UNIT 17

　　TEXT

　　In this article the author describes what happened to her one night and what happened to her one night and her feelings about it.

　　There's Only Luck

　　My mind went numb when I saw the gun pointing against the car window as we pulled out of the garage: This can't be happening to me. Then I felt the gun, cold, against my head, and I heard my friend Jeremy saying, "What do you want? Take my wallet," but at the time I thought of nothing.

　　I remember being vaguely annoyed when the gunman pulled me from the car by the hair. I remember the walk to the house - Jeremy, me, the two men with two guns. I remember the fear and anger in the gunmen's voices because Jeremy was being slow, and I remember wondering why he waas being slow. I did not realize that Jeremy had thrown the keys into the shrubbery. But I remember that sound of the gun hitting Jeremy's head and the feeling as the man who had hold of my hair released me. And I remember the split second when I realized he was looking at Jeremy, and I remember wondering how far I could run before he pulled the trigger. But I was already running, and upon reaching the car across the street, I didn't crouch behind it but screamed instead.

　　I remember thinking there was something absurdly melodramatic about screaming "Help, help!" at eight o'clock on a Tuesday evening in December and changing my plea to the more specific "Help, let me in, please let me in!" But the houses were cold, closed, unfriendly, and I ran on until I heard Jeremy's screams behind me announcing that our attackers had fled.

　　The neighbors who had not opened their doors to us came out with baseball bats and helped Jeremy find his glasses and keys. In a group they were very brave. We waited for the cops to come until someone said to someone else that the noodles were getting cold, and I said politely, "Please go and eat. We're O.K."
　　I was happy to see them go. They had been talking of stiffer sentences for criminals, of bringing back the death penalty and how the President is going to clean up the country. I was thinking, they could be saying all of this over my dead body, and I still feel that stiffer sentences wouldn't change a thing. In a rush all the rage I should have felt for my attackers was directed against these contented people standing in front of their warm, cozy homes talking about all the guns they were going to buy. What good would guns have been to Jeremy and me?

　　People all over the neighborhood had called to report our screams, and the police turned out in force twenty minutes later. They were ill-tempered about what was, to them, much ado about nothing. After all, Jeremy was hardly hurt, and we were hopeless when it came to identification. "Typical," said one cop when we couldn't even agree on how tall the men were. Both of us were able to describe the guns in horrifying detail, but the two policemen who stayed to make the report didn't think that would be much help.

　　The cops were matter-of-fact about the whole thing. The thin one said, "That was a stupid thing to do, throwing away the keys. When a man has a gun against your head you do what you're told." Jeremy looked properly sheepish.

　　Then the fat cop same up and the thin one went to look around the outside of the house. "That was the best thing you could have done, throwing away the keys," he said. "If you had gone into the house with them…" His voice trailed off. "They would have hurt her" - he jerked his head toward me - "and killed you both." Jeremy looked happier. "Look," said the fat cop kindly, "there's no right of wrong in the situation. There's just luck."

　　All that sleepless night I replayed the moment those black gloves came up to the car window. How long did the whole thing last? Three minutes, five, eight? No matter how many hours of my life I may spend reliving it, I know there is no way to prepare for the next time - no intelligent response to a gun. The fat cop was right: There's only luck. The next time I might end up dead.

　　And I'm sure there will be a next time. It can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone. Security is an illusion; there is no safety in locks or in guns. Guns make some people feel safe and some people feel strong, but they're fooling themselves.

　　NEW WORDS

　　numb
　　n.　having lost the power of feeling or moving 失去感覺的，麻木的
　　garage
　　n.　building in which a car is kept 汽車庫
　　wallet
　　n.　leather pocket-case for paper money, cards, etc. 皮夾
　　vaguely
　　ad. not clearly 模糊地
　　vague
　　a.
　　annoy
　　vt. make rather angry 使惱怒
　　gunman
　　n.　a man armed with a gun, esp. a criminal or terrorist 持槍歹徒
　　shrubbery
　　n.　low bushes forming a mass or group 灌木叢
　　release
　　vt. set free 松開；釋放
　　split
　　vt. divide into parts 劈開
　　split second
　　very brief moment of time; instant 瞬間，一剎那
　　trigger
　　n.　扳機
　　crouch
　　vi. lower the body to the ground 蹲伏
　　absurdly
　　ad. foolishly; ridiculously 愚蠢地，荒唐可笑地
　　absurd
　　a.
　　melodramatic
　　a.　exciting in effect, often too much so to be thought real 感情夸張；鬧劇式的
　　plea
　　n.　asking for sth. with strong feelings 懇求
　　specific
　　a.　definite; not general 明確的；具體的
　　flee
　　v.　run away (from) 逃走；逃離
　　baseball
　　n.　棒球（運動）
　　bat
　　n.　球棒，球拍
　　cop
　　n.　(informal) policeman
　　noodle
　　n.　(usu. pl.) 面條

　　stiff
　　a.　severe 嚴厲
　　criminal
　　n.　someone who has broken the law 罪犯
　　penalty
　　n.　punishment 懲罰
　　rage
　　n.　great anger 狂怒
　　contented
　　a.　satisfied; happy 滿足的
　　cozy
　　a.　warm and comfortable 暖和舒適的
　　ill-tempered
　　a.　(often) angry or annoyed 脾氣壞的；易怒的
　　ado
　　n.　trouble and excitement 忙亂
　　hopeless
　　a.　giving no cause for hope; very bad or unskilled 沒有希望的；無能的
　　identification
　　n.　鑒別
　　identify
　　vt.
　　horrify
　　vt. frighten; shock very much 使恐怖；使震驚
　　detail
　　n.　small, particular fact 細節
　　matter-of-fact
　　a.　concerned with the facts; practical 注重事實的；講究實際的
　　sheepish
　　a.　foolish or embarrassed by awareness of a fault 局促不安的
　　trail
　　vi. grow gradually weaker, dimmer, etc.
　　jerk
　　vt. pull or lift suddenly 猛拉；猛抬
　　replay
　　vt. play (match, recording, etc.) over again 重放
　　glove
　　n.　手套
　　last
　　vi. go on
　　relive
　　vt. experience again, esp. in the imagination
　　intelligent
　　a.　clever; rational 聰明的；明智的

　　response
　　n.　action done in answer; answer 反應；回答
　　respond
　　vi.
　　security
　　n.　safety, freedom from danger or fear 安全，平安
　　secure
　　a.　
　　illusion
　　n.　false perception; (the seeing of) sth. that does not really exist 錯覺；幻覺

　　PHRASES & EXPRESSIONS

　　pull out (of)
　　move out (of) （車，船等）駛出
　　have (get, catch) hold of
　　抓住
　　bring back
　　restore, reintroduce 恢復
　　clean up
　　clean thoroughly and remove anything unwanted 徹底打掃；整肅
　　turn out
　　appear; come or go out to see or do sth. 出來，出動
　　in force
　　in large numbers 大批地，人數眾多地
　　much ado about nothing
　　a lot of unnecessary explaining, of excitement about things not serious or unimportant 無事生非；小題大作
　　come to
　　reach (a particular point) in explaining, etc. 談到（某一點）
　　agree on
　　have the same opinion on
　　in detail
　　giving a lot of facts 詳細地
　　trail off
　　(voice, etc.) become gradually weaker and fade into silence （聲音等）逐漸變弱
　　no way
　　不可能
　　prepare for
　　get ready for
　　and up 結束，告終

　　PROPER NAMES
　
　　Ruth Reichl
　　露絲.賴克爾
　　Jeremy
　　杰里米(男子名)

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