VOA慢速英语2015 旅客在美国航空公司丢失的行李发生了什么

AS IT IS 2015-03-13 What Happens to Lost US Airline Luggage? 旅客在美国航空公司丢失的行李发生了什么

Most people who fly on passenger planes in the United States do not lose their bags -- called “luggage” or “baggage.” Even if the luggage is lost, usually it only is delayed. Most “lost” luggage is found in a few days. Airlines search for the owners of unclaimed bags for up to three months. But when the owners cannot be found or the bags are not claimed, they are sold to a store in the small city of Scottsboro, in the southern state of Alabama. People who shop there often find good products for low prices.

About one-half of one percent of all luggage passing through U.S. airports is unclaimed. Many of the missing¹ bags, and what is in them, are sold at the Unclaimed Baggage Center. Seven thousand items arrive at the store every day.

VOA spoke² to Tom Barnes as he was shopping at the store.

“I can go into any of the large shopping centers, like, like the international malls and that. I can walk through there for an hour and come out with three items. I come in to this store, I come out with my car full of stuff³.”

Brenda Cantrell works⁴ at the store.

“Well, (the) Unclaimed Baggage Center is the only store in America that buys and resells unclaimed baggage from the airline industry. So you would be surprised at jackets and eyeglasses, neck pillows, blankets, but (also) laptops and Kindles⁵, and iPads and, you know, all kinds of expensive electronics⁶.”

Other items sold by the store include diamond rings, wedding dresses, musical instruments and old typewriters. The store says it once sold a container for flowers for $80 that was found to be worth $18,000. And it says a painting it sold for $25 was later found to be worth $25,000.

The store buys the luggage from the airlines. It does not examine the things inside before buying them. Only about half of the items in the bags are suitable for sale at the store.

The store receives mostly clothing which is cleaned before being sold.

One young lady found some clothing to buy.

“(I’m) buying a black jacket. A ski jacket. (An) Express jacket. North Face fleece. And another black jacket.”

The Unclaimed Baggage Center is a huge store. And it has become one of the top places for travelers to visit in Alabama. More than a million people visit the store from around the world every year.

Elvira Southard has come from Colombia.

“What do you think about this one? Look good?”

Some people say it is not fair to the owners of the lost luggage to sell their goods. Customer Daniel Martin is not one of them.

“I feel like the airport may try to find the, the people that lose the things. So I guess if, if, if they’ve tried and they can’t get a hold of them, I guess it’s better than, like, throwing it away, or just letting it rot in a warehouse⁷ somewhere.”

Kayla Wilborn works at the store.

“All right. So this is our unclaimed baggage experience.”

Ms. Wilborn says the store chooses a customer every day to examine a bag and decide what happens to items in it.

“We have a shirt. And we check for condition to see what kind of brand do we have, to see if there’s any rips⁸ or holes or stains⁹.”

Since the store opened in the early 1970s, people have come to look for low priced goods and unexpected¹⁰ finds.

Words in This Story

luggage – n. the bags and suitcases that a person carries when traveling

baggage – n. the bags, suitcases and personal things that a person carries when traveling (this term is mostly used in the U.S.)

mall – n. a large building or group of buildings that has stores of many different kinds and sizes

expensive – adj. costing a lot of money; costly¹¹

suitable – adj. having the qualities that are right, needed or appropriate for something

1 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

2 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。

3 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

4 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

5 kindles   

（使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的第三人称单数 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光

参考例句：

• And as kindles hope, millions more will find it. 他们的自由又将影响周围，使更多的人民得到自由。
• A person who stirs up trouble or kindles a revolt. 煽动叛乱者，挑动争端者挑起麻烦或引起叛乱的人。

6 electronics   

n.电子器件，电子学，电子技术

参考例句：

• About 45000 people worked in electronics in Scotland.苏格兰约有4.5万人在电子行业工作。
• He wants to brush up his knowledge of electronics.他想温习他的电子学知识。

7 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。

8 rips   

v.扯破，撕坏( rip的第三人称单数 )；撕成；锯；猛地扯开

参考例句：

• She rips out at him,\"You're no gentleman.\" 她破口大骂：“你这个人真不象话。” 来自辞典例句
• That hotel rips off the tourists. 那家旅馆敲观光客的竹杠。 来自辞典例句

9 stains   

（使）染色( stain的第三人称单数 )； 褪色，变污； 玷污，败坏（名声）

参考例句：

• It was said that washing powders containing enzymes remove stains more efficiently. 据说加酶洗衣粉除污更有效。
• Be quick, cover the blood stains over. 快！把血迹全遮盖起来。

10 unexpected   

adj.想不到的，意外的

参考例句：

• I always keep some good wine in for unexpected guests.我总保存些好酒，用来招待不速之客。
• His promotion was unexpected.他的升迁出人意料。

11 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。