媒体英语会带大家一起学习BBC撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

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Background: 两名美国游客将他们25年前从罗马斗兽场偷窃的一块石头邮寄归还，并表示道歉。

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The bit of stone, small enough to fit into a pocket, arrived in a courier package from the United States. The anonymous souvenir hunters sent a letter with it explaining they'd chipped off the piece on a visit to Rome 25 years ago.

It went on: "Over the years I started thinking that if all the visitors to that beautiful monument took a piece away with them, nothing would be left standing". The note added "It was a selfish and superficial act".

Rome's archaeological officials have accepted the apology saying the episode proved that "Rome and its monuments are the dream of all the world's tourists". The city has extended an invitation to the couple to come back to Rome.

It's not the first time bits of the city’s ancient heritage have proved tempting for tourists to relocate.

Last August a German visitor was caught trying to sneak out a nine kilogram rock from the Roman Forum in her backpack, whilst in 2006 another German tourist was caught at one of the city's airports with a piece of Roman column in his bag.