07_Mutilated_Ladies
07 Mutilated Ladies¶
Has it ever happened to you? Have you ever put your trousers in the washing machine and then remembered there was a large bank note in your back pocket? When you rescued your trousers, did you find the note was whiter than white? People who live in Britain needn't despair when they make mistakes like this and a lot of people do! Fortunately for them, the Bank of England has a team called Mutilated Ladies which deals with claims from people (who fed their money to a machine or to their dog). Dogs, it seems, love to chew up money!
A recent case concerns Jane Butlin (whose fiance, John, runs a successful furniture business). John had a very good day and put his wallet containing ￡3, 000 into the microwave oven for safekeeping. Then he and Jane went horse-riding. When they got home, Jane cooked their dinner in the microwave oven and without realizing it, cooked her fiance's wallet as well. Imagine their dismay when they found a beautifully-cooked wallet and notes turned to ash! John went to see his bank manager who sent the remains of wallet and the money to the special department of the Bank of England in Newcastle: the Mutilated Ladies! They examined the remains and John got all his money back. 'So long as there's something to identify, we will give people their money back,' said a spokeswoman for the Bank. 'Last year, we paid ￡1.5 million on 21,000 claims.'
Words¶
- trousers /ˈtraʊzɚz/ 裤子
- despair /dɪˈspɛr/ 绝望
- Ladies /ˈlediz/ 残钞鉴别组
- claims /klemz/ 索赔
- fed /fɛd/ feed, 饲养
- fiance /fiˈɑnˌse/ 未婚夫
- microwave /ˈmaɪkrəˌwev/ oven /ˈʌvən/ 微波炉
- safekeeping /ˈsefˈkipɪŋ/ 保管
- ash /æʃ/ 灰
- spokeswoman /ˈspokˌswʊmən/ 女发言人
Expressions¶
- chewing gum 口香糖
- for safekeeping 为了妥善保管
- deal with 处理
- go doing… 去做……
- Imagine sb’s dismay when 想象一下某人……时的沮丧
- so long as... 只要