The expensive shops in a famous arcade (有拱廊的街道) near Piccadilly were just opening. At this time of the morning, the arcade was almost empty. Mr. Taylor, the owner of a jewellery shop was admiring a new window display. Two of his assistants had been working busily since 8 o"clock and had only just finished. Diamond necklaces and rings had been beautifully arranged on a background of black velvet (丝绒). After gazing at the display for several minutes, Mr. Taylor went back into his shop.
The silence was suddenly broken when a large car, with its headlights on and its horn blaring (喇叭响声), roared down the arcade. It came to stop outside the jeweller"s. One man stayed at the wheel, two others with black stockings over their faces jumped out and smashed the window of the shop with iron bars. While this was going on, Mr. Taylor was upstairs. He and his staff began throwing furniture out of the window. Chairs and tables went flying into the arcade. One of the thieves was struck by a heavy statue, but he was too busy helping himself to diamonds to notice any pain. The raid (袭击) was all over in three minutes, for the men scram-bled back into the car and it moved off at an unbelievable speed. Just as it was leaving, Mr. Taylor rushed out and ran after it throwing ashtrays (烟灰缸) and vases, but it was impossible to stop the thieves. They had got away with thousands of pounds worth of diamonds. How many thieves are there in the robbery