TEXT G First read the following questions. 83. Women in restaurants are advised to put their purses _____. A. under their arms B. under their coats C. on the floor between the legs D. on the wrists 84. Using the umbrella handle to hook the bag often occurs in _____. A. restaurants B. theatres C. New York City subways D. toilet stalls Now read Text G quickly and select your answers. Purse Snatching Purse snatching is an increasingly common crime. There are estimated 50 to 100 purse snatchings each month in the New York City subways, the number often swinging widely because of the depredations of a single teenager. When such a professional is in custody, the snatchings decrease by more than 50 a month. One of the favored techniques is to stand between two subway cars and, as the train starts pulling out of the station, reach out and pull a free womans purse. Recently, a crime analysis officer for the New York Police Department found that purse stealing in Manhattans top restaurants was up 35 percent over the previous year. When a woman puts her purse on a vacant chair at a table or at her feet beside her chair, she is inviting a purse snatcher to take it. purse snatchers often work in pairs. When a target in a restaurant is sighted, one of them will create some kind of disturbance to gain the victims attention. While the woman is looking away from her table, the actual snatcher will lift the purse. A popular technique is for the thief, man or woman, to carry an umbrella with the curved handle down. The umbrella handle suddenly hooks the bag and in an instant it is on the thiefs wrist, or under the coat over his arm if he is a man, and on its way out of the restaurant. Police advise that women in restaurants keep their purses either on their laps or on the floor between their legs. Other purse snatchers who operate in theaters are called "seat tippers", victimizing women who put their purses down on an adjacent empty seat. Yet others specialize in snatching purses from ladies rooms. When a woman is in a toilet stall, her purse should never be placed on the floor or hung on the coat hook on the door. Thieves simply dive under the door and grab the purse on the floor or stand on the toilet in the next stall and reach over and take the purse off the hook. The snatcher has ample time to escape since the victim cant immediately pursue the thief.
83. Women in restaurants are advised to put their purses _____.
A) under their arms
B) under their coats
C) on the floor between the legs
D) on the wrists
84. Using the umbrella handle to hook the bag often occurs in _____.
A) restaurants
B) theatres
C) New York City subways
D) toilet stalls