英文短篇故事（纽约）206 Lottery Ticket Is Now $2

 　　Lottery¹ officials doubled the price of a PowerBall ticket. It used to be $1. Now it's $2. The chance of winning the grand prize is now one in 175 million. It used to be one in 195 million. Second prize is now $1 million. It used to be $200,000. The smallest prize is now $4. It used to be $3. "The ticket increase is only a dollar," said a lottery official. "Now the payout is much better, and the chance of winning is much better. The public will love the new PowerBall." "I'm not playing PowerBall anymore!" said Bruce. "The chance of winning is still microscopic². They want us to pay double to win zero. How stupid do they think we are?" Six weeks later, the PowerBall grand prize was $310 million. Bruce bought a ticket. Just one ticket, for this one game, just this one time, Bruce promised himself.

1 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。

2 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。