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By Stasia Buckle

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I absolutely love junk. I don’t care what it is. If it looks rubbish I’ll probably buy it.

I think I got this from my granddad. His flat was full of the stuff. I remember he had a cupboard piled with treasures which my sister and I would spend hours rummaging around in.[2] I don’t think we ever actually made it through to the back wall but I did manage to find an old pellet gun once.[3] I casually pulled the trigger right at my sister’s head. Thankfully the pellet missed, but the bang was so loud that it did leave us both deaf for the rest of the day. Granddad thought this was so funny and from then on every time we left his flat he would follow us out to the car and fire the pistol[4] into the air as we drove away.

I don’t think granddad gave much thought to the colour scheme or interior design[5] of his place. You couldn’t see the walls or the carpet for a start. To an adult it was a mess, but it was like Santa’s grotto[6] to me. You never left there disappointed. He had it all, Charles and Diana mugs, framed pictures of the Pope, china dogs carrying shopping bags, trinkets of every kind.[7] He even re-purposed[8] his junk. I once walked into the living room to find a picture of the Queen framed by a toilet seat[9]—I don’t think he was much of a fan.

My love of junk has got me into financial trouble. If I want something then I’m quite happy to barter[10] all day. For me it’s not about the price, it’s about the game. I love it. When I’m on eBay[11], I forget about the price and what I’m buying. I get so involved with the bidding that all else is forgotten whilst I race to win the sale.[12] Then right at the last minute some clever git[13] always gets in there with the final bid. This is when things get personal and I burst into a fit of rage and bid on anything just to win and make myself feel better.

I went to Kempton Market[14] the other day and I could feel my heart speeding up as I looked at all the piles of lovely junk. Here it’s described as “antique” or “vintage” and I can’t afford it.[15] Even an old Muppet money saving tin, where you put a shilling into its mouth and in return it shuts its mouth and then smiles at you,[16] was ￡85. And where would I find a shilling anyway?

I have managed to get my hands on some good stuff during my junk raids.[17] I have had to work hard for it though, but it was worth it. My favourite pieces of junk are special. They have history, character and charm, and I suppose you can never really put a price on that.

Vocabulary

1. junk: 廢棄的舊東西，廢舊雜物；junkie: 廢品舊貨商，〈喻〉上癮的人。

2. cupboard:（放衣服、食品等的）小櫥柜；rummage: 翻找，仔細搜查。

3. made it through to the back wall: 形容祖父櫥柜里的雜物很多，翻不到頭；pellet:（氣槍、獵槍、玩具槍等的）子彈，鉛彈。

4. pistol: 手槍，發令槍。

5. colour scheme or interior design: 指對房屋墻面、內飾等的顏色配置和內部裝修。

6. Santa’s grotto: 圣誕老人的小屋，用來給孩子們儲存圣誕節禮物，grotto本義為“洞穴，（人工開挖用以避暑的）洞室”。

7. Charles and Diana mug: 查爾斯王子和戴安娜王妃的結婚紀念杯；Pope: 教皇；trinket: 小裝飾物，廉價首飾。

8. re-purpose: 此處指為舊物尋找新用途。

9. toilet seat: 馬桶座圈。

10. barter: 討價還價。

11. eBay: 全球最大的電子商務網站。

12. bidding:（在拍賣中買主）喊價，出價；whilst: =while，當……的時候；race: 全速進行。

13. git: 無用的人。

14. Kempton Market: 指在倫敦坎普頓公園（Kempton Park）內舉辦的舊貨買賣集市，每兩個月舉辦一次，是英國最大的舊貨市場。

15. antique: 古董的；vintage: 古式的，老式的。

16. muppet: 提線木偶；money saving tin: 存錢罐；shilling: 先令，英國1971年以前的貨幣單位。

17. get one’s hands on: 把……弄到手；raid: 劫掠，奪取。

（來源：英語學習雜志）