文章原文：
Hasit ever happened to you? Have you ever put your trousers in the washing machineand then remembered there was a large bank note in your back pocket? When you rescuedyour trousers, did you find the note was whiter than white? People who live inBritain needn't despair when they made mistakes like this (and a lot of peopledo)! Fortunately for them, the Bank of England has a team called MutilatedLadies which deals with claims from people who fed their money to a machine orto their dog. Dogs, it seems, love to chew up money!
Arecent case concerns Jane Butlin whose fiancé, John, runs a successfulfurniture business. John had a very good day and put his wallet containing$3,000 into the microwave oven for safekeeping. Then he and Jane wenthorse-riding. When they got home, Jane cooked their dinner in the microwaveoven and without realizing it, cooked her fiancé's wallet as well. Imaginetheir dismay when they found a beautifully-cooked wallet and notes turned toash! John went to see his bank manager who sent the remains of wallet and themoney to the special department of the Bank of England in Newcastle: theMutilate Ladies! They examined the remains and John got all his money back. 'Solong as there's something to identify, we will give people their money back,'said a spokeswoman for the Bank. 'Last year, we paid $1.5m on 21,000 claims.
精读笔记：
1.Mutilatedladies
(1)英国银行专门负责检查鉴定残缺、毁坏纸币的工作组。
(2)mutilate:todamage something severely, especially by violently removing a part.
例句：Herbody had been mutilated beyond recognition.
(3)lady:这里专门指代英国纸币上的女王。
2.Haveyou ever put your trousers in the washing machine and then remembered there wasa large bank note in your back pocket?
banknote:a piece of printed paper that has a particular value as money.
3.Whenyou rescued your trousers, did you find the note was whiter than white?
(1)rescue:tohelp someone or something out of a dangerous, harmful, or unpleasant situation.
例句：Thelifeboat rescued the sailors from the sinking boat.
(2)whiter
than white:extremely white，这个也是英国一种洗衣粉的广告，用在这里有一种反讽的效果，使表达更加形象生动。
4.Fortunatelyfor them, the Bank of England has a team called Mutilated Ladies which dealswith claims from people who fed their money to a machine or to their dog.
(1)dealwith:to be responsible for a particular job or activity in a company or organization.
例句：Thedepartment I work in deals with customer complaints.
(2)claim:awritten request to an organization to pay you a sum of money which you believeit owes you.
例句：Afterthe storm, dozens of claims were filed to collect crop insurance.
(3)feed:to
give food to a person or animal，本文中用这个词更加生动形象，常见搭配有feed something
to somebody和feedsomebody with something.
例句：Severalchildren were feeding bread to the ducks.
5.Dogs,it seems, love to chew up money!
chewup:to bite something many times with your teeth so that you can make it smalleror softer and swallow it.
例句：Thedog’s chewed up my slippers again.
6.Arecent case concerns Jane Butlin whose fiancé, John, runs a successfulfurniture business.
(1)concern:Ifa story, film, or article concerns a particular subject, person, etc., it isabout that person or subject.
例句：Thedocumentary concerns a woman who goes to China as a missionary.
(2)fiancé:theman who a woman is going to marry.
7.Imaginetheir dismay when they found a beautifully-cooked wallet and notes turned toash!
(1)dismay:afeeling of unhappiness and disappointment.
(2)beautifully-cooked在这里有反讽、幽默的效果。
8.Solong as there's something to identify, we will give people their money back.
(1)solong as:used before saying the conditions that will make something else happenor be true.
例句：Myparents don’t care what job I get, as long as I’m happy.
(2)identify:torecognize someone or something and say or prove who or what that person orthing is.
例句：Eventhe smallest baby can identify its mother by her voice.
9.在这篇文章里，作者使用了rescue trousers,
feed money, chew up money, cook wallet等非常有特色的用法，达到幽默、生动的效果。
