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--- lesson 40 Who's who |
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--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below. |
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--- How did the policeman discover that the whole thing was a joke? |
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It has never been explained why university students seem to enjoy practical jokes more than anyone else. |
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Students specialize in a particular type of practical joke: the hoax. |
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Inviting the fire brigade to put out a nonexistent fire is a crude form of deception which no self-respecting student would ever indulge in. |
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Students often create amusing situations which are funny to everyone except the victims. |
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When a student recently saw two workmen using a pneumatic drill outside his university, |
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he immediately telephoned the police and informed them that two students dressed up as workmen were tearing up the road with a pneumatic drill. |
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As soon as he had hung up, he went over to the workmen and told them that if a policeman ordered them to go away, they were not to take him seriously. |
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He added that a student had dressed up as a policeman and was playing all sorts of silly jokes on people. |
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Both the police and the workmen were grateful to the student for this piece of advance information. |
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The student hid in an archway nearby where he could watch and hear everything that went on. |
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Sure enough, a policeman arrived on the scene and politely asked the workmen to go away. |
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When he received a very rude reply from one of the workmen, |
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He threatened to remove them by force. |
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The workmen told him to do as he pleased and the policeman telephoned for help. |
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Shortly afterwards, four more policemen arrived and remonstrated with the workmen. |
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As the men refused to stop working, the police attempted to seize the pneumatic drill. |
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The workmen struggled fiercely and one of them lost his temper. |
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He threatened to call the police. |
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At this, the police pointed out ironically that this would hardly be necessary as the men were already under arrest. |
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Pretending to speak seriously, one of the workmen asked if he might make a telephone call before being taken to the station. |
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Permission was granted and a policeman accompanied him to a pay phone. |
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Only when he saw that the man was actually telephoning the police did he realize that they had all been the victims of a hoax. |
