|
阅读理解
Hill Thomas, mayor of the town of Stool, Wisconsin, had a neighbor the Frosts．They were on very good terms．
One weekend the Forests went to Illinois on holiday, before which Mr Forest had e-mailed to Hill telling him that it would be a week before they came back and asking him to look after his house．
On the fifth night after the Forests went vacationing, it snowed heavily in and around Stool until 5 the next morning and the small town turned world of snow overnight．
The next morning, Hill and his got up early to clear up the snow around his house, because every inhabitant shall clear snow 4 meters around before 9 a.m., according to the local law; otherwise, they would be punished．
Hill went to work after clearing the snow around his house, but that round the Forests’ remained as it was．Hill didn’t realize it until halfway, but it was too late：an official of the community had taken photos of it and sent them to the town court．
The moment the Forests got back to the town, a summons(传票)from the court came to them．Mr Forest didn’t think he should bear this “legal responsibility”．He put Hill to court, accusing him of “nonfeasance(不作为)”．
“Before I and my family went on holiday, I had asked Hill to look after my house and he agreed, which can be proved by his reply email saved in my computer．So when the sudden snow struck, he had the duty to clear the snow－of course, we wouldn’t have had him doing it free．But why didn’t Hill do anything?”
The court made a judgment in favor of the Forests：Hill shall pay a fine of ＄1000 and work for the community for 72 hours．The mayor accepted the court decision with a bitter smile, saying nothing for himself．
| 