坑爹 彩票号码印错50万美金成泡影

 　　A New Mexico man has spoken of his anger after buying what appeared to be a winning lottery¹ ticket worth more than $500,000 - only for officials to claim it was a misprint and refuse to honor it.

　　美国新墨西哥州一名男子买了一张彩票并且中了50多万美元，可结果却是兑奖方说这张彩票印错了，拒绝为其兑换。

　　John Wines, who has recently retired², bought the New Mexico Lottery scratcher - featuring the winning numbers '1' and '2' - from a Shell gas station in Roswell, Chaves County, in December.

　　已经退休的约翰·瓦恩斯于去年12月在新墨西哥州罗斯韦尔的壳牌加油站买了一张彩票，显示号码上有得奖数字1和2。。

　　As he started scratching, he was stunned³ to come across two '1s' - both of which were worth $250,000. He later uncovered another '1' ($75) and two further '2s' ($500 and $50 respectively).

　　当他开始刮的时候，瓦恩斯看到号码上有两个1，每个1都能领取25万美元的奖金。他接着刮的时候又刮开了另一个1（奖金75美元），以及两个2（奖金分别是500与50美元）。

　　Assuming that the scratcher's stated maximum prize of $250,000 was wrong, a delighted Mr Wines returned to the gas station to collect his winnings. However, he was told he had not won anything.

　　这让瓦恩斯还以为新墨西哥州的最高奖金不只是25万美元，于是兴冲冲地跑到加油站去兑换自己的大奖。但他被告知他根本什么都没中。

　　Instead, the female cashier explained that the 'winning' numbers were, in fact, double-figure numbers that had seen their right-hand-side numbers omitted as a result of a misprint by the lottery.

　　那里的女收银员解释说那些所谓的中奖数字只不过是彩票公司不小心印错了，在彩票的右边还能看到没有完全印出来的数字。

　　'I took it back in and she told me that is not a winner,' Mr WInes told KOB 4 News. 'They told me that it was a misprint and they don't pay off for misprints.'

　　瓦恩斯说：“我把彩票拿去兑奖的时候，她告诉我我不是中奖者。他们说这不过是印错了，他们不会兑现印错了的彩票。”

　　Indeed, if you look closely at Mr Wines's ticket, you can see part of several numbers that are supposed to be next to the 1s and 2s. However, it is unclear what figures they are meant to be.

　　确实，如果仔细看瓦恩斯先生的彩票，能看到1和2旁边似乎应该还有数字。不过看不清这些数字原本应该是什么。

　　Furthermore, the letters underneath⁴ the 1s and 2s - which are a safety figure designed to prevent fraud by responding to specific numbers (such as 14 = 'FTN') - clearly refer to other numbers.

　　另外，数字1和2下面的字母显然代表的也是其他数字，这些字母原本应该与其上的数字一一对应，如FTN表示14，这是为了更准确保险。

　　But despite the evidence, Mr Wiles⁵ claims the ticket appears to be a winner, saying: 'There’s a 1 right here for $250,000,” said Wines. “Right below that is another 1 and it's a $250,000 winner.'

　　尽管证据很明显，但瓦恩斯还是觉得他应该拿到奖金。他说：“这上面确实有一个能兑换25万美元的1啊。而且在这个1的下面还有一个1，它也能兑钱啊。”

　　He added: 'I mean, if you thought you won $500,000 and somebody tells you that you didn't, and you can prove you did, it's pretty stressful for somebody to say, "no you're not getting your money".'

　　瓦恩斯还说：“我的意思是，如果你本来以为自己能中50万美元，可结果别人告诉你其实没有中奖，但你能证明自己中了，不过他们还是说‘不，你拿不到那些钱的’，这的确挺悲催的。”

　　Following the gas station's refusal to pay him his winnings, Mr Wiles contacted the New Mexico Lottery. However, the firm apparently⁶ told him in an email that his ticket was certainly 'not a winner'.

　　在被加油站拒绝之后，瓦恩斯又联系了新墨西哥州的彩票中心。不过在邮件中，该公司也告诉他，从他拿出来的彩票来看，他确实不能算是中奖者。

　　As a goodwill⁷ gesture, officials offered him $100 in lottery tickets, according to the broadcaster.

　　为了补偿瓦恩斯先生，彩票中心给了他价值100美元的彩票。

　　But an angry Mr Wiles said: 'This is $500,000. That's a half million. It’s like I told them, I didn't misprint it. I bought the ticket in good faith thinking if I won I was going to get my money.'

　　不过愤怒的瓦恩斯坚持认为：“本来应该是50万美元，一百万美元的一半啊。这个彩票又不是我印错的，我买它就是想看看自己能不能中奖。”

1 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

4 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

5 wiles   

n.（旨在欺骗或吸引人的）诡计，花招；欺骗，欺诈( wile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All her wiles were to persuade them to buy the goods. 她花言巧语想打动他们买这些货物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The woman used all her wiles to tempt him into following her. 那女人用尽了自己的诱骗本领勾引着他尾随而去。 来自《用法词典》

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。