英语听力精选进阶版 7233（在线收听）

Background: 一条蓝翅金枪鱼在东京拍卖市场以70多万美元的天价成交，打破了历史纪录。一家饭店的老板买走了这条269公斤重的金枪鱼。

The first auction of the New Year at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market is always closely watched - high prices are a tradition.

But when the bidding was over the bluefin tuna had become the most expensive fish in history - 56.49m yen, nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.

It smashed the previous record set last year of 32.49m yen.

The buyer was the owner of a chain of sushi restaurants. He said he wanted to liven up Japan and help the nation recover from last year's earthquake and tsunami.

The fish was caught off Aomori, just north of the coast battered by the disaster.

At 269kg it's a giant. But even so when cut up into sushi each mouthful works out at 5,000 yen, more than $65.

The restaurant chain though will sell it for its usual tuna prices, between $1.60 and $5.40 per piece, depending on the cut.

Glossary 词汇表

auction 拍卖

to be closely watched 受到紧密关注

bidding 出价，投标

to smash (a record) 破纪录

a chain (of restaurants) 连锁餐馆

to liven up (something) 使…活跃起来

to recover 恢复

to be battered by (something) 受到冲击

mouthful 一口

to work out at 合计

Questions:

1: Why does the year's first auction at Tokyo's fish market attract interest?

Because there is a tradition of very high prices.

2: What was the explanation given by the buyer for purchasing this fish at such an expensive price?

The buyer said that he wanted to liven up Japan and help the nation's recovery from recent natural disasters.

3: According to the report, how much is each bite of the fish worth?

Each mouthful is worth more than $65.

4: True or false? The restaurant owner will charge his diners a higher price for the privilege of eating history's most expensive fish.

False. According to the re