礼节美语 Business Etiquette 229-Gambling I

 　　Patricia去找同事Kelly。

　　Patricia: Hey, Kelly...the boss just called me into his office. You and I have to go to Macau for a meeting with our international marketing¹ department. The meeting is on a Friday afternoon so I was thinking we could spend the weekend down there!

　　Kelly: Macau, eh? So I guess you're thinking about doing some gambling², right?

　　P: Well, it is legal in Macau. We might as well take advantage of this golden opportunity! Oh, there's John.John and I used to win some serious money in Las Vegas.

　　Patricia告诉Kelly，老板让他们两人星期五去澳门出差，跟公司的国际营销部同事开会，问Kelly愿不愿意索性在澳门待一个周末，去赌场试试手气。这时候，另外一位同事John走过来，Patricia说，John和他以前就曾在美国的赌城拉斯维加斯赢过不少钱，他说的some serious money意思是可观的数额。John说，

　　John: Yep, Pete and I used to go to Las Vegas at least twice a year. Gambling can be a lot of fun.

　　K: I've never really seen the appeal of gambling. I know it's possible to win big, but I've never won. I really hate losing money.

　　P: I hear you....but if you ever hit a jackpot you'll be addicted³ for life!

　　J: Winning is a pretty good feeling, but a lot of people can take it too far. Patricia, did you hear about Joe?

　　P: You mean Joe Klein? How's he doing?

　　J: Not so good. He lost his house and his wife left him. We didn't know it at the time, but he actually had a serious gambling problem.

　　John和Patricia以前每年至少一起去两次拉斯维加斯。Kelly说自己逢赌必输，所以赌钱对她没有appeal吸引力。Patricia说，虽然win big赢大钱的机会不多，但是if you ever hit a jackpot, you'll be addicted for life. 一旦中了头奖，就会一辈子上瘾。John说，赢钱感觉是不错，但千万不能take it too far玩过头，他们有个朋友Joe Klein had a serious gambling problem. 就是赌钱上瘾，结果输了房子不说，老婆也不要他了。

　　P: Really? That's too bad.

　　J: He was over $75,000 in debt...so eventually the bank took his house. As you can imagine, his wife wasn't too happy about that.

　　K: See? These are exactly the kind of stories I'm talking about! I think gambling can be as addictive⁴ as illegal drugs!

　　J: And I would have to agree. I don't have an addictive personality by nature so I'm generally able to control myself. But...I have lost more money than I can afford on more than one occasion⁵.

　　Kelly 觉得，gambling can be as addictive as illegal drugs. 赌博跟毒品差不多，让人上瘾。John 表示赞同，他说自己虽然自控能力比较强，and don't have an addictive personality by nature 也不是那种做事喜欢上瘾的人，但是赌钱的时候，还是不止一次输得超出了自己的承受能力，这里说的 more than one occasion 意思是不止一次。

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

3 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

4 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

5 occasion   

n.场合，时机，机会，诱因，理由；vt.惹起，引起

参考例句：

• Her dress was too showy for such a formal occasion.在如此正式的场合，她的服装过分华丽了。
• Her tears were fought back on such an occasion.在这种场合下她忍住了眼泪。