Her Leah Pires passport had proven quite reliable in the past two weeks. But the customs agent had seen the alert an hour earlier during a coffee break. He pushed an alarm button on his scanner while he slowly examined every word of the passport. The hesitation at first was annoying, then Leah realized something was wrong. The travelers at the other booths were breezing through, barely slowing long enough to open their passports and having the approvals nodded back at them. A supervisor in a navy jacket appeared from nowhere and huddled with the agent. "Could you step in here, Ms. Pires ? " he asked politely but with no room for discussion. He was pointing at a row of doors down the wide corridor.
"Is there a problem ? " she insisted.
"Not really. Just a few questions." He was waiting for her. A uniformed guard with Mace1 and a gun on his waist was waiting too. The supervisor was holding her passport. Dozens of passengers behind her were watching.
"Question about what ? " she demanded as she walked with the supervisor and the guard to the second door.
"Just a few questions," he repeated, opening the door and escorting her into a square room with no windows. A holding room. She noticed the name of Rivera on his lapel. He didn't look to be Hispanic.
"Give me the passport," she demanded as soon as they were alone and the door was closed.
"Not so fast, Ms Pires. I need to ask you a few questions."
"And I don't have to answer them".
"Please, relax. Have a seat. Can I get you some coffee or water ? "
"No."
"Is this a valid address in Rio ? "
"It certainly is".
"Where did you arrive from ? "
"Pensacola"2
"Your flight ? "
"Airlink 855."
"And your destination ? "
"Sao Paulo ? "
"Where in Sao Paulo ? "
"Maybe that's a private matter."
"Business or pleasure ? "
"Why does it matter ? "
"It matters. Your passport lists your home in Rio. So where will you be staying in Sao Paulo ? "
"A hotel."
"And the name of the hotel ? "
She hesitated as she struggled to grab the name of a hotel, and the little interval was deadly. "Uh, the - the - Inter-Continental," she finally said, without the slightest hint of truthfulness.
He wrote it down, then said. "And we can assume the room there is reserved in the name of Leah Pires ? "
" Of course," she said, snapping back nicely. But one quick phone call would prove she was lying.
"Where is your luggage ? " he asked.
Another crack in the facade, and this one even more revealing.
She hesitated, glanced away, and said : "I'm travelling light".
Someone knocked on the door. Rivera opened it slightly, took a sheet of paper, and whispered to this unseen colleague, Leah sat down and tried to relax. The door closed and Rivera studied this evidence.
"According to our records, you entered the country eight days ago, here in Miami, on a flight from London which originated in Zurich. Eight days and no luggage. Seems odd, doesn't it ?"
"Is it a crime to travel light ? " she asked.
"No, but it is a crime to use a false passport. At least here, in the US."
She looked at the passport lying on the table near him, and she knew it was as phony as could be. "It's not a false passport," she said indignantly.
"Do you know a person by the name of Eva Miranda ? " Rivera asked, and Leah couldn't keep here chin up. Her heart stopped and her face fell, and she knew the chase was over.
The Partner, John Grisham, (BCA Books, 1997)
1 Mace : a weapon with paralysing gas
2 Pensacola : a town in Florida

I - COMPREHENSION
I) 
1.	Where does the scene take place ? 

2.	What is happening to the main character and why ?

II) 
Read from line 1 down to line 10.
1.	Pick out four elements showing that the main character is going to be in trouble. 

Read from line 11 down to line 40.
2.	a) Pick out one sentence showing that the supervisor is trying to reassure the woman.

b) Read the supervisor's questions : comment on his tone. 

3.	a) (l. 49) "Another crack in the facade." What does this expression imply ?

b) (l. 52) The supervisor "whispered to his unseen colleague". Why did he whisper ?
III) 
1.	Find three lies the woman tells the supervisor during her interview with him. 

Read the text again from line 19 down to the end.
2.	a) Find four quotations showing that the woman tries to avoid answering the supervisor's questions.-
b) Find four quotations showing how embarrassed she is.
IV)
Translate from line 51 "Someone knocked at the door..." to line 56 "...doesn't it ? "

	

	

V)
Choose one of the following questions (250 words);
1. Can you imagine what may have happenened to the woman before this episode?
2. Have you ever lied? Explain what your lie consisted in , why you did not tell the truth and what the consequences were.