英文短篇故事（纽约）141 Powerball Ticket Price Doubles

 　　"Did¹ you hear the news²?" his wife³ asked. "They're doubling⁵ the price⁶ of a Powerball ticket next year. It's going⁷ to be $2." He said⁸, "Two dollars for one ticket? That's ridiculous⁹! One dollar is too much already¹⁰. We never win anything!" Correcting¹¹ him, she said, "We won¹² two dollars last week." They had¹³ bought 10 tickets last week because first prize¹⁴ was¹⁵ $130 million¹⁶. "Are they going to double¹⁷ our chances¹⁹ of winning²⁰?" he asked. "No," she replied²¹. "They're going to make second prize worth²² $1 million. Right now it's worth $200,000." He said, "Big deal²³. Our chance¹⁸ of winning second prize is as⁴ low²⁴ as winning first prize. Next year, we're not going to waste²⁵ our money on $2 Powerball tickets. Instead²⁶, we'll buy scratchers. They're only a dollar. In fact²⁸, every time we spend a dollar on a scratcher²⁷, we'll save²⁹ a dollar! Scratchers will be free³⁰!"

1 did   

v.动词do的过去式

参考例句：

• How many goals did you score in the last game?上一场比赛你们进了几个球？
• Why did you choose basketball in the first place?你为何首先选择篮球呢？

2 news   

n.新闻，消息

参考例句：

• No news is good news.没有消息就是好消息。
• I like reading hot news.我喜欢读热点新闻。

3 wife   

n.妻子，太太，老婆

参考例句：

• She is my wife.她是我妻子。
• He is a tall man but his wife is a short woman.他是个子很高的男人，但他妻子很矮。

4 as   

conj.按照；如同

参考例句：

• He got work in a hotel as a waiter.他在一家旅馆找到了当服务生的工作。
• In the hotel,the old men were drinking away as usual.在旅馆里，这些老人和往常一样喝个不停。

5 doubling   

加倍，成双

参考例句：

• He is doubling the parts of a preacher and a teacher. 他扮演传道人和教师两个角色。
• He's doubling the parts of a servant and a farm worker. 他既当仆人又做农工。

6 price   

n.价格，代价，价值；vt.定格，标价，比较价格

参考例句：

• The goods have gone up in price.这些商品的价格已经上涨。
• They are selling the bikes off the market price.他们按低于市价卖出自行车。

7 going   

n.去，离去，地面(或道路)的状况，工作情况；(复数形式）goings: 行为；adj.进行中的，流行的，现存的

参考例句：

• We're going to listen to a report this afternoon. 今天下午我们要去听报告。
• He hates leaving the office and going on holiday.他不愿离开办公室去度假。

8 said   

v.动词say的过去式、过去分词

参考例句：

• He said to me that he could not come.他对我说他不能来。
• He said to his mother that he would do it by himself.他对他的母亲说他将自己独立做那件事。

9 ridiculous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的；荒唐的

参考例句：

• It is simply ridiculous to attempt such a thing.试图干这种事，简直可笑。
• It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life.这是我有生以来听到的最为荒唐可笑的事。

10 already   

adv.已经

参考例句：

• We have eaten already.我们已经吃过了。
• I've been there already,so I don't want to go again.我早已去过那里了，所以我不想再去了。

11 correcting   

v.改正( correct的现在分词 )；[数学、物理学]校正；（试卷）改错；批改

参考例句：

• The economic market is a self-correcting mechanism, that does not need regulation by government. 经济市场是一种自动调节的机制，不需要政府调控。
• He spent much time correcting my grammar. 他花了很多时间来改我的语法错误。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 won   

vt.赢得(为win的过去式)

参考例句：

• We won the game in the end.我们最终赢得了比赛。
• We won the football game.我们赢得了足球赛的胜利。

13 had   

vbl.have的过去式和过去分词；conj.有

参考例句：

• I just had a good idea!我有个好主意！
• The boy had a small branch of a tree in his hand.这个男孩手上拿一条小树枝。

