你是否经常梦想着自己要是中了500万会过什么样的日子？看到一则则某人因彩票一夜暴富的新闻你是否羡慕不已呢？看看这间办公室里的几个人在如何策划自己的“中彩梦”吧！

The Syndicate
彩票团队
Situation: Bill is sat in the company break room reading a newspaper, while Ryan and Susan sit and relax…
情景：比尔在公司休息室读报纸，恰巧瑞恩和苏珊也在那休息……
Bill: (reading a newspaper) Hey, look at this! It says here that a group of office workers in Manchester won ￡50,000 on the Lottery last week!
比尔：（读报纸）嘿，看这条新闻！上面说曼彻斯特有间办公室的几个职员上周中了5万英镑的彩票！
Ryan: Fair play to them! Lord knows I could do with that kind of money.
瑞恩：对他们来说真是个好消息！上帝知道我会处理那笔钱的。
Susan: How did they all win the money? Were they part of a syndicate or something?
苏珊：他们怎么中的奖啊？是合买的彩票吗？
Bill: That's what it says. "The winners had been playing as part of a syndicate for over a year." Lucky sods. I've never won anything on the lottery.
比尔：正是如此，上面说“中奖那几个人一起合买彩票一年多了。”他们真幸运。我从来没中过彩票。
Susan: I won a tenner once. I don't play the lottery much. Hey, maybe we should start up our own syndicate!
苏珊：我中过10英镑。我不怎么买彩票。嗨，也许我们也该成立我们自己的彩票团队！
Ryan: Woah, woah, woah. Hold up a second. What's a syndicate, again?
瑞恩：天呐天呐天呐。不过等等，什么叫彩票团队？
Susan: Simple. We all pay for one lottery ticket, pick our own numbers, and pool the tickets together. Then we split any money we win between us.
苏珊：很简单啊。就是我们一起花钱买一张彩票，我们选好自己的号码，然后把所有的彩票集中，中的钱大家都有份。
Bill: Yeah, it's a way to broaden our chances of winning. Sure, we don't earn quite so much, but we win a lot more regularly.
比尔：对啊，这就增加了我们中奖的几率了。当然，我们不会赚那么多，但是中奖次数更频繁了。
Ryan: So if, say, we won 750 grand, we'd all get ￡250 thousand?
瑞恩：那么，如果说我们中了75万英镑，每个人就能得25万对吗？
Susan: Exactly.
苏珊：是这样的。
Ryan: That sounds like a pretty damn cool idea. It certainly makes a lot of sense to me. Let's do it!
瑞恩：这个主意太绝了。我看行，就这么办了！
Bill: Okay, I'm game. Susan, do you want to organise it? It was your suggestion, after all.
比尔：好啊，算我一个。苏珊，来不来？毕竟是你建议的啊。
Susan: Sure. I know you two are both in, so I'll ask around the rest of the office and see what comes up. Do you have any preference for numbers?
苏珊：当然。我就知道你俩会加入，我去问问别的同事看有没有人参加。你们有自己钟爱的数字吗？
Ryan: What numbers can we pick from?
瑞恩：我们都能选哪些数字啊？
Susan: Any from 1 to 49. You can pick a total of six. Give it some thought, and I'll come back in a bit to take down your numbers. Oh, and it'll be a quid to buy in to the syndicate.
苏珊：1到49里的任意一个，总共选6个。好好想想，我马上回来记下你们的数字。噢对了，我们一起买的话每人1英镑。
Susan wanders off to ask around the office.
苏珊出去问办公室的其他同事。
Ryan: Hey, Bill, what are you going to pick for your numbers?
瑞恩：嘿，比尔，你选哪个数？
Bill: Dunno. I normally pick numbers that are important – my age, my phone number and my wife's birthday… that kind of stuff.
比尔：不知道呢。我通常会选对我很重要的数字，比如我的年龄、电话号码和我太太的生日……就是这一类的。
Ryan: Your age? How do you manage that? The numbers only go up to 49!
瑞恩：你的年龄？那你可怎么办？只让选49以内的数字！
Bill: Cheeky git! I'm only 35!
比尔：你这家伙少胡扯！我才35！
Ryan: I think I'm going to pick mine randomly. You know, just decide on the fly.
瑞恩：我想我的数字还是任意选吧。你也知道，到时匆忙选一个吧。
Bill: Fair enough. That's as valid a tactic as any, I suppose.
比尔：太公平了，我想这比什么方法都可靠。
Ryan: This syndicate thing sounds like a good idea to me. I'm just trying to imagine what I'll spend with my millions when we win.
瑞恩：合买彩票是个不错的主意。我正在想要是中了奖那么多钱该怎么花。
Notes
1. tenner
这里是口语的用法，相当于“ten pounds”。
例句：
He earns a poor salary and his family only can spend a tenner for food each day.
他的工资少得可怜，全家老小每天只能花10英镑裹腹。
2. grand
口语的用法，指1000英镑或美元。
例句：
It's unbelievable that such a tiny thing costs a grand!
这么个小东西居然要花1000英镑，真是不可思议。
3. preference for
“preference”指偏爱的人或事物，“preference for something”指偏爱某物。
例句：
My preference is for French windows, so I bought a house with one.
我很偏爱落地窗，因此我买了栋带落地窗的房子。
I don't have any preference for brands.
我对品牌没有特别的偏爱。
4. dunno
这是口语的用法，相当于“I don't know”。
5. Cheeky git
从字面翻译就是“你这个无耻的家伙”。这并不是真正的辱骂性词语，是朋友间开的玩笑，略带讽刺意味。汉语里我们也经常会半开玩笑地与朋友笑骂。
6. randomly
“随意地、任意地”，“at random”也有此意。
例句：
I will choose a name in the list randomly and anyone chosen will come and sing a song in front.
我会从名单中任意抽取一个名字，任何一个被抽中的人都要到前面来唱支歌。
7. on the fly
该短语意为“匆忙地”，相当于“in haste”或“in a hurry”。
例句：
Please do some preparation before your speech. I don't want you to make it up on the fly.
请你在演讲前做些准备。我不想你匆匆了事。

　　

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