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A day in the life of a policeman (2)

by Alan Townend

Paul    May I ask what you are doing?
Man     Go away, you fool.
Paul    I'm a police officer.
Man     Good luck to you!
Paul    And here is my identification.
Man     Look, I'm afraid there's been a mistake.

Paul    You were about to break into this house.
Man     I can explain.
Paul    I'm going to arrest you ...
Man     No, listen. Let me explain.
Paul    ... and take you to the police station.
Man     We're ...
Paul    You are not obliged to say anything unless ...
Man     ... doing this ...
Paul    ... you wish to do so but ...
Man     ... because we have to.
Paul    ... what you do say will be written down ...
Man     We're trying to ...
Paul    ... and given in evidence against you.
Man     But we're not real burglars!
Paul    I'm not satisfied with your explanation.
Man     You haven't given me a chance to explain.
Paul    You were about to break into this house. I'm going to
        arrest
Man     Oh, for goodness' sake! Don't go through all
        that again. I'll come along with you and explain to
        someone at the police station.

Paul had a feeling that he'd seen the man somewhere before. Perhaps he was a well-known criminal! But at that moment the other two men appeared. When Paul saw that they came to speak to him so willingly, he began to think he had made a mistake. Imagine Paul's surprise when they explained that they were television actors and that the man Paul had arrested was a well-known television director. They were using the house to rehearse a scene for a new TV series. Paul didn't know what to say.

1st actor     Don't worry about it. You were only doing your job.
Paul          I really am terribly sorry.
Director      Nevermind. We were only rehearsing.
1st actor     Hey, what's that man doing over there?
2nd actor     He's nothing to do with our series!

Paul and the others ran towards a man who was trying to open a window in one of the houses. After a brief struggle they overpowered him. Paul telephoned the police station and five minutes later Sergeant Hawkins arrived in a police car. He congratulated Paul warmly on his first arrest.

Sgt. Hawkins   We'll make a policeman of you
               yet, Williams.
Paul           Thank you, sergeant.
Sgt. Hawkins   By the way, have you got a TV set?
Paul           Yes, sergeant. Why?
Sgt. Hawkins   Well, if you switch on at 8.30 tomorrow
               you can watch the weekly detective serial.
Paul           Why, sergeant?
Sgt. Hawkins   Oh, I just thought you might like to see
               these friends of yours again.
Paul           You recognized them?
Sgt. Hawkins   They don't call me Hawkeye for nothing,
               you know! But don't worry. I can keep a secret.
               I'll see that you get all the credit.

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A day in the life of a policeman

Alan Townend

Paul Williams is a policeman and he is very happy in his job. He thinks it's useful and interesting. He has been a policeman for ten years and now he's a sergeant, but he often thinks of his first two
Read more
force                           short for police force
closely                         with great attention
give up                         stop doing somethi
A.    Comprehension questions

 1.   How long has Paul Williams been a policeman?
 2.   Why did Paul think of giving up after nine months?
 3.   Why was Paul the last one to receive 
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