听播客学英语 239 失物招领

 　　It is summer. And in the summer, people – including politicians – go on holiday. And this means that the newspapers are sometimes short of real news to print. British journalists sometimes call this time of year the “silly season”, because of the silly stories that the newspapers publish when there is no real news.

　　The silly season this year has started early with a report in the papers about things that people have left on buses, underground trains and taxis in London. Last year, 150,000 items of lost property were found on London’s public transport. The most common were books and mobile phones, and also bags, umbrellas, wallets and passports. There were also a lot of teddy bears and wedding rings. Recently, someone left Rolex watches worth about ?25,000 on a bus. Someone else left a new plasma¹ television set, costing over ?2,000, in a taxi. Other items left on public transport included an inflatable boat, a coffin² (I think it was empty), false limbs³ and a lawn mower⁴.

　　All this lost property is taken to Transport for London’s lost property office in Baker⁵ Street. If the owners do not reclaim⁶ their property within three months, the lost property office sell the items to help cover their running costs. Over half of the people who mislay valuable items reclaim them from the lost property office. But only one in three bags, one in four mobile phones and one in five books are reclaimed⁷.

　　If you ever lose something on a bus or tube in London, go to the lost property office to see if they can find it. I have put a link to their web-site on the podcast web site. I have also included a link to a blog about life on the London underground. If you have ever travelled on London’s underground trains, I think it will make you smile.

　　NOTE:

　　1 Three ways of saying the same thing:

　　people lose things on the buses – people leave things on the buses – people mislay things on the buses

　　2 The “tube” means the deep underground railway lines in London.

1 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

2 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

3 limbs   

肢( limb的名词复数 )； 大树枝； 肢体

参考例句：

• For a while, she lost the use of her limbs. 好一会儿她四肢都动弹不得。
• The prisoner's limbs flailed violently because of the pain. 那囚犯因为疼痛，四肢剧烈地抖动着。

4 mower   

n.割草机

参考例句：

• We need a lawn mower to cut the grass.我们需要一台草坪修剪机来割草。
• Your big lawn mower is just the job for the high grass.割高草时正需要你的大割草机。

5 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

6 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

7 reclaimed   

adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• Many sufferers have been reclaimed from a dependence on alcohol. 许多嗜酒成癖的受害者已经被挽救过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They reclaimed him from his evil ways. 他们把他从邪恶中挽救出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》