捷豹跑车遗失46年 日思夜想终失而复得

 　　Forty-six years ago Ivan Schneider, successful Manhattan lawyer, bought himself the Jaguar¹ convertible² that would feature in a most unusual tale of unrequited love.

　　It was the first (and "prettiest") of many luxury cars he would own, his companion on fast drives — and the only one that was ever stolen.

　　Forty-six years later, a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol analyst³ running a routine export check through a stolen car database came up with a hit. The 1967 Jaguar XKE was hot.

　　The problem: It was already on a cargo⁴ ship, in a container, headed for Europe, two days out of the Port of Long Beach on the Pacific Ocean.

　　Investigators⁶ with the California Highway Patrol and nonprofit National Insurance Crime Bureau got to work.

　　New York police still had the March 1968 incident report.

　　CHP investigator⁵ Michael Maleta spoke⁷ with Schneider in Florida, where he now lives. Schneider thought it was a prank⁸.

　　"After we convinced him, he was excited," said Maleta.

　　After all, Schneider told the Associated Press on Wednesday, he would think of the car every time he bought a new one. And, he said, he is a car guy who has owned quite a few exotics.

　　For the months he owned it, he was in love.

　　"I've always said that was the prettiest," Schneider, now 82, said.

　　Tracing the car's history, Maleta learned the Southern California man exporting it to the Netherlands had bought it about three months ago from an owner in the San Joaquin Valley, who himself had it 40 years.

　　What happened between its disappearance⁹ from the concrete canyons¹⁰ of the Upper East Side and its California sojourn¹¹ – hopes his investigation¹² will answer that.

　　After its out-and-back sea journey to the Netherlands, the car is back in Southern California, more than two months after the law finally found it.

　　It's rusty¹³ and scratched, but still worth about $24,000 – and far more if restored, as Schneider plans to do.

　　He just won't push it too hard.

　　It's old, so is he, and though beautiful, it is known for trouble under the hood¹⁴.

　　"I'll use it as a Sunday car," Schneider said. "They were never reliable."

　　At least, one day soon, it will be back home.

　　【新闻快讯】

　　近日，美国纽约市曼哈顿区一位老汉找回其46年前丢失的捷豹跑车。

　　据悉，该老人名为伊万·施耐德(Ivan Schneider)，现年82岁。46年前，伊万是一名成功律师，他购买了一辆捷豹敞篷车，但不久后被偷。这是伊万众多奢侈汽车中的第一辆，也是唯一一辆被偷的汽车。纽约警方仍有1968年3月份关于该事件的调查报告。

　　46年后，一名美国海关和边境巡逻分析师在例行查看出口数据时偶然发现了这辆1967年丢失的捷豹XKE汽车。问题是这辆汽车已经在一辆前往欧洲的货船上了。加州公路巡警和非国家保险犯罪局的调查人员已前往调查。

　　CHP研究员迈克尔·马列塔(Michael Maleta)追踪汽车的历史发现，这辆车3个月前被一名荷兰人从加利福尼亚州圣华金河谷一人士那里购买，此人持有汽车40年之久。当迈克尔就汽车丢失事件询问伊万的住址时，伊万以为这是一个恶作剧。Maleta表示当他们联系上伊万以后，伊万很兴奋。他表示，自己是一个“汽车迷”，拥有非常多的跑车，但每当他购买一辆新车的时候，他都会想到这辆捷豹汽车。

　　这辆捷豹跑车目前已经生锈并且有了刮痕，但仍价值2.4万美元(约合人民币14.7万元)，伊万计划对这辆车进行恢复。不久后，这辆捷豹跑车将物归原主。

1 jaguar   

n.美洲虎

参考例句：

• He was green with envy when he saw my new Jaguar car.看见我那辆美洲虎牌新车，他非常妒忌。
• Should you meet a jaguar in the jungle,just turn slowly,walk away.But slowly,never look back.你在丛林中若碰上美洲虎，就慢慢转身走开，可一定要慢，切莫回头看。

2 convertible   

adj.可改变的，可交换，同意义的；n.有活动摺篷的汽车

参考例句：

• The convertible sofa means that the apartment can sleep four.有了这张折叠沙发，公寓里可以睡下4个人。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

5 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

9 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

10 canyons   

n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This mountain range has many high peaks and deep canyons. 这条山脉有许多高峰和深谷。 来自辞典例句
• Do you use canyons or do we preserve them all? 是使用峡谷呢还是全封闭保存？ 来自互联网

11 sojourn   

v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留

参考例句：

• It would be cruel to begrudge your sojourn among flowers and fields.如果嫉妒你逗留在鲜花与田野之间，那将是太不近人情的。
• I am already feeling better for my sojourn here.我在此逗留期间，觉得体力日渐恢复。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

14 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。