"The ship sank in minutes ... she went stern first on to her port side and sank very quickly, until just her turrets were visible. She paused then and just disappeared under the sea and was gone." The last moments of the HMS EDIMBURGH, remembered by one of her crew. It was 2 May, 1942. The British cruiser was on her way home from Murmansk. She was carrying a rather unusual cargo in her bomb room -- five and a half tons of gold bullion, payment by the Russians for American armaments.

　　For nearly forty years she lay undisturbed, 800 feet down at the bottom of the Barents Sea, beneath the icy waters of the Arctic Circle. After the war she was declared a war grave. This and her depth effectively ruled out the traditional methods of salvaging her cargo. No diver could get down to work on the wreck, and no-one would be allowed to blast her open with explosives and grab what he could. So for years the HMS EDINBURGH remained a treasure infinitely desirable but always beyond reach.

　　Enter now Keith Jessop, who felt sure the cargo could be salvaged. A diver himself once, who had done some small-time salvage, Jessop had been doing a lot of research. He had discovered in the Public Record Office the receipt for the gold bars that confirmed that they had been loaded aboard the cruiser. He also found the secret reports informing the Admiralty that the gold was still in the bomb room when the ship sank. So he had official confirmation that this was not another old sea-dog's yarn about buried treasure. More than that, he was convinced he knew how the gold could be recovered from that depth without desecrating a war grave. The answer lay in a technique called saturation diving, developed in the North Sea and elsewhere for the oil exploration business.

　　After endless problems a salvage team set off from northern Norway in early May, 1981. By now, the success of the operation was out of Jessop's hands. As the director of operations put it: "It's like searching London for someone in thick fog with only a torch to see with."

　　Undaunted (=fearless), however, when they reached the search area in the Barents Sea they lowered the sonar equipment overboard to scan the seabed for likely large objects. Incredibly, on their first sweep, something large was traced out on the sonar chart. Experience suggested it was a wreck and, miraculously, it turned out to be the HMS EDINBURGH.

　　In many ways, the finding of the wreck was the most dramatic moment of the whole mission. A dream had turned into reality. The problem was no longer if, but how. What had started as a gamble became a hard commercial risk. The recovery of the gold was still going to be immensely difficult; indeed, the deepest salvage of its kind had never been attempted. But the journey's end was now in sight. (495 words)

　　Notes: stern n. 船尾；port side 左舷一边；turret 炮塔；cruiser巡洋舰；rule out 排除；salvage vt.打捞；Admiralty 海军部； sea-dog (贬) 海员；desecrate vt. 亵渎；trace out 画出轮廓；turned out to be 结果是；be in sight 看得见，遥遥在望。

　　1. When the HMS EDINBURGH sank __________.

　　A. she was on her way back to England B. she went down with all the members of her crew

　　C. she had been missing for several days D. she turned upside-down before disappearing under the water

　　2. The ship lay undisturbed for nearly 40 years because __________.

　　A. no explosives were strong enough to blast her open B. no traditional methods of salvaging were feasible

　　C. no diver was allowed to approach a war grave D. no diver could stand the icy temperatures of the sea

　　3. Keith Jessop was convinced that the stories about the HMS EDINBURGH were true because _________.

　　A. he had documentary evidence to prove his case B. he had been told the stories by a reliable old sea-dog

　　C. he had been sent a secret report from the Admiralty D. he had been doing some diving in that area himself

　　4. When the salvage team began their attempts to locate the wreck __________.

　　A. they found their equipment would not operate in thick fog

　　B. they were assisted by some sophisticated scanning equipment

　　C. their expensive equipment was almost wrecked on the seabed

　　D. their sonar equipment was washed overboard by the heavy seas

　　5. The finding of the wreck meant that _________.

　　A. their problems were now at an end B. their dream of getting the gold had come true

　　C. their mission had now been fulfilled D. their promise of success might now be realized

　　Text 2 Word Study

　　1. argue argue against …据理反对; 证明……是不能成立的: 1) All the evidence argued against the theory that the disease was transmitted by water. 所有证据都证明这个理论是不能成立的: 这种疾病是由水传播的。 2) Father argued fiercely against any increase in expenditure for the children’s birth-day party. 父亲据理反对增加孩子们生日聚会的花费。 argue about 争论关于某事：I won’t argue about the matter. argue sb. into doing sth. 通过争论使某人做某事：We argued him into surrendering the control of the chain company. 我们通过争论使他放弃对链锁公司的控制。 同根词 argument n. 辩论，争论；论点，论据。argumentation n. 立论，论证；辩论，争论。argumentative adj. 爱争论的，好辩论的。

　　2. sure adj. 确实，无疑，有把握：I think he’s coming, but I’m not quite sure. You are sure of a warm welcome. 你一定会受到热烈欢迎。You’re sure to fail if you do it that way. You seem very sure of yourself, young man. 小伙子，你未免太自信了吧！ 常用成语：for sure肯定： One thing is sure. We’ve won a great victory. I think he lives there but I couldn’t say for sure. 我想他住在那里，但我不能肯定。 make sure 确保： I think the door is locked, but I’d better go and make sure. 我想门已经锁了，但我最好还是去查一下。 to be sure 当然：He’s clever, to be sure, but not very hard-working. 当然，他很聪明，但是不怎么勤奋。

