VOA标准英语2010年-British Sleuths Find Buried Treasure

Metal detecting is a popular hobby in Britain, with clubs across the country. In the past year, detectorists, as they are called in Britain, have made big finds, valuable both in financial and archaeological terms.

Jennifer Glasse | London 12 January 2010

 
Roger Mintey searches for valuables with a metal detector¹

 
Roger Mintey struck it rich. These are a few of the 6,000 gold and silver coins he found while metal detecting in southeast England some years back.

"These are all pure gold," he said.

Mintey made about a quarter of a million dollars from the find. The coins date from the 13th to 15th centuries, and offer insight about that period.

"You can see on this coin, a ship and the king. Symbolic² to remember everyone, even our enemies, that England was a great power," he added.

Mintey found the coins on a construction site. There's a house there now. He knows the find was pretty much pure luck.

"I'll never find something like this again, but that doesn't put me off detecting because I'm not in it for fame, I'm not in it for the money, I'm in it for the interest," he explained.

On this day, he sweeps the detector over the soil and hopes for a beep. When there is one, he digs. This time though, it's scrap³ metal.

Metal detecting is popular in Britain, with clubs across the country. And others have made big finds. 

At London's British Museum, the Staffordshire Hoard⁴ is one of the biggest detector finds and the largest single collection of Anglo-Saxon artifacts ever found. The 7th century artifacts were discovered last year in Staffordshire, central England, by a detectorist.

Michael Lewis is the museum's deputy director of portable antiquities⁵ and treasure.

"Lots of gold and silver, bits and bobs, mainly from war gear like sword fittings and things like that, so it's an amazing find," he noted⁶.

Experts say when the objects are cleaned and analyzed⁷, they could change the entire understanding of the period.

Terry Herbert found the hoard. He will share the $5.25 million reward with the landowner.

"It's been more fun than winning the lottery," said Herbert.  "Stuff like this is still in the ground. Is there anything better than this to be found?"

Archaeologists were called in to recover the treasure, after Herbert declared the find to local authorities.

The Brtitish Museum's Lewis says many archaeological finds are identified by detectorists and there's good collaboration⁸ between them and historians.

"We've moved away from a period we used to have where there was a lot of conflict and confrontation⁹ between detector users and archaeologists to a period where we're trying to work together and use the skills that detectorists have in an archaeological context," said Lewis.

Back in the countryside, Roger Mintey still hasn't found new treasure.  

"Not the roman coin I was hoping for. Not even the Victorian silver coin," said Mintey.

Mintey says about 60 percent of what he finds is junk. The rest may be salvageable¹⁰ metal or modern coins, but that's not why he's here.

"I do it for the excitement, because you never know what that next beep will be," he added.

The next beep could be treasure.  But even though he says big finds are once in a lifetime, he still keeps on looking.
 

1 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。

2 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

3 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

4 hoard   

n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积

参考例句：

• They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
• How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩？

5 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

9 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

10 salvageable   

adj. 可抢救的(可打捞的)

参考例句：

• Tank wrecks found on maps are no longer salvageable. 地图上自带的坦克残骸将不能被轴心国工兵回收。
• Their marriage was not salvageable. 他们的婚姻已不可挽回。