レベル分けについて

LEVEL 1

The policeman walked on the large street. He usually looked powerful. It was almost 10 o’clock at night, but there were few people on the streets. The wind was cold and felt like rain.

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LEVEL 2

He checked the doors while walking. Sometimes, he turned to look up and down the quiet street. Because he was big and strong, he looked like a good guardian of peace.

Stores closed early in this area. Sometimes, you could see lights from a cigar store or a lunch place that was open 24 hours. But most of the doors were closed a long time ago.

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LEVEL 3

In the middle of the block, the policeman suddenly slowed his walk. A man stood in the doorway of a dark hardware store. He had an unlighted cigar in his mouth.

As the policeman walked up to him the man spoke up quickly. "It's all right, officer," he said in a calming voice. "I'm just waiting for a friend. We made this appointment 20 years ago. Sounds a little funny to you, doesn't it? Well, I'll explain if you'd like to make certain it's all straight. About that long ago there used to be a restaurant where this store stands. It was called 'Big Joe'"

"Yeah, but that restaurant was torn down five years ago." said the policeman.

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LEVEL 4

The man in the doorway struck a match and lit his cigar. The light showed his face. He had a square jaw, sharp eyes, and a little white scar near his right eyebrow. He had a big diamond on his scarf in a strange way.

"Twenty years ago tonight," said the man, "I ate dinner here at 'Big Joe' with Jimmy Wells. He and I were raised here in New York, just like two brothers, together. One morning I was going to go to the West to get rich. Nothing could make Jimmy leave New York. He thought it was the only place on earth. Well, we agreed that night that we would meet here again exactly twenty years from that date and time, no matter what our conditions might be or from what distance we might have to come."

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LEVEL 5

"It sounds pretty interesting," said the policeman. "It seems like a long time since you last met. Have you heard from your friend after you went away?"

"Well, yes, for a time we corresponded," said the other. "But after a year or two we lost track of each other. You see, the West is a very large area, and I was very busy traveling around it. But I know Jimmy will meet me here if he's alive, for he was always the most honest and reliable friend. He'll never forget. I came a thousand miles to stand in this door tonight, and it's worth it if my old partner turns up."

The waiting man pulled out a beautiful watch, the lids of it set with small diamonds. “Three minutes to ten," he announced. "It was exactly ten o'clock when we parted here at the restaurant door."

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LEVEL 6

"Did pretty well out West, didn't you?" asked the policeman.

"You bet! I hope Jimmy has been just as successful. He was a bit of a plodder, but a good fellow. I've had to compete with some of the smartest people to make my fortune. A man gets in a groove in New York. It's the West that really toughens a man up."

The policeman twirled his club and took a step or two. "I'll be on my way. Hope your friend comes around all right. Are you going to be strict about the meeting time with him?"

"I should say not!" said the other. "I'll give him half an hour at least. If Jimmy is alive on earth he'll be here by that time. So long, officer."

"Good night, sir," said the policeman, passing on along his beat, checking doors as he went.

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LEVEL 7

There was now a fine, cold rain falling, and the wind had picked up from occasional gusts to a constant breeze. The few people walking in the area hurried gloomily and quietly, with their coat collars turned up and their hands in their pockets.

And in the door of the hardware store the man who had come a thousand miles to fill an appointment, almost absurdly uncertain.

After about twenty minutes he waited, and then a tall man in a long overcoat, with collar turned up to his ears, hurried across from the opposite side of the street. He went directly to the waiting man.

"Is that you, Bob?" he asked, doubtfully.
"Is that you, Jimmy Wells?" cried the man at the door.

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LEVEL 8

"Bless my heart!" exclaimed the new arrival, grasping both the other's hands with his own. "It's Bob, sure as fate. I was certain I'd find you here if you were still in existence. Well, well, well! Twenty years is a long time. The old gone, Bob, I wish it had lasted, so we could have had another dinner there. How has the West treated you, old man?"

"Excellent, it has given me everything I asked it for. You've changed a lot, Jimmy. I never thought you were so tall by two or three inches."

"Oh, I grew a bit after I was twenty."

"Doing well in New York, Jimmy?"

"Moderately. I have a position in one of the city departments. Come on, Bob. we'll go around to a place I know of, and have a good long talk about old times."

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LEVEL 9

The two men started up the street, arm in arm. A successful man from the West started to talk about his life story. The other man, wrapped up in his coat, listened with interest.

At the corner stood a drug store, brilliant with electric lights. When they came into this glare each of them turned simultaneously to gaze upon the other's face. The man from the West stopped suddenly and released his arm.

"You're not Jimmy Wells," he snapped. "Twenty years can change a man, but not enough to change the shape of your nose."

"It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one, 'Silky' Bob," he said sarcastically. “You've been under arrest for ten minutes. The Chicago police from the West have been looking for you for a long time."

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LEVEL 10

The tall man continued, looking at the man who stood there, dumbfounded. “Going quietly, are you? That's sensible. Now, before we go on to the station here's a note I was asked to hand you. You may read it here at the window. It's from Patrolman Wells who was talking to you earlier."

The man from the West unfolded the little piece of paper handed him. His hand was steady when he began to read, but it trembled a little by the time he had finished. The note was rather short.

"Bob, I was at the appointed place on time. When you struck the match to light your cigar, I recognized your face as that of 'Silky' Bob, the man wanted by Chicago police. Somehow I couldn't bring myself to arrest you personally, so I went and got a plain clothes man to do the job.
JIMMY."

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