每日英語 #153: The Land of Unclaimed Luggage 無人認領行李之地

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The Land of Unclaimed Luggage 無人認領行李之地

Most “luggage” (bags and suitcases one takes on a trip) gets to its “destination” (where someone or something is going) and most luggage is “claimed” (picked up) by its owner. But surprisingly, about “one-half” to “one percent” (1/2 to 1%) of luggage is never claimed at all. The airlines spend three months trying to get the luggage back to its owner, but if that is not possible because there is no “identifying information” (such as name, address, or phone number), the luggage is sold to a store called Unclaimed Baggage Center in the state of Alabama, in the southern part of the U.S. (Those who have lost luggage can file a claim and they are “compensated for it” (given money to replace lost items.)

大多數的“行李”（旅行攜帶的包包和行李箱）都會到達其“目的地”（某人或某物要去的地方），且大多數行李會被其主人“認領”（取回）。但令人驚訝的是，大約有“百分之一至百分之零點五”（1/2至1%）的行李從未被認領。航空公司會花三個月時間嘗試將行李歸還給其主人，但如果由於缺乏“識別資訊”（如姓名、地址或電話號碼）而無法歸還，這些行李將被出售給位於美國南部阿拉巴馬州的一家名為無人認領行李中心的商店。（那些丟失行李的人可以提出索賠，他們會得到“賠償”（獲得金錢補償以替代丟失的物品）。）

The Unclaimed Baggage Center buys the unclaimed luggage from airlines “sight unseen” (without seeing it before buying), “sorts it” (organizes it), cleans the “contents” (what is inside) of the luggage, and puts it in the store to sell to the public, to people like you and me. The Unclaimed Baggage Center is organized similar to a department store that sells everything you can imagine, with the store adding about 7,000 items each day. The store is so popular that it is the number one tourist attraction in Alabama, with 1 million visitors each year.

無人認領行李中心從航空公司那裡“盲買”（不事先查看即購買）無人認領的行李，對其進行“分類”（整理），清潔行李的“內容物”（行李內的物品），然後放入店中銷售，面向像你我這樣的公眾。無人認領行李中心的組織方式類似於一家百貨公司，售賣你能想像到的所有物品，每天店內新增約7,000件商品。這家店非常受歡迎，是阿拉巴馬州的第一大旅遊景點，每年吸引一百萬名遊客。

At the Center, you can find anything from “precious” (worth a lot of money) jewelry, leather jackets, wedding dresses, “surfboards” (long boards used for standing on ocean waves) to half-used tubes of toothpaste! The guns and illegal drugs found in some of the luggage are not for sale, of course. However, because they do “come across” (find; see) unusual items in some of the luggage, the Center has a small museum “displaying” (placed for people to see) these special items.

在這家中心，你可以找到從“珍貴的”（價值高的）珠寶、皮夾克、婚紗到“衝浪板”（用於站在海浪上的長板），甚至是用了一半的牙膏！當然，行李中發現的槍支和違禁藥物是不會出售的。然而，由於他們偶爾會“發現”（找到；看到）一些奇特的物品，該中心還設有一個小型博物館，用來“展示”（陳列供人觀賞）這些特別的物品。

重要單字

• 1. luggage /ˈlʌɡɪdʒ/ 行李
• 2. destination /ˌdɛstɪˈneɪʃən/ 目的地
• 3. claimed /kleɪmd/ 認領
• 4. one-half /wʌn hæf/ 二分之一
• 5. identifying information /aɪˈdɛntɪˌfaɪɪŋ ˌɪnfərˈmeɪʃən/ 識別資訊
• 6. compensated /ˈkɒmpənseɪtɪd/ 賠償
• 7. sight unseen /saɪt ʌnˈsiːn/ 盲買
• 8. sorts /sɔːrts/ 分類
• 9. contents /ˈkɒntɛnts/ 內容物
• 10. precious /ˈprɛʃəs/ 珍貴的
• 11. surfboards /ˈsɜːrfbɔːrdz/ 衝浪板
• 12. come across /kʌm əˈkrɒs/ 偶然發現
• 13. displaying /dɪˈspleɪɪŋ/ 展示