新奇事件簿 纽约男子被狗咬 索赔2乘以10的36次方美元

There is a phrase in English when someone gets a big salary that they earn "telephone numbers". A man in New York is suing the city (and others) for so much that it is almost impossible to think of a comparison. Anton Purisima, 62, is suing for two undecillion dollars. Over 99.99 per cent of English speakers would not know or have heard of the word for this amount. That astronomical¹ figure is two undecillion dollars – a two followed by 36 zeros. The only people who are likely to need this word are probably astrophysicists and astronomers². Two undecillion dollars is, in fact, more than all the money in the whole world. Even more than all the wealth created throughout humankind's entire history.

英语中有一个短语用来形容工资很高，那就是earn telephone number. 纽约的一个人起诉该市(和其他人),称这一数字根本是无法想象的。安东里西马今年62岁，控告城市赔偿两倍的1066美元。99.99%以上的以英语为母语的人根本没有听过这样一个数字。这一天文数字是1066美元的两倍，也就是数字2后面有36个数字0.唯一的人可能需要这个词的人可能是天体物理学家和天文学家。事实上, 1066美元的两倍超过整个世界上所有的钱的数量。甚至比人类整个历史上创造的所有财富还要多。

So what did New York City do so wrong to be sued for such a mind-bogglingly gargantuan³ sum? Quite a lot, it seems. The New York Post reports that Mr Purisima is suing the city (as well as two local hospitals, LaGuardia Airport, the transportation system, a bakery and even a dog owner) for "civil-rights violations⁴, personal injury, discrimination in national origin, retaliation⁵, harassment⁶, fraud, attempted murder, intentional⁷ infliction⁸ of emotional distress⁹, and conspiracy¹⁰ to defraud¹¹". Why? Well, it's because last month a "rabies-infected" dog bit his finger on a city bus; then, a "Chinese couple" took photos of him without asking; and to add insult to injury, he is routinely overcharged for coffee at LaGuardia Airport.

那么纽约做了什么错事的被起诉赔偿这样令人难以置信的巨款呢？似乎很多。《纽约邮报》报道说,里西马先生起诉纽约市。(以及两个当地医院,拉瓜迪亚机场,交通系统,面包店,甚至一位狗主人)“侵犯公民权利,人身伤害,种族歧视,报复,骚扰,欺诈、蓄意谋杀,故意精神伤害,合谋欺骗”。为什么?这是因为上个月在在城市公交车上，一只感染了狂犬病的狗咬破了他的手指头。然后,一对“中国夫妇”在没有经其同意的情况下拍下了照片，这对其造成了受伤后的侮辱，他经常在拉瓜迪亚机场被多收喝咖啡的费用。

1 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

2 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gargantuan   

adj.巨大的，庞大的

参考例句：

• My gargantuan,pristine machine was good for writing papers and playing solitaire,and that was all.我那庞大的、早期的计算机只适合写文章和玩纸牌游戏，就这些。
• Right away,I realized this was a mistake of gargantuan proportions.我立刻意识到这是一个巨大的错误。

4 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

5 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

7 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

8 infliction   

n.（强加于人身的）痛苦，刑罚

参考例句：

• Don't immerse yourself in the infliction too long.不要长时间沉浸在痛苦经历中。
• Instead of rivets there came an invasion,an infliction,and a visitation.但是铆钉并没有运来，来的却是骚扰、混乱和视察。

9 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

10 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

11 defraud   

vt.欺骗，欺诈

参考例句：

• He passed himself off as the managing director to defraud the bank.他假冒总经理的名义诈骗银行。
• He is implicated in the scheme to defraud the government.他卷入了这起欺骗政府的阴谋。