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18 The seaman remained silent.
19 “You are not to leave this ship until I have an analysis of this powder,” the inspector ordered. “Do you understand?”
20 The seaman nodded. The inspector left the cabin and went to the ship’s captain to explain the situation. He requested that the seaman be detained on the freighter pending a chemical test of the powder.
21 “It looks like heroin,” the inspector said. “If it is, we’ll have to take him into custody.”
22 “How long will it take to make this test?” the skipper asked. “We’re sailing tomorrow afternoon, and if this man is in trouble, I’ll have to take on another seaman.”
23 “We should know the results before you sail,” the inspector said. “I’ll be in touch with you.”
24 The sack of powder was sent to the Baltimore customs laboratory with an urgent request for a quick test, the results of which turned out to be negative: the white powder was not heroin.
25 When the inspector heard the results, he immediately called the chemist who had performed the test. “I just can’t believe that report you made on the powder I seized from the seaman,” he said. “If ever I saw a guilty man, this one is guilty. Would you mind running another test?”
26 “I’m sure the report was correct,” replied the chemist, “but if it will make you feel any better, I’ll run another test.”
27 “It certainly would,” said the inspector.
28 And so a second test was run, but again the results were negative. This second test not only proved that the white powder wasn’t heroin; it also proved the powder contained no narcotics of any kind.
29 “Well, if it isn’t heroin and it isn’t any other type of narcotic, what is it?” asked the inspector when he heard the results.
30 “I don’t know, but I’ve got a pretty good hunch,” answered the chemist. “I’ll run a third test and let you know.”
31 When the chemist completed his testing the next morning, he phoned the inspector. “Your man was carrying a sugar substitute called saccharine,” he said.
32 The inspector returned to the ship to have the seaman freed from detention and to question him further. “The powder wasn’t heroin,” he said, “It was saccharine. I’d like to know one thing. Why did you make such a big mystery of it?”
33 The seaman at last disclosed that he was a diabetic - a person whose system cannot properly absorb sugar - and that for months he had kept this fact from his shipmates and from the ship’s officers. He gave himself insulin shots secretly and used saccharine instead of sugar in his coffee. He had been fearful that if anyone aboard the ship learned he was a diabetic, he would be barred from going to sea - a fear that he was to learn was entirely groundless.
Questions&answers
How well did you read?
Do you remember why?
1. Customs officers searched the freighter because
| A someone had tipped them off |
| B the captain was a known smuggler |
| C neither A nor B |
2. The chemist ran a second test on the white powder because the
| A customs inspector asked him to |
| B results of the first test were inconclusive |
| C seaman didn’t believe the results |
3. The sailor didn’t want anyone to find out about the white powder because he feared he’d be
| A laughed at |
| B sent to jail |
| C barred from going to sea |
4. The customs inspector first assumed the seaman took narcotics when he saw
| A a bag of white powder |
| B a hypodermic needle |
| C neither A nor B |
How careful was your reading?
5. The customs inspector found the white powder
| A under a mattress |
| B on top of a table |
| C behind a locker |
6. The white powder turned out to be
| A insulin |
| B heroin |
| C saccharine |
7. The sailor was taking this powder because he was
| A a dope addict |
| B an alcoholic |
| C a diabetic |
What did the writer say?
8. When confronted with the hypodermic needle, the sailor
| A denied being a junkie |
| B broke down and confessed |
| C tried to jump overboard |
9. The customs inspector felt certain that the sailor was
| A guilty |
| B innocent |
| C insane |
How observant are you?
10. What did the seaman do that raised the inspector’s suspicion?
11. What are some body language signals that could give liars away?
| LO 3.8.2 |
| LO 3 |
| READING AND VIEWING The learner is able to read and view for information and enjoyment, and to respond critically to the aesthetic, cultural and emotional values in texts. |
| We know this when the learner: |
| 3.1 reads and responds critically to a variety of South African and international fiction and non-fiction (journals, poetry, novels, short plays, newspapers, textbooks, etc.): |
| 3.1.2 uses appropriate reading and comprehension strategies (skimming, and scanning, predictions, contextual clues, inferences, monitoring comprehension, etc.); |
| 3.8 understands and uses information texts appropriately: |
| 3.8.2 selects and records relevant information appropriately; |
| 3.9 interprets and analyses independently details in graphical texts (maps, line graphs, bar graphs and pie charts) and transfers information from one form to another. |
| LO 4 |
| WRITING The learner is able to write different kinds of factual and imaginative texts for a wide range of purposes. |
| We know this when the learner: |
| 4.1 writes different kinds of texts for different purposes and audiences: |
| 4.1.1 writes for personal, exploratory, playful, imaginative and creative purposes (e.g. journals, poems, myths, dialogues, argumentative essays); |
| 4.1.2 writes informational texts expressing ideas clearly and logically for different audiences (e.g. research report, letter to the newspaper, technical instructions); |
| 4.3 presents work with attention to neatness and enhanced presentation (e.g. cover, content page, layout, and appropriate illustrations or graphics); |
| 4.4 applies knowledge of language at various levels: |
| 4.4.1 word level; |
| 4.4.2 sentence level; |
Answers to W hite P owder?
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