When a thief was caught on the premises of a large jewellery store one morning, the shop assistants must have found it impossible to resist the temptation to say 'it serves him right'.

premises ^{n. [plural] the buildings and land that a shop, restaurant, company etc. uses 房屋建筑物，经营场所}

• There is a kitchen on the premises.  ^{营业场所内有一个厨房。}

on the premises ^{在经营场所的内部（店内）}

• There is always a manager on the premises.

off the premises ^{店外（经营场所以外）}

• The manager escorted him off the premises.

find it impossible to resist the temptation to do ... ^{忍不住做某事（文言）}

• He found it impossible to resist the temptation to eat the chocolate cake. ^{他发现无法抗拒吃巧克力蛋糕的诱惑。}

造句：When I saw that fascinating teddy bear, I found it impossible to resist the temptation to buy it. ^{当我看到那只迷人的玩具熊的时候，我忍不住买了下来。}

The shop was an old converted house with many large, disused fireplaces and tall, narrow chimneys.

disused ^{adj.废弃不用的}

• Many disused railway lines have become public footpaths.

Towards midday, a girl heard a muffled cry coming from behind one of the walls.

towards🇬🇧  / toward🇺🇸  ^{prep. near (a point in time） 临近（某一时间）}

• Toward the end of the afternoon it began to rain.
• Suddenly, one of the children kicked a ball very hard and it went towards a passing boat. ^{物理上的靠近}
• Towards evening, the boat struck a rock and the girl jumped into the sea.
• After having been wounded towards the end of the war, he had been sent to hospital and was separated from his unit.

muffle ^{v. to make a sound less loud and clear, especially by covering something}

• The falling snow muffled the sound of our footsteps.

muffled ^{adj. muffled sounds cannot be heard clearly, for example because they come from behind a door or wall}

• I could hear muffled voices in the next room.

副词和介词短语都可以作介词的宾语 §

• There is a fine view from here.
• I heard them calling me from below.
• They have just returned from abroad.
• I took my watch from under the pillow.
• He picked up the gun from behind the counter.
• I live near here.
• We didn't meet until after the show.
• The weather has been fine except in the north.

As the cry was repeated several times, she ran to tell the manager who promptly rang up the fire brigade.

As the cry was repeated several times, she ran to tell the manager and the manager promptly rang up the fire brigade. ^{使用定语从句更简洁（接续性分句）}

• John went to see his bank manager and the manager sent ... → John went to see his bank manager who sent ...
• ... and the usual copy of the letter and he proceeded to read it to the prisoner. → and the usual copy of the letter which he proceeded to read to the prisoner.

ring / call / phone sb. ↔ up ^{给某人打电话}

• She uses the office phone to ring up her friends in Sweden.
• John called him up to make sure of the date of the graduation ceremony.
• I'll phone the manager up tomorrow.
• I'll ring you up later to discuss the details.^{我稍后会给你打电话讨论细节。}

the fire brigade🇬🇧 / department🇺🇸  ^消防队

• fireman / firefighter / fire fighter

The cry had certainly come from one of the chimneys, but as there were so many of them, the fire fighters could not be certain which one it was.

be certain ^确信

• He had to be certain. There could be no room for doubt. ^{他必须确定无误。不能有任何的犹疑。}
• If you want to be certain of getting a ticket, book now. ^{要想有把握买到票，现在就得预订。}
• I was certain that everyone would see me as nothing more than "the short girl". ^{我敢肯定，大家只会把我看作“矮个子女孩”。}

They located the right chimney by tapping at the walls and listening for the man's cries.

locate ^{v. discover the exact position or place of sb. / sth.}

• We couldn't locate the source of the radio signal.
• Police are still trying to locate the suspect.

tap ^{v. to hit your fingers lightly on something, for example to get sb.'s attention}

• tap at / on ^轻拍
• Someone tapped at / on the door.
• A sound made by tapping on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea bottom, ... ^NCE4-7

listen (out) for sth. ^{wait alertly in order to hear （a sound） 留神等着听（某声音）}

• Please listen (out) for the phone while I'm in the bath.
• Can you listen (out) for the doorbell?

They knocked at the walls and listened to the man's cries, and then found the right chimney. ^{小学生用词（重点不突出、用词简单）}

• Someone called the fire brigade and two fire fighters used a special type of grease and then freed George. ^流水帐
• The fire brigade was called and two fire fighters freed George using a special type of grease.

After chipping through a wall which was eighteen inches thick, they found that a man had been trapped in the chimney.

chip  ^{v.打破，弄缺、凿下}

• It took a long time to chip a hole in the wall.
• Archaeologists were carefully chipping away at the rock.

trap ^{v. to prevent sb. from leaving a place, especially a dangerous place}

• Twenty miners were trapped underground.
• There's no way out! We're trapped!

be / get stuck ^被卡住了

• A crowd of people gathered round him and a lady rubbed his arm with soap and butter, but George was firmly stuck.
• The car wheels got stuck in the mud. ^{汽车轮子陷到泥里去了。}
• Unluckily, it got stuck under the fence. ^{不幸的是，它被卡在了篱笆下面。}

be cornered ^{被逼得走投无路}

• It immediately ran away when she saw it, and experts confirmed that a puma will not attack a human being unless it is cornered.
• A person who cornered could be the fiercest one. ^{一个人被逼到死角时是有可能成为最凶猛的人。}

be kept in ... ^被关在…

• As there are so many people about, the dogs have to be kept in a special enclosure.

be imprisoned ^{坐牢、入狱}

• A famous actor in a highly successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat who had been imprisoned in the Bastille for twenty years.

As it was extremely narrow, the man was unable to move, but the fire fighters were eventually able to free him by cutting a huge hole in the wall.

As it was extremely ... ^{因为极其的...}

• As it was extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter.

free ^{v.释放；使解脱出来}

• The fire-brigade was called and two fire fighters freed George using a special type of grease.

The sorry-looking, blackened figure that emerged, admitted at once that he had tried to break into the shop during the night but had got stuck in the chimney.

sorry ^{adj. feeling ashamed or unhappy about something bad you have done}

• She was genuinely sorry for what she had done.

sorry-looking ^看上去...

• a very modern-looking woman
• an interesting-looking carved dagger
• an ugly-looking black goat ^NCE3-48

blacken ^{v. to become black, or make something black}

• The thunder became louder and the sky blackened.

figure ^{n. someone with a particular type of appearance or character, especially when they are far away or difficult to see}

• In the torchlight, he caught sight of a figure whom he immediately recognized as Bill Wilkins, our local grocer.
• A farm worker, who stayed up all night, claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight.

break into sth. ^{to enter a building or car by using force, in order to steal sth.}

• Someone broke into my car and stole the radio.
• Her house was broken into last week.

break in  ^{to enter a building by using force, in order to steal sth.}

• If anyone tries to break in, the alarm will go off.

force an entry ^强行闯入

• It was as clear as daylight then that burglars had forced an entry during her absence.^NCE3-58

Justice had been done even before the man was handed over to the police.

hand sb. over to ... ^{give a prisoner to another group of people, especially the police or the people in authority in another country}

• The terrorists were taken to the airport, where they were handed over to the French authorities.