英语听力精选进阶版 7228（在线收听）

Background: 以超人为封面的第一册漫画以2千1百万美金成交，创下漫画书拍卖的世界新纪录。这本初版“动作漫画"是1938年出版的，这次通过美国的一个拍卖网站进行拍卖。

When it appeared on newsstands 73 years ago, the first edition of Action Comics cost just ten cents. The cover design showed a well-built man in blue tights and a red cape, smashing a car against a rock.

Superman was introduced to readers as a "champion of the oppressed," who could "run faster than an express train."

Only a hundred copies of that first issue survive. And for comic buffs this one was in breathtakingly good condition.

In an online auction it fetched a little over $2 million, a world record for a comic. The buyer remains anonymous. The seller is rumoured to have been the actor Nicolas Cage.

Connoisseurs of the comic world say this type of investment has become popular during troubled economic times because rare collectibles hold their value more reliably than property or shares.

Glossary 词汇表

a newsstand 报亭，报摊

the cover design 首页设计

the oppressed 受排挤的，受压迫的

a buff 一个对什么事情或东西特别感兴趣的人

to be in breathtakingly good condition 品相令人难以致信的好

to fetch 得到

to be anonymous 匿名，没有公开

a connoisseur 鉴赏家，行家

a collectible 收藏品

to hold its value 保值

Questions:

1: In which edition of Action Comics did the character Superman appear?

The first edition.

2: How many copies still exist of this edition?

A hundred.

3: True of false? Because of its age the comic is not in a very good state.

False, it's in a "breathtakingly good condition".

4: Who sold the comic?

It's not known. The seller is anonymous but some people think it might be the actor Nicolas Cage.