Thu, Jul 17, 2008 page15

• Japanese woman serves tea to escape from a robber 日女子奉茶逃脫搶匪

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  A Japanese woman brewed up an unusual escape plan to free herself and her six-month-old daughter from a suspected armed robber: a cup of tea and a chat.

  A man who appeared to be in his 60s allegedly pulled a knife and demanded money from a 30-year-old housewife as she was walking in a hallway at a downtown Tokyo apartment building last week, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police official said.

  The woman told her assailant that she had no money, but he followed her and forced his way into her apartment, police said.

  But rather than screaming, the woman served the man a cup of tea in hopes of calming him down.

  Police said her move seemed to work.

  The man put his knife away and began telling the woman about his financial hardship and asked her to lend him ¥10,000 (NT$2,800), police said.

  Police said the woman put a ¥10,000 bill and a wallet containing about ¥30,000 (NT$8,400) on the table. When the man was looking the other way, she grabbed her daughter and ran out the door to call police from a nearby public phone.

  When she returned with the police to her apartment, the man and the money were gone, police said.

  Police said the woman told investigators that she couldn’t believe how she could act so calmly and bravely.

  But police aren’t recommending the tea defense for everyone.

  “I think she was very lucky,” the official said. “The suspect might have eased up because of the baby’s presence. I don’t think serving tea always works with robbers.”

  Police are still looking for the man. (AP)

  日本一名婦女想出一個特別的逃脫計畫，讓自己和六個月大的女兒逃出一名持械嫌犯手中，這個計畫是：一杯茶和一段閒聊。

  東京警視廳一名員警表示，據說上週在東京市中心一棟住宅大廈內，一位三十歲的家庭主婦在樓梯間遇到一名年約六十歲的男子亮刀行搶。

  警方表示，這位婦女告訴歹徒說她沒有錢，但他還是強行隨她進入屋內。

  婦人沒有高聲呼救，反而替歹徒泡了一杯茶，想緩和他的情緒。

  警方說，此舉似乎奏效。

  警方表示，歹徒放下刀，開始向婦人訴說自己經濟上的困難，並要求婦人借他一萬日圓（新台幣兩千八百元）。

  警方說，婦人把一張一萬日圓的鈔票和裝有三萬日圓（新台幣八千四百元）的錢包放在桌上，趁著歹徒視線轉移時，一把抱住女兒、奪門而出，跑到附近一個公共電話打電話報警。

  警方表示，當她隨同警方回到公寓時，歹徒已經帶著錢逃跑了。

  警方說，這名婦人向偵辦員警表示，連她自己都不敢相信她會表現地那麼鎮定和勇敢。

  但警方並不建議民眾用奉茶這招來對付歹徒。

  員警表示：「我認為她非常幸運，嫌犯可能是因為有嬰孩在場才沒有設防，我不認為請喝茶對每個搶匪都奏效。」

  警方仍在搜捕這名男子。

  （美聯社�翻譯：袁星塵）

  For your information

  TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

  1. brew v.i./v.t. 泡煮 (pao4 zhu3)，策劃 (ce4 hua4)，釀造 (niang4 zao4) 例: We brewed a tub of beer in our garage. (我們在自家的車庫裡釀了一桶啤酒。) 2. allegedly adv. 據稱 (ju4 cheng1) 例: Sampson allegedly stole Rhonda's brush. (據說是珊普森偷了朗達的刷子。) 3. assailant n. 攻擊者 (gong1 ji2 zhe3) 例: "I saw the assailant run through the park," the woman said. (那個女人說：「我看到那個攻擊的歹徒逃到公園另一頭。」) 4. hardship n. 艱苦 (jian1 ku3) 例: High insurance costs have brought hardship onto many people. (高保費讓�?H生活困頓。)

  For your information

  READING COMPREHENSION 閱讀測驗

  1. The woman... a. just served the man tea. b. served the man tea and talked to him. c. served the man tea and tried to take his knife. 2. The suspect... a. was invited into the woman’s apartment. b. brought some tea with him. c. barged into the woman’s apartment. 3. The woman told police that she acted... a. bravely. b. stupidly. c. rashly. 4. According to police, serving tea... a. is a strategy other victims should try. b. might not work against other robbers. c. was the reason the woman didn’t get hurt.

  For your information

  SAY WHAT? 說說看

  ease up 鬆懈 The phrase ease up means to reduce pressure on something. For example: “Billy kept shooting paintballs at Rich and didn’t ease up until Rich dropped his gun and put his hands up.” A synonym of ease up is ease off. For example: “We all know that Holly made a mistake. You should ease off of her a bit. After all, she said nothing when you dropped the ball last week and cost us the game.” 「ease up」這個片語的意思是減輕某物的壓力，例如：「比利一直朝著瑞奇射漆彈，直到瑞奇棄槍舉手投降才收手」。 「ease off」是「ease up」的同義詞，例如：「我們都知道荷麗犯了錯，但你就別苛責她了，畢竟你上週漏接那球害我們輸掉比賽時，她也沒說你一句」。

  For your information

  OUT LOUD 對話練習

  Clarence: Why don’t you want to eat the hot dog? Marisa: Hot dogs aren’t my cup of tea. Clarence: You’re so picky. Marisa: No, I’m not. I just don’t eat gross processed meat. Clarence: They’re not bad, as long as you don’t think about what’s in them. 克萊倫斯：妳為什麼不想吃那根熱狗？ 瑪瑞莎：我向來不愛吃熱狗。 克萊倫斯：妳太挑剔了。 瑪瑞莎：我才不挑呢，我只是不吃噁心的加工肉品。 克萊倫斯：只要妳不去想它們是什麼做的，其實味道還不賴。 not somebody’s cup of tea　非某人所愛 If something isn’t somebody’s cup of tea, he or she doesn’t like it or would prefer something else. The phrase can also be used in the affirmative. For example: “I don’t like bananas or apples. Strawberries dipped in chocolate are my cup of tea.” 如果某個東西「isn’t somebody’s cup of tea」，表示他或她不喜歡這個東西或偏好其他選擇，這個片語也可以用在肯定說法，例如：「我不喜歡香蕉和蘋果，但我偏愛沾巧克力醬的草莓」。
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