双语趣听精彩世界 第82期:机场丢失的行李究竟去哪儿了?

 　　乘坐飞机旅行却丢了托运行李,这是最让人头疼的事情.通过机场工作人员的帮助,大多数情况下都能找回丢失的行李,但是也有找不到的时候.那么,那些丢失的行李最终去了哪里呢?英国每日邮报的一篇报道说,大多这样的行李最终的命运就是被拍卖.

　　机场丢失的行李究竟去哪儿了?

　　The Daily Mail: In an old warehouse¹ in Tooting, south London, an auction² is ongoing³. 200 people or more are buying piles of worn T-shirts, swimsuits and flip-flops in battered⁴ suitcases.

　　If you've ever wondered what happened to that forlorn suitcase you saw going round and round on the airport luggage carousel⁵, the chances are it came here.

　　Greasby's auction house sells around 200 suitcases a month from Heathrow Airport — bags that were never collected or got lost and couldn't be traced to their owner — and auctions⁶ them every two weeks.

　　Bags full of clothes go for a little as ?16, but there's a catch — you don't know what's inside. It's a lottery⁷. Which makes it very exciting.

　　But Christine Sachett, 62, who's been running these auctions for 40 years, says people should keep their expectations low. All electrical goods, jewellery, shoes and toiletries are removed and sold separately.

　　Figures show that 21.8 million bags — that's seven per 1,000 passengers — get 'mishandled' every year. That means they are delayed, damaged, lost or stolen. And three per cent of them are permanently⁸ lost — that's 654,000. It sounds an awful lot but apparently⁹ it's half the number it was in 2007.

1 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

2 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

5 carousel   

n.旋转式行李输送带

参考例句：

• Riding on a carousel makes you feel dizzy.乘旋转木马使你头晕。
• We looked like a bunch of awkward kids riding a slow-moving carousel.我们看起来就像一群骑在旋转木马上的笨拙的孩子。

6 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

7 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

8 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。