The Great Train Robbery

50 years ago to the day …
火車大劫案 - 距今五十年前……

1963, at about 3:00 in the morning
The Night Flyer rolled to an unexpected stop. The train was traveling from Glasgow, Scotland, to  London, England, but had been halted by a red signal light. Seeking an Emergency phone, a fireman stepped off the train only to be seized by robbers dressed as track workers. The men then entered the cab of the train and hit the driver over the head. Once they had unhooked the train's engine and first two cars from the rest, the Night Flyer moved on.

3:15 a.m.
It soon stopped at Bridego Bridge, where the thieves removed 120 mailbags from the High Value Package car. The driver and fireman were then tossed into the car with its five mail sorters and were told not to move. By 3:45, the thieves' mission was complete, and all 15 of them made off with their goods without a trace. A stolen total of about 2.6 million pounds (US $50 million today) earned the crime is name - the Great Train Robbery. But though the robbery was successful, there are no clean getaways....

The Hunt
In response to Britain's biggest train robbery. Scotland Yard assembled a team of detectives called the Flying Squad. They received a call about suspicious activity at a place called Leatherslade Farm. It turned out to be the thieves' hideout. "the whole place is one big clue," one detective said. They made the first arrest the following day, but the last wasn't made until 1968, when mastermind Bruce Reyolds was final caught. Most of the robbers received 25 or 30 years of jail time though all were released by 1978.

The Man who Ran
The exception was Ronni Biggs, who escaped from prison in 1965 and ran from one country to another. Hiding behind plastic surgery, he was discovered in Brazil but avoided capture several times. Finally in 2001 over 30 years after his escape, an unhealthy Biggs turned himself in to serve his jail time. In 2009, he was released for compassionate reasons a day before his 80th birthday. He happens to share the date with the anniversary of his famous crime.


Grammar Gym:
The Night Flyer rolled to an unexpected stop.
rolled - The ball rolled across the floor.
rolled - to move smoothly. （refer to something big that move...)
We jumped into our car and rolled down to the beach.
The truck rolled into the parking lot.

Vocabulary Tips:
halt -stop. 停止，使中断，阻止。
halted - stopped by something.
*A police officer halted the truck to check if there were any illegal immigrants.
*The government halted the construction of the highway due to environmental objections. 停下。。。环保考量的反对声浪
unhook - to separate it from something,  release. 解开，松开，把某物品从钩子上取下。'hook' -钩子，松钩。扣子松开。
hook - attached to something. 扣起来
*The workers spent hours carefully unhooking the curtains before painting the room.
*The fisherman unhooked the fish from the net because the fish was too small.
goods (n) -something that very valuable, can buy or sale it. 货品，商品。
*The store sells a whole variety of leather goods.
*The goods in the warehouse were all damaged by the fire.
*The price of dry goods rises during the Chinese New Year holiday.
getaway - get away. escaped with no trouble. 逃跑，离开。
*Perfect getaways only happen in movies, not in real life.
getaway -a short vacation. 短暂，短时间的假期。
*Patricia went to Miami for a weekend getaway.
....years ago to the day - (number of years) ago to the day. (number of years and number months ago) to the day. (number of years ago) to (this second), (to this moment), (to this hour)...
seized -stop someone and not allow someone to go anywhere.
make off with - to steal with something and get away. to get away with.
without a trace -no path or clue to find them. trace - path, clue.
no clean getaway - always some kind of clues or trace to find them.
suspicious -you are not sure, believe it might be bad.可疑的，引起怀疑的。
*The guy's suspicious behavior caught the security guards' attention.
suspicious -怀疑的，觉得可疑的。
*A suspicious neighbor heard screaming and called the police.
mastermind -the person who organized the robbery. 主谋，幕后主使者，操纵者。
 'master' -主要的。 'mind'- 思想，意念。
*The mastermind behind the kidnapping was arrested at the airport.
mastermind (v) - 主谋，策划，幕后操纵。
*Ray masterminded the whole scheme to  cheat the investors.
plastic surgery -  整形，（整形用很多的朔胶物资来填充。）
plastic -朔胶
*The girl had plastic surgery to change the shape of her nose.
plastic surgeon -整形医生。
*Greg is a famous plastic surgeon in Hollywood.
anniversary -celebrate the date of something very special.周年纪念。
*Brandon and his wife celebrated their wedding anniversary at a fancy restaurant.
*The company held a banquet to celebrate their 20th anniversary.
detective - collet all possible clues and search for the crimes.
turned out - you are not sure for something, that you find out the fact.
compassionate - concerned and have mercy.

Language Tips:
英文单字，每个字几乎都有好几个定义，要掌握到它在文章句子中的真实意思。
car/engine/cab -车/引擎/计程车
car - 此处不是‘车’，而是‘railroad carriage’火车的一节车厢。.
engine -此处不是‘引擎’，而是指‘火车头’。
cab -此处不是 ‘taxi.’而是‘火车头的驾驶室’。
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turn in - informal way to say "go to bed". 上床睡觉。
what time do you turn in? 你何时上床睡觉的？
I usually turn in at eleven o'clock. 我通常都在11点就寝。
turn in - 缴交。交作业，报告等。
Turn in to the teacher 。
turn someone in - 告发，检举某人。
turn himself in to the police. 自首，他向警察自首。
turn him in -告发，检举他。
..an unhealthy Biggs turned himself in to serve his jail time.。健康情形不佳的。。去自首而服刑。



Taking notes of Studioclassroom