走进耶鲁大学 第8期:彩票的发展历程

 Lotteries¹

彩票的发展历程

A lottery² is a form of gambling³ which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Some governments outlaw⁴ it, while others endorse⁵ it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulations of lottery by governments.

摸彩是一种通过抽签来获得奖品的赌博形式。有些国家将其视为非法活动，有些国家则认可其以国家彩票或州彩票的形式出现。政府对相关问题出台的法令法规也随处可见。

At the beginning of the 20th century, most forms of gambling like lotteries were illegal in many countries such as the U.S. and most of Europe. This remained so until after World War II. In the 1960s， casinos and lotteries began to appear throughout the world as a means to raise revenue in addition to taxes.

20世纪初期，像摸彩这类赌博活动在美国及欧洲的许多国家里都是非法的。这种情况一直延续至二战之后。20世纪60年代，赌场及彩票作为除税收之外的另一增加收益的途径而风行全世界。

Lotteries come in many formats⁷. The prize can be a fixed⁸ amount of cash or goods. In this format⁶ there is risk to the organizer if insufficient⁹ tickets are sold. More commonly the prize fund will be a fixed percentage of the receipts. A popular form of this is the "50-50" draw where the organizers promise that the prize will be 50% of the revenue.

彩票以多种形式存在。奖品可以是一定金额的现金抑或是物品。如果彩票没有足够多的销售额，就会给组织者带来一定的风险。通常来说，获奖金额是所获得收人的某一固定比例。普遍采用的形式是半对半，即组织者向公众承诺获奖额度占总收人的一半。

The purchase of lottery tickets is, from the perspective of classical economics，irrational. However, in addition to the chance of winning, the ticket may enable some purchasers to experience a thrill and to indulge in a fantasy of becoming wealthy. If the entertainment value (or other non-monetary¹⁰ value) obtained by playing is high enough to a given individual, then the purchase of a lottery ticket could represent a gain in overall utility. In such a case, the monetary loss would be outweighed¹¹ by the non-monetary gain, thus making the purchase a rational decision for that individual.

从古典经济学的角度来说，购买彩票这一活动是不明智的。然而，除了可能中奖的机会外，彩票能给购买者带来一时的兴奋或沉浸于一夜变富的千秋大梦中。如果由此获得的娱乐价值（或其他非盈利价值）对某个人来说足够的高，那么购买彩票便称得上是整体效用的一大收获。这种情况下，失去的那部分钱由非盈利效用抵消了，购买彩票对这个人来说便是一个明智的选择了。

In the U.S., the existence of lotteries is subject to the laws of each jurisdiction¹²; there is no national lottery. Before the advent¹³ of state-sponsored lotteries, many illegal lotteries thrived. Instant lottery tickets were introduced in the 1970s and have since become a major source of state lottery revenue.

在美国，彩票受到各司法管辖区法律的约束，没有国家彩票。在州彩票出现之前, 即时彩票出现于20世纪70年代，之后便成为州彩票收人的主要来源。

Presently, many lotteries in the U.S. donate large portions of their proceeds to the public education system. However, these funds frequently replace instead of supplement conventional funding, resulting in no additional money for education.

目前，美国有许多中彩者都会将他们收益的大部分用于捐助公共教育事业。然而， 这些资金常常是取代了常规集资，而不是作为其补充，因而并未给教育带来额外的资金。

1 lotteries   

n.抽彩给奖法( lottery的名词复数 )；碰运气的事；彩票；彩券

参考例句：

• Next to bullfights and soccer, lotteries are Spain's biggest sport. 除了斗牛和足球以外，彩票是西班牙最热门的玩意儿。 来自辞典例句
• Next to bullfight and soccer, lotteries are Spain's biggest sport. 发行彩票在西班牙是仅次于斗牛和足球的最大娱乐活动。 来自辞典例句

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 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。

4 outlaw   

n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法

参考例句：

• The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months.逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
• The outlaw has been caught.歹徒已被抓住了。

5 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

6 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

7 formats   

n.（出版物的）版式( format的名词复数 )；[电视]电视节目的总安排（或计划）

参考例句：

• They are producing books in all kinds of different formats. 他们出版各种不同开本的书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A true GUI includes standard formats for representing text and graphics. 真正的图形用户界面包括表示文字和图形的标准格式。 来自互联网

8 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

9 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

10 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

11 outweighed   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• This boxer outweighed by his opponent 20 pounds. 这个拳击选手体重比他的对手重20磅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She outweighed me by ten pounds, and sometimes she knocked me down. 她的体重超过我十磅，有时竟把我撞倒。 来自百科语句

12 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

13 advent   

n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临

参考例句：

• Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
• The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。