读者文摘:美国历史上最大的彩票骗局(5)

"You have these honest dupes," Sand says.

桑德说，“现在出现了这些诚实的骗子。”

"All these people are being offered thousands of dollars for doing something that's a little bit sneaky but not illegal."

“所有这些人都因为做了一些偷偷摸摸但不违法的事情而得到了数千美元的报酬。”

Investigators¹ in Iowa now had six tickets they figured were part of a bigger scam. But the question remained: How did it work?

爱荷华州的调查人员现在获知了六张中奖彩票，他们认为这是更大的骗局的一部分。但问题依然存在：它是如何运作的？

Fortunately, the computers used in the 2007 Wisconsin Lottery² jackpot were sitting in storage.

幸运的是，2007年威斯康辛州彩票头奖中使用的电脑被存放在储藏室里。

A computer expert, Sean McLinden, unearthed³ some malicious⁴ computer code.

计算机专家肖恩·麦克林登发现了一些恶意的计算机代码。

It hadn't been hidden; you just needed to know what to look for.

它没有被隐藏起来；你只需要知道要找什么。

"This," says Wisconsin assistant attorney general David Maas, "was finding the smoking gun."

威斯康辛州助理司法部长大卫·马斯说，“这个，就是确凿的证据。”

Eddie Tipton pleaded guilty, as did his brother, Tommy.

艾迪·蒂普顿认罪了，他的弟弟汤米也认罪了。

Now facing ten years in prison, Eddie agreed to spill his secrets, which lottery officials hoped would help them safeguard the games in the future.

艾迪现在面临10年的监禁，他同意透露自己的秘密，彩票官员希望这能帮助他们在未来保护彩票的安全。

He explained that the whole scheme had started fairly innocently one day when he walked past one of the accountants at the Multi-State Lottery Association.

他解释说，有一天，当他跟多州彩票协会的一位会计师聊天时，整个计划已经相当天真地开始了。

"Hey, did you put your secret numbers in there?" the accountant teased Eddie.

这个会计师取笑艾迪说，“嘿，你把你的秘密号码放进去了吗？”

"What do you mean?" "Well, you know, you can set numbers on any given day since you wrote the software."

“什么意思？”你知道，因为是你写了这个软件，所以你可以在任何一天设定号码。”

"Just like a little seed that was planted," Eddie said. "And then during one slow period, I tried it."

艾迪说，“这软件就像种下了一粒小种子，然后在一段漫长的时间里，我尝试了设定号码。”

To ensure that the winning numbers were generated randomly⁶, the computer took a reading from a Geiger counter that measured radiation in the surrounding air.

为了确保中奖号码是随机产生的，计算机从一个测量周围空气辐射的盖革计数器上读取读数。

The radiation reading was plugged into an algorithm to come up with the winning lottery numbers.

辐射读数被输入到一个算法中，以得出中奖彩票号码。

Eddie's scheme was to limit the random⁵ selection process as much as possible.

艾迪的计划是尽可能地限制随机选择过程。

His code kicked in only if the coming drawing fulfilled a narrow set of circumstances.

他的代码只有在抽取满足有限的条件时才会生效。

It had to be on a Wednesday or a Saturday evening, and one of three dates in a nonleap year:

它必须得在星期三或星期六晚上，而且是在平年的三个日期之一：

the 147th day of the year, the 327th day, or the 363rd day.

第147天，第327天，或第363天。

Investigators noticed those dates generally fell around holidays—Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas—when Eddie was often on vacation.

调查人员注意到，这些日子一般都在节假日前后——阵亡将士纪念日、感恩节和圣诞节——埃迪经常在这段时间度假。

If those criteria⁷ were satisfied, the random-number generator⁸ was diverted to a different track that didn't use the Geiger counter reading.

如果这些条件满足了，随机数发生器就会被转移到另一条不使用盖革计数器读数的轨道上。

Instead, the algorithm ran with a predetermined number, which restricted the pool of potential winning numbers to a much smaller, predictable set of options:

相反，该算法以一个预先确定的号码运行，这将潜在的中奖号码池限制在一个小得多、可预测的选项集:

Rather than millions of possible winning combinations, there would be only a few hundred.

不是数以百万计可能获胜的组合，而是只有几百种。

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

4 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

5 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

6 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

7 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

8 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。