听播客学英语 278 Robbery

 　　Colin Dixon is the manager of a secure depot¹ where bank notes are stored for the Bank of England. On 21 February he was kidnapped by two men posing as police officers. His wife and eight year old son were also abducted³. The kidnappers⁴ then forced Mr Dixon to return to the depot and to let one of the kidnappers in. At gunpoint, the robber then forced a member of the staff at the depot to open the gates. The rest of the gang and several vehicles entered the depot. It took the robbers nearly an hour to load money into a white Renault truck, which they then drove away.

　　The police have said that the thieves stole ?53 million. This was therefore the largest ever cash robbery in Britain. Since the robbery, the police have found several of the vehicles used by the gang, including the white Renault truck. They have also found ?1.3 million in cash as well as guns and other equipment which they think the gang used. They have arrested several people and searched a farm not far from the depot. They have now charged three people in connection with the crime. The police say that they are confident that they can find the rest of the gang, and recover the rest of the money, but that it may take some time.

　　There are lots of words connected with crime in this podcast. The verb TO STEAL (stole, stolen) means to take something which does not belong to you. If I steal something, then I am a THIEF (plural, THIEVES), and the crime I commit is called THEFT. For example, today’s story was about the theft of ?53 million.

　　To ROB someone means to take something from someone, normally by force. The gang in today’s story were thieves, but they were also ROBBERS. They didn’t just take ?53 million, they used guns, threats and kidnapping to do so. The crime they committed is called ROBBERY.

　　KIDNAP and ABDUCT² mean about the same thing – to take someone away against their will and hold them, sometimes in order to collect a ransom⁵. AT GUNPOINT means “with a gun pointing at you”.

　　The police have ARRESTED several people. That means that these people are forced to remain at a police station while the police question them. Three people have now been CHARGED. That means that the police have formally accused them of a crime.

　　Picyure is of a man wanted by the police in connection with the robbery

1 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

2 abduct   

vt.诱拐，拐带，绑架

参考例句：

• The police caught the man who tried to abduct the boy for ransom.警察抓住了那个企图拐走这男孩以便勒索赎金的家伙。
• The news that we see those use network abduct children sometimes filled with apprehension.我们有时看到那些利用网络诱拐儿童的新闻都心惊肉跳。

3 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

4 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。