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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Tampa, Florida
03 July 2007
An American company is in the process of determining the value of a haul of sunken treasure, thought to be the biggest ever discovered. Odyssey1 Marine2 Exploration says it is examining more than half-a-million coins from the shipwreck3 as part of a find that could net it around half a billion dollars. The bounty4 has sparked public interest in the controversial business of treasure hunting. Steve Mort reports for VOA from the Florida city of Tampa where Odyssey Marine Exploration is based.
Crates5 of coins from the shipwreck" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070705/1127410.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" /> |
Crates of coins from the shipwreck being unloaded from a cargo airplane |
Odyssey won't reveal the identity of the ship, or even when it sank, to avoid giving clues to other treasure hunters. Odyssey will only say it went down in international waters.
In the crates are 17 tons of silver and gold coins and other valuables arriving in the U.S., destined6 for a secret location.
Mark Gordon |
Those crates could hold about half a billion dollars. In the U.S., a big media splash about the "Black Swan" hoard7 has triggered a new fascination8 in pirate ships and treasure.
Eugene Holseybrook came to see a company exhibit in Tampa. "I like it. I've actually visited some of the exhibits and find it very interesting," he said.
Odyssey estimates there are some three million shipwrecks9 worldwide. The company combs the seabed using a special underwater vessel10: operating it costs $35,000 a day.
If treasure is found, the company determines if anyone may have a claim to it -- unlikely in the case of a pirate-ship -- then petitions a U.S. court to get ownership.
Odyssey's Vice11 President of Attractions, Roger Kurz, says once the court rules in favor, the bounty can be sold. "We send our Zeus, our remotely operated vehicle, down to pick up more artifacts, then we put them into the conservation phase," says Kurz. "And if we find one, or two, or three items then we would put them in the Odyssey collection which we keep forever. If we find more than that then we put them for sale so that guests throughout the world can retain a piece of history."
Odyssey is the only publicly traded treasure-hunting company in the U.S., but the business is unpredictable. It reported a net loss of $3.8 million in the first quarter of 2007.
A coin from a shipwreck expedition |
Critics, such as the Institute of Field Archaeologists, accuse private companies like Odyssey of "ransacking12" shipwrecks for profit. And Odyssey is in a legal wrangle13 with the Spanish government over the Black Swan treasure. Spain says it might be one of their galleons14 that went down in its territorial15 waters.
But Odyssey says it will press on with its work - and has even teamed up with the Walt Disney Corporation to cater16 to the public appetite for sunken treasure.
1 odyssey | |
n.长途冒险旅行;一连串的冒险 | |
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2 marine | |
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵 | |
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3 shipwreck | |
n.船舶失事,海难 | |
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4 bounty | |
n.慷慨的赠予物,奖金;慷慨,大方;施与 | |
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5 crates | |
n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
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6 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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7 hoard | |
n./v.窖藏,贮存,囤积 | |
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8 fascination | |
n.令人着迷的事物,魅力,迷恋 | |
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9 shipwrecks | |
海难,船只失事( shipwreck的名词复数 ); 沉船 | |
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10 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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11 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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12 ransacking | |
v.彻底搜查( ransack的现在分词 );抢劫,掠夺 | |
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13 wrangle | |
vi.争吵 | |
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14 galleons | |
n.大型帆船( galleon的名词复数 ) | |
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15 territorial | |
adj.领土的,领地的 | |
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16 cater | |
vi.(for/to)满足,迎合;(for)提供饮食及服务 | |
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