Lie back and relax at “bed” concert“床上”音乐会乐趣无穷

　　TOO tired to go out for a concert? In Japan, you can listen to music in bed.

　　Organizers of a classical music concert recently held in Tokyo offered the audience beds, blankets -even ice cream- instead of seats.

　　The event had Russian violinist Anastasia Chebotareva playing calm music to the small audience. Halfway through the concert, most people had fallen fast asleep.

　　“We should relax when we listen to music,” said a 20-year-old girl. She slept through most of the concert.

　　工作后疲惫不堪的你是否连赴音乐会都感到趣味索然呢?你不妨到日本东京的“床上”音乐会看看。

　　音乐会主办方邀请听众躺在松软的双人床上，在品尝着冰淇淋的同时，聆听美妙的音乐。这场特别的音乐会邀请到俄罗斯音乐家阿纳斯塔西娅进行小提琴演奏，优美舒缓的乐曲让听众们身心放松、心情愉悦。演奏过半，大多数听众便进入了睡眠状态。

　　音乐会结束后，一名20岁的女孩儿颇有感触地说道:“听音乐的时候，就应该是身心放松的。”音乐会的大部分时间她是在睡眠中度过的.

　　Car plate sells for 6.8 million dollars 一掷百万为车牌

　　A CAR plate with just one number on it was auctioned（拍卖）off for more than 25.2 million dirhams ($6.86 million ) in the United Arab Emirates（UAE). It beat the previous world record by more than 10 times.

　　The number plate “5” was bought for $6.86 million in Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich capital of the UAE, a news agency reported.

　　It said businessman Talal Khouri placed the highest offer in the first auction of its kind in the UAE. The money from the auction went to a charity for people with special needs.

　　The price set a new world record. The last record was set last July in Yorkshire, northern England. The number plate “M1” went for ￡331,500($657,160) at current exchange rates.

　　在阿拉伯联合酋长国首都阿布扎比近期举行的拍卖会上，一个只有一位数字的车牌拍出近700万美元的天价，刷新了世界纪录。

　　在这次拍卖会上，一个只有“5”这个数字的车牌以2520万迪拉姆（约合686万美元）的天价成交。

　　报道说，买主是一位名叫塔拉勒扈利的商人。这场拍卖会的所有收入将用于慈善事业。

　　此前的车牌拍卖价世界纪录是去年7月在英国约克郡创下的。当时，一个牌号为“Ｍ１”的车牌以33.15万英镑（约合66万美元）的价格成交。

　　Thousands flock to frog-jumping contest 美国跳蛙大显跳功

　　THE annual Calaveras County’s

　　famous frog jumping contest attracted thousands of frog contestants on May 13.

　　About 4,000 contestants entered the Calaveras County annual Jumping Frog contest this year, twice as many as last year, according to the event’s organizers.

　　The event has a lot to do with “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”- Mark Twain’s novel of a frog-jumping contestant. He secretly fills another competitor’s frog with buckshot（铅弹）.

　　Winning owners get a $750 prize or $5,000 if their frog breaks the 1986 record of 21 feet, 5.75 inches set by Rosie the Ribeter.

　　一年一度的美国加利福尼亚州卡拉维拉斯县的跳蛙大赛日前又拉开了帷幕。

　　比赛吸引了来自各地的近四千名跳蛙爱好者，他们带着自己的选手在这里云集，参赛人数比去年翻了一番。 这项别开生面的比赛源于美国著名作家马克吐温发表过的一篇小说《卡拉韦拉斯县驰名的跳蛙》，讲述了吉姆斯迈利和他训练有素的跳蛙丹尼尔韦伯斯特的故事。加拉弗拉斯县的跳蛙从此名声大噪，于是该县每年都要举行一次蛙跳比赛。

　　获胜青蛙的主人将获得750美元的奖金，如果能够打破1986年由一只名为罗西里比特的青蛙创造的近3米的记录，就可以把5000美元的奖金收入囊中了。