365个英语简短小故事-177. The Robbery at the Mall(2)

Janelle used the phone of the helpful woman to call Cliff¹. Cliff played golf with a medical doctor almost every Saturday. Perhaps Dr. Kildare could look at her injuries. Cliff, angry but glad his wife was alive, said he would be there shortly. She told him to bring their son and her spare set of car keys, because her keys were in the stolen purse. Cliff and Donovan arrived just before the police officer finished filling out his report. Cliff hugged his wife gently. He told Donovan to drive home in Janelle’s car. Cliff then asked the officer what the chances were of catching² the attackers.

The officer shook his head. “Not good,” he said. He told Cliff that robberies³ like this one happened daily throughout southern California. “Thugs are everywhere, prowling around like sharks in the ocean, looking for prey⁴.” Cliff asked the officer what could be done. “I know this sounds ridiculous, but we police can no longer protect you law-abiding citizens. There’s simply too many criminals. Tell all your female⁵ relatives and friends one thing: Don’t go anywhere alone, day or night. A woman by herself, even in public, might as well be carrying a bright neon sign that says: ‘Victim here—Come and get me!’ I’m not supposed to be telling you this, because if the word gets out, tourism will suffer in southern California.”

The officer asked Janelle to sign the police report. He wished her a speedy recovery⁶, and promised to do his best to help put the culprits behind bars. He reminded both of them that the two thugs now had their credit⁷ cards, address, car keys, and house keys. He suggested that they make the appropriate phone calls, change the locks to their house, and get new keys programmed for her car. Cliff told the officer that a couple of his friends were at his house, with guns, watching for intruders. Cliff and Janelle thanked the officer and the helpful woman. Cliff drove Janelle straight toward⁸ Dr. Kildare’s house.

“Maybe we should move,” he told Janelle. “To another city?” she asked. “To another state,” he said.

 

1 cliff   

n.悬崖，峭壁

参考例句：

• The cliff edge is dangerous and should be railed.崖边危险，应该用栏杆围起来。
• He took the measure of the cliff before he climbed it.他把悬崖的高度估量一下后再攀登。

2 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

3 robberies   

n.抢劫案( robbery的名词复数 )；明抢；敲竹杠；明目张胆地索取高价

参考例句：

• He said he teamed up with Miller in a number of robberies. 他说他和米勒合作搞了一系列的抢劫。 来自辞典例句
• He was arrested in connection with a series of armed bank robberies. 因受一系列武装抢劫银行案的牵连，他被捕了。 来自辞典例句

4 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

5 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

6 recovery   

n.恢复，痊愈；追回，寻回，收复

参考例句：

• The doctors said that his recovery was a miracle. 医生们说他的复原是件奇事。
• The quick recovery was truly in response to medication.这次迅速康复确实是对药物治疗的反应。

7 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

8 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。