英语博客(A cup of English):052 A robbery in town!

　　Beginners.
Life in a small town is very quiet, some would say boring. However, one good thing about living here is that there is not a lot of crime. It is something that you get used to. On a few occasions, I have left my handbag in the shopping cart when I am buying groceries. It is not until I get home that I realize what I have done. Thankfully, the times that this has happened, I have been able to drive back to the supermarket and find the bag, still in the shopping cart. When I lived in London, that was not the case. Though most people are good, and mean well, you have to be careful. I suppose it is just one of the many differences between a big city and a small town. When a crime does take place here, it makes the front page of the local newspaper, The Wenatchee World, and the whole town talks about it. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine told me that there had been a burglary at a pharmacy¹ in town. I don't often read the newspaper, so I was not aware that it had happened. I looked through our pile of unread newspapers and found the February 26th edition, and sure enough, on the front page was a picture of the suspect. The man has not been found yet; the police and crime task force are still looking, and have offered $1000 reward for information leading to an arrest. How exciting! I will keep my eyes peeled.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: crime, handbag, groceries, local newspaper, burglary, pharmacy, reward, task force.
*Would. Ex: Some would say that the governor is wise, but I think he is foolish.
To mean well. Ex: They mean well, but they are very unhelpful.
(Not) the case. Ex: The land was to be protected, but that was not the case.
Advanced.
So there has been a robbery in town, a double one. It's a shock for the community, especially considering that everybody seems to know eachother. The reward has not been claimed, and so far there are no leads. Mind you, the picture in the newspaper is pretty awful. The suspect looks like an alien. I think if there was a creature like that in this town, he would be spotted² immediately. Thankfully, no one was hurt in either robbery. It would be very scary to be the one behind the counter who has the gun pointed³ at his face. I would not like to be in his shoes. Perhaps the criminal will be caught by making some kind of mistake. They are human, so they are prone⁴ to errors, just as we are. There are stories of criminals who are not so bright, who give themselves away. Apparently⁵, one man decided⁶ to rob a quick stop foodmart. The trouble is, he was on his lunch break from work, and he had forgotten to take off his name tag from his place of employment. As soon as he had taken the money and left, the cashier phoned the police and told them the name of the criminal and where he worked. The poor guy, how embarrassing! It must have been his first time on the dark side. It sounds like he was nervous and unprepared. Well, hopefully the embarrassment⁷ of the situation stopped him from ever trying it again. As they say here, "If you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime."
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: creature, to be prone to .., mistake, error, lunch break, cashier, embarrassing, foodmart.
* Claim. Ex: The lost puppy⁸ has not been claimed.
Embarrassing. Ex: His pants fell down infront of everybody. How embarrassing!
Lunch break. Ex: I would not like to miss my lunch break. It's the only time that I have free.

1 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

2 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

8 puppy   

n.小狗，幼犬

参考例句：

• You must school your puppy to obey you.你要训练你的小狗服从你。
• Their lively puppy frisks all over the house.他们的小狗在屋里到处欢快地蹦跳。