VOA标准英语2011--Small Town's Big Auction Draws Hundreds

Small Town's Big Auction¹ Draws Hundreds Along US East Coast

The search for a bargain and the hope for an unrecognized treasure draws hundreds of people to a tiny East Coast town each week.
Every Wednesday, they descend² upon a cavernous warehouse³ in Crumpton, Maryland, wandering past rows of long tables where they're liable to find everything from fedora hats to fishing rods and china vases to corner cupboards. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Crumpton Auction.
“You always see something that you’ve never seen before - every week,” says Dylan Dixon, 24, who oversees⁴ the buying and selling, making sure everything runs smoothly⁵ at the Crumpton Auction. He’s the third generation of his family to work here. "I’ve sold paintings that were laying in a field next to pots and pans, that no one had any idea that it had any value, and sold for $10,000, $12,000 dollars.”
While numerous auctions⁶ are held up and down the East Coast, Crumpton holds a special place on the auction circuit. Geographically⁷, it's the middle ground and furniture dealers⁹, especially, appreciate its Mid-Atlantic location, which is convenient for buyers stretching from New England to the southern states.
Most of the merchandise - up to 4,000 items on a busy day - comes from estates, houses being cleared when families move or someone dies.
While in good condition, the pieces up for auction here are not high-end like the antiques and art sold in well known auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s, but that's part of the appeal to Dixon’s customers.
“I bought a statue of Madonna for $325 dollars and a couple bits of jewelry,” says John Raccuglia, who frequently makes the hour-and-a-half trip from his home in Baltimore. “I’m here to sell as well as buy. I do estate work. It's various things from dishes to little pieces of furniture, you name it.”
Antique dealers, collectors, designers, inn keepers and curiosity seekers come to check out the offerings.
Maryland antique dealer⁸ Brooke Logan browses¹⁰ a table crowded with lamps and vases. “I’m here looking for a good deal. I’ve already bought a painting that I’m pleased with. I buy a lot of art here actually. There’s a lot of good art that comes through here, so you just have to keep your eye out. I kind of have a lamp fetish. I’ve bought a lot of lamps and I buy a lot of ceramics¹¹.”
Depending on the size of the crowd and the number of items, up to three auctioneers work at the same time. On sunny days, the action moves outdoors onto two fields, two hectares each. Auctioneers ride up and down the rows of merchandise in golf carts - stopping and selling.
Frequent customer Raccuglia knows the system well. "It’s not like you know you’re going to pay one price for anything. It’s whatever happens, happens. You always have to keep on your toes here because the auctioneer sells so quickly.”
Max Bovis, who works for a bike dealer, is on the look-out for old bicycles. “We come out here and pick up used bikes and work on them, fix them up, add some parts, take some parts away, and sell them. We’ve got a couple wood-rimmed bikes we bought, 1890’s wood-rimmed bikes.”
Bovis also is fond of records. “I collect vinyl records and kind of archive them, as well as listen to them. I’ve found some really unique things out here, a lot of signed records show up in weird¹² boxes.”
Another popular feature at the Crumpton Auction is the food. An Amish family from Lancaster, Pennsylvania drives two hours each week to sell home-made cakes, pies and doughnuts.
The rainy weather seems to have put a damper on today's auction, which is quieter than usual, with fewer buyers and sellers. With the economic downturn and the higher cost of gasoline, the auction’s owner - 75-year-old Norman Dixon - says making money in this business is getting harder.
“The expenses are all going up but your margin¹³ of profit is not going up. It’s more expensive for dealers to drive trailers longer distances. When things were booming, they came from Georgia to Maine. We’re losing some of those.”
But there are some frequent customers who continue to turn up. Melinda Lippincott, who lives nearby and has furnished her family’s new home with several pieces from Dixon’s, says there’s a certain charm at this auction.
"It’s just kind of like you’re stepping back in time when you’re here. It’s a nice feeling.”

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

3 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

4 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

5 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

6 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

7 geographically   

adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句
• All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分

8 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

9 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

10 browses   

n.吃草( browse的名词复数 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息v.吃草( browse的第三人称单数 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• The picture browses:The picture which supports JPG, BMP format browses. 嫩枝图片：图片支持规划组、嫩枝BMP的格式。 来自互联网
• NIV I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies. 3[和合]我属我的2良人；我的良人也属我。他在百合花中牧放群羊。 来自互联网

11 ceramics   

n.制陶业；陶器

参考例句：

• an exhibition of ceramics by Picasso 毕加索陶瓷作品展
• The ceramics bore the imprint of Luca della Robbia. 陶器上印有卢卡·德拉·罗比亚的字样。

12 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

13 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。