Unit 1
1.How did the author feel about the incident at the time it occurred?What does he think of it
now?
the author felt that it was a rather unpleasant experience at the time it happened,but now he thinks he can make a good story from the incident
2.Why did he go to Richmond?
he went there to look for a temporary job to make enough money to go travelling
3.What did the author think got him into trouble with the law?
the author thought it must be his obvious aimlessness of wandering in the streets that got him into trouble with the law
4.What did he see when walking out of the local library?
He saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking to him
5.What did the man say to him? Did he take the man’s works seriously at first?
The man said that he was a policeman and was going to arrest him. But the author didn’t take the man’s words seriously but thought it was some kind of joke at first
6.When and how did the author come to see the man was being serious?
At the time when another policeman appeared in uniform, the author came to see the man was serious
7.What grounds did the policemen have for suspecting that the young man was wandering
with intent to steal milk bottles?
First ,the policemen saw the young man wandering aimlessly in the streets sometimes just stopping and looking around him. Then, it turned out there had been a lot of petty thieves in the area who stole milk bottles from doorsteps. On these grounds ,the policemen suspected that the young man was wandering with intent to steal milk bottles
8.What does the author mean by his “big mistake”?
By his “big mistake ”, the author means he shouldn’t have had long hair and appeared so cool and unconcerned about the incident ,and shouldn’t take himself as part of the sixties’“youth counterculture”,because all these confirmed the policemen’s suspicion that he was a
disrespectable fellow
9.How did he behave when he was questioned at the police station?W hat did the police
decide to do with him?
When he was questioned ,he continued to try to look worldly and au fait with the situation.
As a result , the police charged him officially and told him to report to Richmond Magistrates’Court the follow Monday
10.What did his father do when he learned about the incident?
As soon as his father learned about the incident ,he hired a good solicitor
11.What were the things his release from the charge depended on?
The things his release from the charge depended on were his “right” accent, respectable middle-class parents, reliable witnesses, such as, his English teacher as his character witness, and a very good solicitor in particular.
12.What did the policeman probably mean by saying” You could have been a bit more helpful
when we arrested you”?
By saying these words, the policeman probably meant that he should have looked very angry and said something like,”Lookhere,do you know who you’re talking to? Iam a highly