　　3. critical adj. 决定性的，关键的；危急时刻的。 be critical of 批评的, 爱挑毛病的: 1) Don’t be so critical of everyone else. (不要对别人如此挑剔。) 2) If you really understood the difficulties facing the government, you wouldn’t be so critical of its spending reductions.（如果你真地理解政府面临的困难, 你就不会对其削减开支的做法如此挑剔。）

　　Text 3 Word Study

　　1. press vt./vi. 1) 按，压，踩：Press the button to start the engine. (请按按钮起动发动机。) I don’t like shoes that press. (我不喜欢紧的鞋。) 2) 熨烫 vt.：Will you press my trousers for me before tomorrow? 3) (人群)挤，涌：The people were pressing so hard against the President’s car that they almost overturned it. 4) 敦促，催逼：His daughters pressed Shelley to join them. It’s no use pressing him; he doesn’t like to be hurried. The matter does not press. (这件事不紧迫。) The police pressed the students back behind the barriers. (警察迫使学生退到路障后面。)

　　press n. 新闻界，舆论，报章杂志（和the连用）：Defend the freedom of the press. (维护新闻自由。) The press will give us a great backing. (舆论会大力支持我们的。) The meeting was reported by the press.

　　同根词：pressing adj. 紧迫的，急待解决的：Is the matter pressing? Their attention ought to be focused on the more pressing problems. The professor is returning on account of pressing duties at home.

　　常用成语：1) be pressed for time (money) 缺乏时间、金钱：We are pressed for time. We must hurry up. (我们时间不够。我们必须赶紧。) 2) press ahead with 加紧（努力）：We must press ahead with our efforts to reach an agreement. 3) press for 急切要求： They are pressing for reforms. (他们急切要求改革。) Everyone began pressing him for details. (人人都要求他说明细节。)

　　2. opt v. (=decide to do sth.; choose) 决定做某事，选择：He opted to go Paris rather than London. （他决定去巴黎而不是伦敦。） Fewer students are opting for science courses nowadays. (现在选修理科的学生少了。)

　　同根词：option n. 选择余地；选择权：1) You have the option of leaving or staying. 2) Every voter should exercise his option. optional 可选择的；选修的：You don’t have to have this radio in your new car; it’s an optional extra.

　　3. imagine vt. 想象。同根词：imaginable(可以想象出的)；imaginary（假想的）； imaginative（有想象力的）：1) He is the most suitable person imaginable. (他是可以想象出的最合适的人。) 2) The story is not real; it is only imaginary. （这个故事不是真实的，只是假想的。） 3) The artist’s imaginative use of color delighted the critics. (这位画家富有想象力的使用色彩使这些评论家兴高采烈。) image影像，偶像，雕像。imagination n. 想像力：He has plenty of imagination.

　　4. fund n. 基金，积累的一笔专款：Hard up families receive cash subsidies from the welfare funds. (经济困难的家庭从福利基金中得到现金补贴。) fund (复数) 资金，存款，现款，钱：Through lack of funds the scheme fell through. (由于缺乏资金，这项计划失败了。) They ought to be furnished with the necessary funds. (他们应该得到这些必要的资金。)

　　fund vt. 资助，为…提供资金：1) We are hoping that the government will fund the project. (我们正在盼望政府给这个项目提供资金。) 2) The university scientists’ research for a cure of this disease is being funded by the government. (这座大学的科学家为治疗这种疾病所进行的研究正得到政府的拨款。)

　　同根词：overfund vt. 为…提供过量资金。underfund vt. 对…提供资金不足。

　　Text 4 Word Study

　　1. rule out (=exclude, eliminate; make impossible, prevent, forbid) 把…排除在外，不把…考虑在内；使不可能，禁止。例如：

　　The regulations rule out anyone under the age of eighteen.(这些规章排除了18岁以下的任何人。) The possibility of suicide was ruled out.（自杀的可能性被排除了。） I’m sure that the doctor would rule out visits from you as much too exciting for the patient.（我确信，医生会禁止你们去探望，因为这样会使病人过分兴奋。）

　　2. present adj. 1) 在场，出席：Every member of the class was present. 2) 存在：Carbon is present in many minerals. 3) 现

　　在的：At the present moment he is supposed to be in Paris.

　　present n. 现在：I live in the present, not in the past. 常用成语： at present 目前：At present we are living in New York. for the present 暂且：For the present we had better do nothing.

　　present n. 礼物：I am just going out to get some presents for my sister.

　　present vt. 1) 赠送：He carried a copy out into the kitchen and presented it to Maria. 2) 颁发，递交：The principal will present the diplomas. 3) 提出 (论点，看法等)：The speaker presented arguments for his side. 4) 呈现出，显露出：Although he may be troubled, he always presents a calm smiling face. 5) present itself (机会等)出现: A good opportunity has presented itself for doing what you suggested.