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What did the old lady find when she got home?
The old lady was glad to be back at the block of flats where she lived. Her
shopping had tired her and her basket had grown heavier with every step of the
way home. In the lift her thoughts were on lunch and a good rest; but when she
got out at her own floor, both were forgotten in her sudden discovery that her
front door was open. She was thinking that she must reprimand her home help the
next morning for such a monstrous piece of negligence, when she remembered that
she had gone shopping after the home help had left and she knew that she had
turned both keys in their locks. She walked slowly into the hall and at once
noticed that all the room doors were open, yet following her regular practice
she had shut them before going out. Looking into the drawing room, she saw a
scene of confusion over by her writing desk. It was as clear as daylight then
that burglars had forced an entry during her absence. Her first impulse was to
go round all the rooms looking for the thieves, but then she decided that at her
age it might be more prudent to have someone with her, so she went to fetch the
porter from his basement. By this time her legs were beginning to tremble, so
she sat down and accepted a cup of very strong tea, while he telephoned the
police. Then, her composure regained, she was ready to set off with the porter's
assistance to search for any intruders who might still be lurking in her
flat.
They went through the rooms, being careful to touch nothing, as they did
not want to hinder the police in their search for fingerprints. The chaos was
inconceivable. She had lived in the flat for 30 years and was a veritable magpie
at hoarding; and it seemed as though everything she possessed had been tossed
out and turned over and over. At least sorting out the things she should have
discarded years ago was now being made easier for her. Then a police inspector
arrived with a constable and she told them of her discovery of the ransacked
flat. The inspector began to look for fingerprints, while the constable checked
that the front door locks had not been forced, thereby proving that the burglars
had either used skeleton keys or entered over the balcony. There was no trace of
fingerprints, but the inspector found a dirty red bundle that contained
jewellery which the old lady said was not hers. So their entry into this flat
was apparently not the burglars' first job that day and they must have been
disturbed. The inspector then asked the old lady to try to check what was
missing by the next day and advised her not to stay alone in the flat for a few
nights. The old lady thought he was a fussy creature, but since the porter
agreed with him, she rang up her daughter and asked for her help in what she
described as a little spot of bother.
New words and expressions 生词与短语
life
n. 电梯
monstrous
adj. 极大的，可怕的
negligence
n. 粗心大意
lurk
v. 潜藏
hinder
v. 妨碍
fingerprint
n. 指纹
chaos
n. 混乱，无秩序
inconceivable
adj. 不可思议的
veritable
adj. 真正的，地地道道的
magpie
n. 喜欢收藏物品的人
prudent
adj. 谨慎的
composure
n. 镇静，沉着
intruder
n. 入侵者(尤指欲行窃者)
toss
v. 扔
discard
v. 丢
discard
v. 丢弃
constable
n. 警察
ransack
v. 洗劫
balcony
n. 阳台
fussy
adj. 大惊小怪的，小题大作的
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发表于 2016-7-11 23:04:31