The shoplifter
Mark Diamond was a thief. He had been to prison several times. Last time he was sentenced to ten months in prison for shoplifting when he tried to steal a silver necklace for his girlfriend Jane.
On the day he left prison, first he had a good meal in a cafe, then went to the cinema. He enjoyed being free again. He took a long walk in town looking at the windows. He had a few dollars and wanted to buy a present for his girlfriend Jane. He saw a pretty silk dress in one window but he didn’t like colour, he saw a green cotton blouse in another shop window but he didn’t like the cut of the blouse.
He looked at a fur coat in another shop but it was too expensive. Then he saw a nice leather bag and first he thought that Jane would also like it. He was just going to buy it but he changed his mind and thought it would make a poor present.
Then he went into a jeweller’s shop. There he saw a nice gold bracelet on the counter. He always wanted a present like that. He had a quick look around and saw nobody was watching him. The assistant was showing a diamond engagement ring to a customer. The next minute the gold bracelet was in Mark’s pocket and he started for the door.
At that moment, he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Young man”, said the owner of the shop, “I saw you steal a bracelet. I’ll have to call the police”. Mark went pale. “Oh, no. Don’t do that. I’ll pay for the bracelet. Yes, I’ll pay for it”.
The owner of the shop took a look at the gold bracelet and said, “All right. It’ll be £600”.
“Well”, said Mark, “Couldn’t you show me anything cheaper? I really don’t want to spend that much”.
Choose the best answer:
Mark Diamond was
an honest man
a crook (ошуканець, шахрай)
a hard-working man
He had spent a few months in prison because
he had wanted to buy a present for his girlfriend
he had been caught shoplifting
he had no money to buy a silver necklace
When he left prison
he felt very happy
he decided to steal again
he forgot about his girlfriend
At a jeweller’s
he was shown a diamond ring
he saw a nice ring
he saw a gold bracelet on the counter
Nobody was looking at him, so
he left the shop
he decided to steal a bracelet
he asked the assistant to show him a bracelet
As Joe was afraid of being arrested
he ran out of the shop
he offered to pay the price of the bracelet
he asked the jeweller to take a look at the bracelet
When Joe heard how much the bracelet cost
he asked for some less expensive
he went pale
he promised to pay £600.
Translate this text into Ukrainian.
Write a list of measures that a store-owner should take to prevent shoplifting.
Shoplifting
In many of Britain’s larger stores, customers are intended to serve themselves. The open shelves and attractive goods mean that people sometimes tiy to shoplift. This is a major problem. To stop this, many shops have security cameras, electronic stock control and store detectives.
In some shops there may be notices like this:
Shoplifters will be prosecuted.
And people who shoplift and are caught are usually taken to court. When the person is a foreign visitor with a lot of money, there is usually a lot of bad publicity. Theft in the high street is a major problem, which makes goods more expensive. Shop owners tiy their best to stop shoplifting but it seems more goods are taken by people who work in the shops than by shoplifters.
Work in pairs. Imagine you are a store-detective. Tell a journalist about the problem of shoplifting in your department-store. Use the following words and expressions:
I’m rather worried about...
I’ve got a lot of problems.
That’s too bad.
To my mind ...
I think,...