B. Short Article: Drunk Driver Doesn't Fear Train
Charles, a 29‐year‐old painter, tried to beat an 83‐car freight train across the railroad tracks yesterday and lost. Fortunately for Charles and his two friends, the train hit the bed of his pickup truck. The force of the impact separated the rear of the truck from the front. The rear end of the pickup flew about 200 feet west of the front end. The train was traveling at 50 miles an hour through an industrial district. It was fully loaded with appliances and new vehicles from the east coast. There were no mechanical arms or flashing lights at the railroad crossing—only a stop sign on either side of the two‐lane road.
The accident occurred at 4:30 p.m. on a sunny afternoon. Charles and his two co‐workers had stopped at a neighborhood liquor store at about 3:45. There they had bought a case of bottled beer that was on sale for $9.95. By the time they got to the railroad crossing, they were all feeling good. They saw the train coming, and they heard the horn blowing.
When the police arrived, all three friends were sitting on the ground under a shade tree about 50 feet from the front end of the truck. None of them were even scratched. The train and crew suffered no damage or injuries.
"I was going to stop," said Charles. "But Tommy told me that the train wasn't even close. He said that if he was driving, he could drive over the tracks, make a U‐turn, drive over the tracks again, and then drink a whole beer before the train arrived."
The engineer just shook his head.
"They think it's exciting, but it's just stupid," the engineer said. "These guys might be in jail for a little while. But I guarantee you, within a year they'll be out drinking and driving and racing trains again."
The police charged Charles with driving under the influence, running a stop sign, causing an accident, reckless endangerment, and littering—broken beer bottles were all over the place. They charged his two friends with drinking in a moving vehicle and littering.
A city official said there are no plans to install flashing lights and mechanical arms at the crossing, partly because not enough accidents occur there and partly because the city does not have sufficient funds to pay for such safety equipment.
C. American Idioms
1. (To) Hit the books
2. (To) Hit the sack
3. (To) Twist someone’s arm
4. (To be) Up in the air
5. (To) Stab someone in the back
6. (To) Lose your touch
7. (To) Sit tight
8. (To) Pitch in
9. (To) Go cold turkey
10. (To) Face the music
D. Bible Lesson: Mark 2:13-28
Jesus Calls Levi
13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
A Question About Fasting
18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”[c]
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
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