work

C．he had been born in a lower—class family

D．both B and C

5.In the opinion of one of the policeman who had arrested the author, the whole thing might not have occurred if ______．

A．he had protested strongly at the time

B．he had begged to be allowed to go home

C．he hadn't wandered aimlessly

D．he had tried to look cool

6.We can see from the passage that the author ______．

A．has broken the law only once

B．has never broken the law

C．has broken the law on more than one occasion

D．once broke the law without knowing it

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.D

5.A

6.B

【解析】

試題分析：我曾經有過法律方面的麻煩。整個被捕和送上法庭的過程在當時相當令人不愉快。我正走出當地的圖書館。還沒找到工作。一個便衣警察走過去要逮捕他。隨后幾個警察就把他帶走了。我父親聽說后請來最好的律師，準備證人證言，結果審判15分鐘就結束了。我被當庭宣告無罪釋放。只因為我的家人是不錯的中產階級，否則可能就會有牢獄之災了。

1.推理判斷題。第一段的大意是：我曾經有過法律方面的麻煩。整個被捕和送上法庭的過程在當時相當令人不愉快，但是現在已經成為一個不錯的故事。令人煩惱的是對我的被捕和隨后法庭上的命運的隨意的情形。由此判斷作者對他這段經歷的感受很復雜，不止一種。故選D。

2.細節理解題。第四段大意是：當時碰巧是十一點半。我正走出當地的圖書館。還沒找到工作，這時我看到一個人穿過馬路很明顯是想和我說話。我原以為他是要問時間，他卻說他是警察要逮捕我。一開始我以為是開玩笑。由此判斷第一個走向他的人是個便衣警察。故選B。

3.細節理解題。根據 文中的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 （法官） dismissed the case after fifteen minutes．1 was free．The poor police had never stood a chance．The solicitor even succeeded in getting costs awarded against the police．（我們（和律師）一起在周一準備了各種各樣的證據，包括請我學校的英語老師做我品行方面的證人。但是他沒有被請來作證。我的審訊沒到那一步。法官15分鐘后結束了案子。我自由了。）判斷，選C。

4.細節理解題。根據倒數第三段的意思：我沒有犯罪記錄。但是當時很令人震驚的是我從被起訴的這個案子中解脫出來依靠的東西。我的口語很“正”，受人尊敬的中產階級的父母在法庭上，有可靠的證據，而且很顯然我能請得起好律師，考慮到控訴的不清不楚。我感覺如果我的背景正相反，真的失業了，很可能就被判有罪了。 所以，失業和出身地位低都包括。故選D。

5.推理判斷題。根據最后兩段的意思：警察抱怨作者當時沒有抗議、表現出理直氣壯、很憤怒并表明自己是很優秀的學生的身份等。這樣可能警察會脫帽致歉歉讓行。故選A。

6.推理判斷題。根據作者所描述的事情的經過判斷，作者并沒有做任何違法的事情。故選B。

考點：生活百味類閱讀。