cat’s niece & bee’s whiskey

DIFFICULTY: A CHALLENGE OF SORTS

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intro … A young New York journalist named Adam has discovered that a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Not knowing what crime he has committed, he decides to find out. Based on what he discovers, he’s either going to turn himself in, fight the warrant or go on the lam.

issue a warrant … vydat zatyka?
commit a crime … spáchat zlo?in
turn sb in … udat n?koho
on the lam … na út?ku p?ed policií
crack down on st … došlápnout si na, zato?it s
prove one’s worth … dokázat že za n?co stojí / má smysl
round up … shromáždit
fine … pokuta
dragnet … zátah (policejní)

In the end it turns out that NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani’s policies of cracking down on crime have been so successful that the NYC cops have a hard time finding new criminals. To prove their worth, they have begun rounding up people who have failed to pay fines or broken silly laws. Adam seems to have got caught up in the dragnet.

the pink slip

I am what you might call a yuppie so I’ve never given much thought to what it felt _____ to be on the other side of the law. So when the police finally found me, I thought there must be some mistake. Imagine how _____ I felt when I discovered what my crime was. One Saturday night, back in March, I walked out of my apartment after a barbecue, a can of beer in hand.

ban st … oficiáln? zakázat
can of beer … plechovka piva
be embarrassed … cítit se trapn?
horn … zde: zvonek na kole
HQ … centrála, sídlo, úst?edí
I haven’t given much thought to it … zatím jsem nad tím moc nep?emýšlel
in court … u soudu
lately … poslední dobou
list … seznam
on the spot … na míst? (ihned)
owe … dlužit
be/get pulled over … být zastaven policií p?i jízd? autem
run a red light … projet na ?ervenou
show up out of nowhere … objevit se zni?eho nic
spit out … vyplivnout
stick the pink slip in… … str?it ten r?žový úst?ižek do…
that is, … … tedy (oprava p?edchozího tvrzení)
ticket … zde: pokuta
tow away … odtáhnout
twenty-something … ve v?ku lehce po dvacítce
violate a law … porušit zákon
yuppie … mladý úsp?šný obchodn? zam??ený ?lov?k

A twenty-something police officer _____ up out of nowhere and wrote me a ticket. He told me I was violating New York City’s laws banning the public consumption of alcoholic drinks. Yeah, I probably should _____ paid it on the spot. But _____ I stuck the pink slip in my back pocket—and forgot _____ it. Until a month or so ago, that is, when some computer at police HQ spat out a list of Wanted Criminals. My name was on it.

At _____ I had good company. Lots of my friends have had similar problems lately. One tried to fight a $20 parking ticket. _____ the time she got to court, her car had been towed away. Now she owes $400. Another friend was pulled over for running a red light on his bicycle. He was _____ a ticket for not having a horn or a bell.

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