英语听力精选进阶版 7076（在线收听）

Background: 在德国法兰克福市，一名在当地快递公司任职的快递员被指控没有履行本职工作，导致2万多件信件和包裹都没有送到。德国警方说当他们对这名快递员的家进行搜查的时候，发现床垫和壁柜里都塞满了邮件。

There's an old saying amongst postmen the world over 不管到哪儿: the mail must get through 邮件必须送到. But a postal worker in Frankfurt appears to have decided that the mail must get hidden.

German police say the man, who'd been working for a leading courier company 快递公司, had failed to deliver post for over a year - choosing instead to hoard 贮藏 it at home in his flat.

When police raided 搜查 his apartment, they discovered an Aladdin's cave 阿拉丁的藏宝洞 of undelivered 没有送到的 letters: they found envelopes stuffed 塞满了under the mattress, parcels packed into cupboards, mail squirreled away 储藏 in every nook and every cranny 所有缝隙.

It's thought the postman, who police say was born in Scotland, had failed to deliver more than twenty thousand items. He was caught when a neighbour spotted 看到 him disposing 处理 of lots of letters.

Asked by police why he'd done it, the courier claimed he'd had a lot on his plate 忙不过来了- he'd been attending evening classes and hadn't had time to deliver the post.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

the world over 不管到哪儿

the mail must get through 邮件必须送到

courier company 快递公司

hoard 贮藏

raided 搜查

Aladdin's cave 阿拉丁的藏宝洞

undelivered 没有送到的

stuffed 塞满了

squirreled away 储藏

every nook and every cranny 所有缝隙

spotted 看到

disposing 处理

a lot on his plate 忙不过来了

Questions and Answers

1. Does the postman live in a house or an apartment?

He lives in an apartment or flat.

2. Did the postman keep the letters and parcels in one place in his home?

No, he kept the post in all parts of his apartment, "squirreled away in every nook and every cranny".

3. Has the postman always lived in Frankfurt?

No, police say he was born in Scotland.

4. Why did the postman say he had kept the letters and parcels?

He said "he’d had a lot on his plate" – he’d been too busy to deliver them.