你是赢家吗

 　　Rob: Hello I’m Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m joined today by Neil. Hello Neil.

　　Neil: Hello Rob.
　　Rob: Now Neil, I have a question for you - do you think you are a winner?
　　Neil: You mean someone who has a lot of success in everything?
　　Rob: Well, not exactly - I'm just talking about competitions - do you have a lot of success or luck in winning them?
　　Neil: Competitions? No, not at all. I don't think I've ever won a competition.
　　Rob: Ah, bad luck. That means you're not a 'comper'. That's an informal name for someone who takes part in - or enters - competitions on an almost semi-professional basis. They spend a lot of time trying to win something.
　　Neil: You mean winning prizes - or free gifts.
　　Rob: I do. And Neil, you could win a prize if you can correctly answer today's question. So, are you ready?
　　Neil: I'm ready.
　　Rob: Well, a lottery 1 is one kind of competition where the prize is money. The biggest cash prizes can be won in the USA - but do you know what the biggest ever cash prize to be paid in America is? Is it:
　　a) $590 million
　　b) $890 million
　　c) $1 billion
　　Neil: Well, things tend to be big in America, so I'm going to go for c) $1 billion dollars.
　　Rob: I'd like to win that. We’ll find out if you are right or wrong later on. So let’s talk more about 'compers' - people who regularly take part in competitions. We could say they are hooked on - meaning addicted 2 to - taking part.
　　Neil: Yes, the lure 3 - or attractiveness - of winning big prizes means these people just can't stop answering quiz questions, writing slogans and captions 4 or solving puzzles.
　　Rob: Some people go to great lengths - or put a lot of effort into winning something - even if it's just a box of chocolates or a coffee mug. It's just the excitement of winning.
　　Neil: But sometimes there are big prizes to win - a new car, a speedboat or a holiday of a lifetime. The only problem is that these prizes are either not easy to win or there are millions of people trying to win them.
　　Rob: I've certainly never won anything as fantastic as that - but one man who has had plenty of good luck is Martin Dove, who is a retired 5 lecturer and an expert 'comper'.
　　Neil: He certainly is. He's won a yacht, a racehorse and lots of smaller prizes too. Let's hear from him now. Listen out for the names he says people have called him…
　　Martin Dove, a 'comper':
　　I've been a comper for 40 years. It's like admitting some addiction 6 isn't it really! Some people have called me the Master of Comping, the King of Comping, the Guru of Comping, but it's just a word, it's just a phrase, it's just I was fairly high-profile.
　　Rob: So, he says he was fairly high-profile - that means he was often seen in public, mentioned in newspapers, or appeared on television. And because he was high-profile he got called a few nicknames…
　　Neil: …names like the master of comping - so someone who is very good or skilled at it. And the king of comping - not an actual royal king but someone is the best at doing something. And the guru of comping - that's someone who other people respect and go to for advice about comping.
　　Rob: Well, he knows his stuff and he still checks out competitions on cereal boxes and crisp packets for the next big win. He's even written books on the subject and offered advice to other compers.
　　Neil: But comping has changed, Rob. There are lots of competitions to enter on the internet now. Every webpage you look at seems to tempt 7 us with a fantastic prize to be won.
　　Rob: That's true. But Martin Dove doesn't think that is necessarily a good thing. Can you hear why?
　　Martin Dove, a 'comper':
　　The thing is now competitions are far easier to enter than they ever were. In the old days I could spend a fortnight crafting a slogan and really working hard and really being proud of it. Now all you have do is 'click, click, click, click, click' and because it only takes 30 seconds to do, 20 minutes you can knock out 40 competitions. And you can get a million entries now, so it's a million to one.
　　Neil: So, competitions online are easier to enter - you just have to click. Martin said he could enter about 40 competitions in just 20 minutes!
　　Rob: But because it's so easy, more people enter and so the odds 8 - or chances of winning are less. Sometimes, a one in a million chance of winning - a very
　　rare or unlikely chance. I wonder what your chances are of getting today's question right Neil?
　　Neil: One in three maybe?
　　Rob: Maybe! Well, earlier I asked you what is the biggest ever cash prize to be paid out in a lottery in the USA? Is it:
　　a) $590 million
　　b) $890 million
　　c) $1 billion
　　Neil: I said it was c) $1 billion
　　Rob: And you are wrong. It's actually only $590 million; that was won by an 84-year-old woman in Florida last year. Neil, what's the biggest prize you've ever won?
　　Neil: I think I once, about 10 years ago, won ?10 on the British National Lottery.
　　Rob: Wow, that's a big win! Well, for getting today's question wrong you get the consolation 9 prize of reminding us of some of the words that we've heard today.
　　Neil: OK, we heard:
　　luck
　　comper
　　prizes
　　lottery
　　hooked on
　　the lure
　　slogans
　　high-profile
　　master
　　guru
　　the odds
　　one in a million
　　Rob: OK.




点击收听单词发音  






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
addicted

  
 


adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的


参考例句：





He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。












3
lure

  
 


n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引


参考例句：





Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。












4
captions

  
 


n.标题，说明文字，字幕( caption的名词复数 )v.给（图片、照片等）加说明文字( caption的第三人称单数 )


参考例句：





I stared, trying to grasp the point of the picture and the captions. 我目不转睛地看着漫画，想弄清楚漫画和解说词的意思。 来自辞典例句
Indicates whether the user or the system paints the captions. 指示是由用户还是由系统来绘制标题。 来自互联网












5
retired

  
 


adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的


参考例句：





The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。












6
addiction

  
 


n.上瘾入迷，嗜好


参考例句：





He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。












7
tempt

  
 


vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣


参考例句：





Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。












8
odds

  
 


n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别


参考例句：





The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？












9
consolation

  
 


n.安慰，慰问


参考例句：





The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。