365个英语简短小故事-86. Crime on the Rise

A woman is standing¹ at a bus stop at noon. A van pulls up. A young man hops² out of the van, grabs the woman’s purse, gets back into the van, and it drives off.

An elderly man is standing on the sidewalk in front of his home at 10:30 p.m. He is admiring the full moon. A car pulls up right in front of him and stops. Two men get out. One man punches the old man in the mouth. The other man takes the man’s wallet out of his pants. They get back into their car and drive off.

A woman puts her laptop and purse into her car in her driveway at 3:15 p.m. She starts the car, and then remembers that she forgot to turn off the TV. She goes back into her house, turns off the TV, and comes back to her car. Her purse and her laptop are gone.

The department of transportation built an elevated freeway on top of the 110 freeway in Los Angeles. The new freeway is supported by more than 100 thick concrete columns. Since the freeway was built, each column has been tagged with graffiti and repainted at least ten times.

Late one night, someone managed to raise a heavy metal shopping cart to the top of a flagpole outside a supermarket. The next morning, a 56-year-old supermarket worker hooked up the US flag and started to raise it by pulling on the rope. A second later, the cart crashed down on her. She was permanently³ paralyzed. When released from the hospital, she told a TV reporter that she forgave the culprit. “Please don’t do this again,” she said. “You might kill someone, and that would be terrible.” A police spokesman admitted that they might not ever find the “prankster.”

 

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 hops   

跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• The sparrow crossed the lawn in a series of hops. 那麻雀一蹦一跳地穿过草坪。
• It is brewed from malt and hops. 它用麦精和蛇麻草酿成。

3 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。