14 prize   

n.奖，奖品，战利品；v.珍视，捕获

参考例句：

• He won a prize for good behaviour at school.他因在校的表现好而获奖。
• He hopes from his very heart that he will win a prize.他满心希望获奖。

15 was   

v.(is,am的过去式)是，在

参考例句：

• He said he was right.他说他是正确的。
• He was cold and hungry.他又冷又饿。

16 million   

num.百万，100万；n.无数，大众

参考例句：

• I've seen it a million times.我在书上看过无数遍了。
• What will you do if you had a million dollars?如果你有一百万美元，你会干什么？

17 double   

n.两倍；adj.两倍的，双重的；v.加倍的，快步走，加倍努力

参考例句：

• They bought a double bed.他们买了一张双人床。
• Ten is the double of five.10是5的两倍。

18 chance   

n.机会，意外；运气；风险；vi.偶然发生；vt.偶然发生，冒险

参考例句：

• We will take a chance to have the party outdoor.我们将冒险举行露天聚会。
• This is the last chance any of us has.对于我们中的任何人来说，这是最后的一次机会。

19 chances   

n.机会( chance的名词复数 )；偶然；风险；某事发生的可能性

参考例句：

• I'm not over-optimistic about my chances of getting the job. 我对获得这份工作不抱太大希望。
• They appeared surprisingly pessimistic about their chances of winning. 他们对胜利的可能性显得出奇地悲观。

20 winning   

adj.获胜的，胜利的；吸引人的，有说服力的

参考例句：

• Team A has no chance of winning.A队没有获胜的可能。
• They have great hopes of winning.他们获胜的希望极大。

21 replied   

v.[法律]（原告对被告）答辩( reply的过去式和过去分词 )；反响；作答；（以行动）做出反应

参考例句：

• She replied in a measured tone to his threat. 她以很有分寸的语气回答了他的威胁。
• I gathered from the way she replied that she wasn't very enthusiastic. 从她回答的语气判断，我觉得她不很热心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 worth   

adj.值钱；值得，具有..价值；n.价值，作用

参考例句：

• The book was old and it was not worth a cent.这本书旧了，一文不值。
• This novel is worth reading. 这部小说值得一读。

23 deal   

n.交易，协定，份量；v.(dealt,dealt[delt])处理，应付，分配

参考例句：

• Be careful. She is very difficult to deal with.可得当心，她很难对付。
• Deal with a man as he deals with you.以其人之道，还治其人之身。

24 low   

aaj.低，矮；低级的，下层的，卑贱的；低声的

参考例句：

• Your price is too low.你们的价格太低。
• This is a small and low house.这是一个小而低矮的房子。

25 waste   

v.浪费；滥用

参考例句：

• Ah!This is a waste of time!啊，真是浪费时间！
• If you give her money,she'll only waste it.如果你把这笔钱给她，她只会把它浪费掉。

26 instead   

adv.代替；顶替

参考例句：

• She decided to leave here on Sunday instead of Monday.她决定星期日而不是星期一离开这里。
• Will you go to the party instead of me?你替我赴宴好吗？

27 scratcher   

n.抓扒者，抓扒工具

参考例句：

28 fact   

n.事实，实情，论据

参考例句：

• It is close to fact.这更接近于事实。
• I'm going there tomorrow,as a matter of fact.其实，我明天是准备去那里。

29 save   

n.救援，救球，节约；v.解救，保存，节省；prep.除...之外

参考例句：

• Why didn't you save me?你为什么不救我？
• We have to save old newspapers.我们得保存旧报纸。

30 free   

adj.自由的，免费的；v.使自由；adv.随意地

参考例句：

• I don't have much free time.我没有多少空闲时间。
• There really is no free lunch.天下果然没有免费的午餐。