英语听力精选进阶版 6306

Five years after they disappeared, lost jewels belonging to the wife of the US ambassador 1 to the Netherlands have been found.

Dawn Arnall had already received an insurance payout for her loss.

However, the misplaced gems 2 had been found and held for safekeeping by a hotel she stayed in. Staff were unaware 3 the jewellery was worth $9m (57 million yuan).

The world is full of forgetful people. A man in the English town of Reading even left a sausage casserole in a bus. The dish ended up in the lost property office until it was recovered by his mother, eager for her dinner.

A walker in the Lake District had his food in his mouth but... what about his teeth? After climbing a hill in 2007, David Packer stopped for a chocolate bar. He took his false teeth out, wrapped them up in a tissue 4 and just forgot about them. It took more than a year for the walker to be reunited with them.

Over the past 78 years passengers on London's transport network have left behind items including human skulls 5, gas masks from World War II and breast implants 6. Since 1934, staff have handled an average of 200,000 items a year. Recently they have used computers to try to track down their owners.

But if you find something and can't locate the rightful owner, is it finders keepers, losers weepers? It depends on what's found and how, says John Spencer, professor of law at the University of Cambridge.

"If you pick up a coin, you can keep it unless you saw someone drop it, as you wouldn't be able to find the owner by taking reasonable steps."

If it's a larger sum, you should report it to the police but if the item has been abandoned, the property is yours. One man's loss is another man's gain!

Quiz

Is this statement true, false or not given? The hotel where the US ambassador's wife stayed in the Netherlands is full of forgetful people.

It is not given.

Who had to get in touch with the lost property office to have her dinner?

The mother of a man who left her sausage casserole on a bus in the English town of Reading.

How did David Packer's false teeth disappear?

He took them out when he was about to eat a chocolate bar and left them behind by mistake.

Look at the article. What expression refers to the act of guarding something?

Held for safekeeping.

Look at the article. What phrasal verb is used to mean to locate someone?

To track down (someone).

Glossary 词汇表

to disappear 不见了

to have been found 被找到了

an insurance payout 保险赔偿

a loss 亏损

misplaced 错放了

to hold for safekeeping 被妥善保管

forgetful 健忘的

to leave 留下，遗忘

lost property 失物招领

to recover 找回

to be reunited 使重聚

to leave behind 留下，遗留

to handle 处理

to track down 追寻，查到

to locate the rightful owner 找到失物主人

finders keepers, losers weepers 谁发现归谁

to take reasonable steps 采取合理的步骤

one man's loss is another man's gain 一人之失即是他人之得