‘Hi Sarah. I wanted to tell you about something that happened to me two days ago.’
‘What happened?’
‘Well, I was walking down the street when a beggar stopped me and asked me to give him some spare change.’
‘And what did you do?’
‘I didn’t really know what to do. I mean, I didn’t want to be rude, but at the same time, I didn’t want to give him any money.’
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t know. I guess I was just worried that he would use it to buy some alcohol.’
‘I see. But maybe he really needed it to buy some food.’
‘I know. That’s the reason why I feel bad about it now. But at that moment I just didn’t know what to do.’
‘Well, maybe next time you could try to offer him something else, like some food or water.’
‘That’s a good idea. I didn’t think of that.’
‘Yeah, but on the other hand, there are also some bad people. Sometimes, these homeless people behave aggressively. Especially when they are drunk or on drugs.’
‘You’re right. But this one looked OK.’
‘I’m just saying that you never know with these people. You should always be careful.’
‘That’s exactly what I think. Well, next time I will offer to buy some food for them and I will see what happens.’
‘Exactly. Just don’t worry about it too much.’
beggar /ˈbeɡə(r)/ – žobrák
spare change /speə(r) tʃeɪndʒ/ – nepotrebné drobné peniaze
rude /ruːd/ – hrubý, neslušný
on the other hand – na druhej strane
behave /bɪˈheɪv/ – správať sa
Sparrow's English Reader 