In April 1912, a second-class passengerpassenger/ˈpæsɪndʒər/L1乘客a person who is traveling in a car, bus, train, or plane, Henry Hodges, wrote a letter on the Titanic. He was a music salesmansalesmanL1男销售员a man salesperson from England and traveled to Boston for pleasure. He posted the letter in Queenstown. It describes the happy atmosphereatmosphere/ˈætməsfɪr/L2气氛，氛围the feeling or mood that you have in a place, especially because of the people or things there. on the ship. 'The weather is very fine,' he wrote, and he added a strange comment: 'I feel as tired as a dead dog.'
A few days later, the Titanic hit an icebergiceberg/ˈaɪsbɜːrɡ/L2冰山a very large piece of ice floating in the sea, most of which is below the water's surface. and sank. Henry Hodges was among the 1,500 people who died. A rescuerescue/ˈreskjuː/L2救援，营救to save someone or something from a dangerous or harmful situation. ship recovered his body and buried it in Halifax, Canada. Now, more than a hundred years later, his letter goes up for auctionauction/ˈɔːkʃən/L2拍卖a public sale at which items are sold to the person who offers the most money.. Experts expect it will sell for up to £35,000.
Also, an auctioneer, Andrew Aldridge, says the letter gives a rare glimpse of life for second-class passengers. He explains that people have not told the story of second class very much. Most people know about the rich first-class travelers or the poor third-class passengers. Hodges' letter shows a happy day before a very sad end.
