Today there are policemen everywhere , but in 1700 , London had
no policemen at all. A few old men used to protect the city streets at night
and they were not paid.
About 300 years ago, London was starting to get bigger and more
and more people began to live there. The city was very dirty and many
people were poor. There were so many thieves who stole money in the
streets that people stayed in their homes as much as possible.
In 1750, Henry Fielding started to pay a group people to stop
thieves. They were like policemen and were caIled " Bow Street
Runners" because they worke near Bow Street.
Fifty years later, there were 120 " Bow Street Run ners " , but
London had become very big and needed more policemen. So in 1829
, the first Metropolitan( or London )Police Force was started with 3,000
officers. Most of thmen worked on foot , but a few rode horses. Until
1920 all the police in London were men.
Today , London police are quite well paid and for the few police
officers who still ride horses, the pay is even better than that for the
others.
1. In 1700 , the men who protected the streets were paid .
A. a few
B. nothing
C. a little
D. a lot
2.About 300 years ago , many people ___ .
A. wanted to leave London
B. had big houses in London
C. became policemen
D. came to live in London
3.People didn't leave their houses because .
A. they had no money
B. they were afraid of losing money
C. the city was not clean
D. they liked homes
4.The " Bow. Street Runners "___.
A. stopped thieves stealing
B. stole money
C. paid people to steal
D. stopped people riding horses
5.Today, police officers who ride horses are paid .
A. the same as their workmates
B. more than their workmates
C. half as much as their workmates
D. less than their workmates
