（本节目使用的音频资源于2022年2月发表。）

一大块火星陨石、一些陆续坠落在某座宁静英格兰小镇的太空岩石，还有一间被 “天外来客” 刺穿的狗屋。这三件物品都会在伦敦拍卖行佳士得（ Christie’s ）举办的年度稀有和独特陨石拍卖会上拍卖。

Imagine Rocky the dog’s surprise! His neat little house with a big ‘R’ over the entrance and then ‘bam!’ – a golf ball-size meteorite slams through the tin roof, cutting a big hole.

想象一下这条叫洛基的狗当时得有多惊讶！它小屋洞口的正上方写着其名字的首字母 “R”——忽然 “砰” 的一声，一颗高尔夫球大小的陨石砸穿了铁皮屋顶，撞出了一个大洞。

Fortunately, Rocky was unhurt, but he’s lost his kennel – not because it was destroyed but because anything that has been struck by an object from space has huge value at auction. Some collector is likely to have bid at least a couple of hundred thousand pounds for Rocky’s abode by the time the hammer comes down in Christie’s sale.

幸好洛基没有受伤，但它却失去了狗屋，并不是因为被毁了，而是因为任何被太空物体击中的物件都在拍卖会上有巨大的价值。在佳士得拍卖会上，很可能会有收藏家为拍下洛基的住所在落槌前喊出至少数十万英镑的价格。

Also, on offer is a big chunk of Mars that was blasted off the planet’s surface by an asteroid impact. And of keen UK interest, is a fragment of the Winchcombe meteorite that fell on Gloucestershire last year. It’ll likely fetch more than 70 times its weight in gold.

此外，还有一个拍品是一大块火星岩石，这是被小行星撞击后，从火星表面撞出的陨石。英国人特别会感兴趣的拍品是去年坠落在格洛斯特郡温奇科姆的一个陨石碎片。它可能会卖出同重量黄金70多倍的价格。

词汇表

neat 小巧的
meteorite 陨石
kennel 狗屋，犬舍
huge value 巨大价值
bid 出价，喊价
abode 住所
asteroid impact 小行星撞击
fragment 碎片
fetch 卖得（某价格）

阅读理解：请在读完上文后，回答下列问题。

1. How big was the meteorite that hit the dog kennel?

2. How badly injured was Rocky the dog?

3. What’s special about an object from space that’s sold at auction?

4. True or false? Part of an asteroid from Mars is also being auctioned.

答案  

1. How big was the meteorite that hit the dog kennel?
It was the size of a golf ball.

2. How badly injured was Rocky the dog?
Rocky was unhurt, but he’s lost his kennel.

3. What’s special about an object from space that’s sold at auction?
Anything that has been struck by an object from space has huge value at auction.

4. True or false? Part of an asteroid from Mars is also being auctioned.
False. Also, on offer is a big chunk of Mars that was blasted off the planet’s surface by an asteroid impact.