2014年经济学人 维多利亚的秘密

The queen's knickers

Victoria’s secret

What do you buy the monarchist who has everything? One auction¹ bidder² has the answer: knickers that belonged to Queen Victoria. The buyer paid 6,200 ($9,900) for them on October 12th at an auction in Kent. At her death in 1901, Victoria bequeathed several dozen pairs of bloomers to her servants (“for loyal service”) but only one other complete pair has been found and sold. These drawers are interesting because the 52-inch (132cm) waist shows how well Her Majesty³ ate in later years. The sale is part of a growing market for the underwear of famous dead people: recent auctions⁴ have tried to sell the smalls of Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith and Elvis Presley. Someone wanted 7,000 for the King’s briefs in 2012 but they didn’t sell. Only Victoria’s have sat on an actual throne.

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

3 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

4 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句