托福阅读材料：想成为一国之君就给自己买一个国家吧

许多普通人都曾有过成为一国元首一国之君的梦想，如今购买一个世界上最小的国家就能圆梦。

For sale: the world's smallest country with its own flag, stamps, currency and passports.

待售：世界上最小的国家，含该国国旗、邮票、货币以及护照。

Apply to prince michael of sealand if you want to run your own nation, even if it is just a wartime fort perched on two concrete towers in the north sea.

如果你想治理一个属于自己的国家，且不计较它仅仅是由北海中两座混凝土塔楼组成的一个战时城堡，那就去向西兰公国的迈克尔王子申请吧。

Built in world war Two as an anti-aircraft base to repel german bombers, the derelict plat-form was taken over 40 years ago by retired army major Paddy Roy Bates who went to live there withhis family.

该城堡建于二战期间，是个用于抵御德国轰炸机的防空基地。40年前，退休少校帕迪·罗伊·贝茨带着家人住到这里，接管了这个已废弃的高台。

He declared the platform, perched seven miles off the east coast of england and just outside britain's territorial waters, to be the principality of sealand.

他将这个距英国东海岸七英里、恰在英国领海外的高台宣布为西兰公国。

The self-styled prince Roy adopted a flag, chose a national anthem and minted silver and gold coins.

这位自封的罗伊王子选定了国旗、国歌还铸造了西兰银币和金币。

The family saw off attempts by Britain's Royal Navy to evict them and also an attempt in 1978 by a group of german and dutch businessmen to seize sealand by force.

英国皇家海军曾试图驱逐他们，1978年还有一队德国和荷兰商人试图用武力夺取西兰.他们最终都被这家人赶了出去。

Roy, 85, now lives in Spain and his son Michael told BBC Radio his family had been approached by estate agents with clients "who wanted a bit more than a bit of real estate, they wanted autonomy."

罗伊现已85岁，住在西班牙。他的儿子迈克尔对英国广播公司电台说，一些客户已通过房地产中介与他们家取得了联系，“这些人想要的不只是一处房产，还有自治权。”

Notes:

fort :堡垒

mint [mint] n. 薄荷;造币厂，巨款

vt. 铸造，铸币

Royal Navy : 皇家海军