Story：A cloak of invisibility
【明報專訊】Sam, an honest security guard on a large private estate, always harboured unrealistic ambitions. For example, he once dreamt of being a billionaire and marrying the most beautiful woman in the world. One night, a tropical storm ravaged the city where he lived and a thunderstorm roared with the force of a thousand lions. That also brought in something mysterious — a UFO!
The UFO plunged into the river near the private estate. Sam was curious and went near it. A creature looking like an alien came out of the spaceship. It looked fragile. Sam noticed that it wore an attractive cloak. Out of greed, he took the cloak off the alien and then left. Another night he was idle and went to the toilet. Putting on the cloak, he was amazed by what he saw in the mirror — he saw nothing!
It's a cloak of invisibility!
Knowing that, a vicious idea was bred in his mind. He sneaked into the wealthy's apartments and waited until night. He then stole a lot of jewellery, antiques and other luxury goods. Having made a fortune, he wasn't satisfied. The rich people on the private estate weren't yet aware of the string of burglaries. Sam assuaged his conscience by telling himself that he would donate a large sum of money to the charity once he thought he had ''earned'' enough.
By doing that repeatedly, he became the richest person in town!
Unsurprisingly he was imprisoned for what he had done.
Adapted from Plato's Republic
By Ian Lam
■ Gear up
(Answers on next text)
Answer the following questions after reading the above story.
(1)Which of the following statements is correct?
A. Sam is a dishonest person right from the beginning.
B. The cloak of invisibility does not help Sam do the burglary.
C. Sam once feels guilty about his acts.
(2) Which of the following phrases best matches the meaning of ''unrealistic ambitions''?
A. easy tasks
B. goals unlikely to achieve
C. fake objects
(3)Find a word in the story which could be replaced by the following: badly damaged
__________
■ Food for thought
From time immemorial, humans have longed for success that comes with little effort. Do you think humans turn greedy once they have the chance?
■Glossary
harbour (v) 心懷
plunge (v) 墜下
fragile (adj) 虛弱的
assuage (v) 減輕
[Smarties' Power English 第324期]
