Lesson 7

Has it ever happened to you?
你遇到过这种情况吗？
Have you ever put your trousers in the washing machine and then remembered there was a large bank note in your back pocket?
你是否曾经把裤子放进洗衣机，然后想起后兜里有一张大面额钞票？
When you rescued your trousers, did you find the note was whiter than white?
当你把裤子救回来时，你发现那张纸条是不是洗得比白还要白？
People who live in Britain needn’t despair when they make mistakes like this (and a lot of people do)!
居住在英国的人们在犯下这类错误时不必绝望（而且很多人也确实会犯错）！
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.
对他们来说很幸运的是，英格兰银行有一支被称为“残钞鉴别组”的团队，专门处理那些不小心把钱喂进机器或喂给狗的人的理赔申请。
Dogs, it seems, love to chew up money!
狗，似乎，喜欢嚼碎钱！
A recent case concerns Jane Butlin whose fiancé, John, runs a successful furniture business.
最近的一个案例涉及简·巴特林，她的未婚夫约翰经营着一家成功的家具店。
John had a very good day and put his wallet containing £ 3,000 into the microwave oven for safekeeping.
约翰度过了非常愉快的一天，为了安全起见，他把他那装有3000英镑的钱包放进了微波炉。
Then he and Jane went horse-riding.
然后他和简去骑马了。
When they got home, Jane cooked their dinner in the microwave oven and without realizing it, cooked her fiancé’s wallet as well.
当他们回到家时，简在微波炉里煮了晚餐，却在没意识到的情况下，把她未婚夫的钱包也给煮了。
Imagine their dismay when they found a beautifully-cooked wallet and notes turned to ash!
想象一下，当他们发现钱包被煮得烂熟，钞票也化为灰烬时，该是多么沮丧啊！
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!
约翰去见了他的银行经理，经理把钱包的残骸和钱寄往了英格兰银行在纽卡斯尔的一个专门部门：残缺女士部！
They examined the remains and John got all his money back.
他们检查了遗骸，约翰拿回了他所有的钱。
‘So long as there’s something to identify, we will give people their money back,’ said a spokeswoman for the Bank.
‘只要有东西可以识别，我们将把钱退还给人们，’银行的一位女发言人说。
‘Last year, we paid £1.5m on 21,000 claims.’
“去年，我们针对21,000项索赔支付了150万英镑。”
Damaged bank notes
受损的钞票
The Queen’s head appears on English bank notes, and ‘lady’ refers to this.
女王的头像出现在英国钞票上，而“lady”指的就是这个。