时间:2019-02-05 作者:英语课 分类:2007年VOA标准英语(七月)


英语课
By Steve Mort
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. Odyssey 1 Marine 2 Exploration says it is examining more than half-a-million coins from the shipwreck 3 as part of a find that could net it around half a billion dollars. The bounty 4 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.






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Crates of coins from the shipwreck being unloaded from a cargo airplane



The image to the left shows part of what is probably the biggest haul of shipwreck treasure ever found -- the result of a secret operation code-named "Black Swan", off the coast of Europe.


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., destined 6 for a secret location.






Mark Gordon


Mark Gordon



Mark Gordon, from Odyssey Marine Exploration, says an expert in 17th century coins estimated the value of the haul.  "He looked at a representative sample of the coins and in amongst the group that he saw he was able to determine that there were values ranging from $400 to $4,000 for individual coins, and the mean value of the group that he looked at was about $1,000," says Gordon.


Those crates could hold about half a billion dollars.  In the U.S., a big media splash about the "Black Swan" hoard 7 has triggered a new fascination 8 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 shipwrecks 9 worldwide. The company combs the seabed using a special underwater vessel 10: 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 Vice 11 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 the expedition


A coin from a shipwreck expedition



However, Executive Vice President Mark Gordon is upbeat.  "We're inventing an industry and I think we may be at the point now where maybe the oil industry was near the turn of the century. Our financials are public, anyone can look at them. We run a very episodic business -- when you have a find, and you can monetize the find, you're very profitable."


Critics, such as the Institute of Field Archaeologists, accuse private companies like Odyssey of "ransacking 12" shipwrecks for profit. And Odyssey is in a legal wrangle 13 with the Spanish government over the Black Swan treasure. Spain says it might be one of their galleons 14 that went down in its territorial 15 waters.

But Odyssey says it will press on with its work - and has even teamed up with the Walt Disney Corporation to cater 16 to the public appetite for sunken treasure.




n.长途冒险旅行;一连串的冒险
  • The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
  • His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程,到此结束了。
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵
  • Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
n.船舶失事,海难
  • He walked away from the shipwreck.他船难中平安地脱险了。
  • The shipwreck was a harrowing experience.那次船难是一个惨痛的经历。
n.慷慨的赠予物,奖金;慷慨,大方;施与
  • He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
  • We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的
  • It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
  • The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。
n./v.窖藏,贮存,囤积
  • 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?
n.令人着迷的事物,魅力,迷恋
  • He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
  • His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。
海难,船只失事( shipwreck的名词复数 ); 沉船
  • Shipwrecks are apropos of nothing. 船只失事总是来得出人意料。
  • There are many shipwrecks in these waters. 在这些海域多海难事件。
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管
  • The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
  • You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
v.彻底搜查( ransack的现在分词 );抢劫,掠夺
  • She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present. 她正在彻底搜寻各家店铺,为吉姆买礼物。 来自英汉文学 - 欧亨利
  • Ransacking the drawers of the dresser he came upon a discarded, tiny, ragged handkerchief. 他打开橱柜抽屉搜寻,找到了一块弃置的小旧手帕。 来自辞典例句
vi.争吵
  • I don't want to get into a wrangle with the committee.我不想同委员会发生争执。
  • The two countries fell out in a bitter wrangle over imports.这两个国家在有关进口问题的激烈争吵中闹翻了。
n.大型帆船( galleon的名词复数 )
  • The larger galleons made in at once for Corunna. 那些较大的西班牙帆船立即进入科普尼亚。 来自互联网
  • A hundred thousand disguises, all for ten Galleons! 千万张面孔,变化无穷,只卖十个加隆! 来自互联网
adj.领土的,领地的
  • The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
  • They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。
vi.(for/to)满足,迎合;(for)提供饮食及服务
  • I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
  • Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。
学英语单词
a superman
accept a bet
aging population
air flux
alcoholytic splitting
algebraic language
analysis of assets changes
anti-pollution device
anti-prostitution movement
apoplectic cicatrix
arch-frame press
armoured wood
Aspron, C.
asthmatic vaccine
Ballbach process
be presumed
blood albumin
boesman
bony fishes
building heating entry
butadiene elastomer
Caesar's wife ought to be above suspicion.
Ceel Dhaab
ceria
condenser transmitter
cresylate
CSSB
Davao City
departmental accounting
depleted area
double-base phototransistor
dual-rate spring
eccle-grass
ectopic contraction
ethylanthracene
expertise
face wheel
Gibbs Seamount
glass coating
glucoheptoascorbic acid
Gowers' intermediate process
gpea
grens
gypsoide
half-ruined
hastily
honesty
hopland
Impatiens amplexicaulis
in someone's wheelhouse
ingenta
intercarotid artery
J factor
Kylar
large angle boundary
laser-gated
lever blockin device
macrobrachium formosense
magnetic surface recording
Manchester City
maneuvering device
Maritimes, Alpes (Marittime, Alpi)
metaphysicist
meteoritical
microfarad meter
milibis
non selling
nonequalities
Nǎdlac
oceanward
off-line UPS
Ohne
out-suffer
pee off
perimedullary phloem
peritrophic mycorrhiza
Phenacodontidae
phenaeal
pleater
precoding
R-5-P
rail splice
recycled waste-process
Schizachyrium obliquiberbe
snorefest
snow remover with snowplough
sodium hydrogen arsenite
solid geometry
SPFG
Stick it right there!
stogs
subpyloric lymph nodes
Sundstrand pump
suppurative chorioiditis
thesaurize
throw money away
track plotter
trichlorethanol
uncontinued
vacuum tube arrester
valve-point performance curve
wear green