Michael Mellor got a four-month suspended jail sentence for his hobby yesterday. Mellor is a sales representative who drives 400 miles a week on the M25 London orbital motorway. His hobby? Mellor dresses as a police officer, and stops motorists who are driving badly. He gives them a lecture on driving well, then warns them to drive carefully in future.
Mellor got the idea while he was driving home after he had been to a funeral. He was driving his white Ford Sierra along the M25 and he was wearing a white shirt and a black tie. He suddenly noticed that cars were going more slowly when they saw him. Police patrols on the M25 use plain white Sierras, and the police officers always wear white shirts and black ties. Two weeks later, a car overtook him on the wrong side. It was going very fast. Mellor was angry, and flashed his lights. The other car pulled up. Mellor stopped too, and the other driver began apologising for what he had done. He called Mellor 'officer'.
Mellor bought a police cap, a fluorescent yellow jacket, like the ones used by the police. For eight months, Mellor patrolled the M25, and stopped dangerous drivers. At last, the real police saw him, and he was arrested. Mellor had to pay a £200 fine and lost his job. He said, “I am very sorry … I have no intention of doing it again.”
Glossary:
fake - фальшивый, ненастоящий
traffic cop - гаишник
suspended jail sentence - условное лишение свободы [sə'spend]
warn - предупреждать [wɔːn]
funeral - похороны ['fjuːnərəl]
plain - простой[pleɪn]
to overtake a car - обогнать машину
pull up - остановиться, притормозить
apologise - извиняться [ə'pɔləʤaɪz]
fluorescent - флуоресцентный [flɔː'resənt], [fluə- ]
to pay a fine - заплатить штраф
intention - намерение
Questions:
1. What make of car was he driving?
2. Why did motorists take him for a police officer?
3. What happened to him in the end?
4. Do you think the sentence he got is fair?
5. What hobby do YOU have?
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