读者文摘:愚蠢的代价(1)

A Pennsylvania man plagued by opossums in his yard set fire to a pile of leaves, hoping to scare off the marsupials.

宾夕法尼亚州一名男子在自家院子里被负鼠骚扰，他点燃了一堆树叶，希望吓跑负鼠。

We don't know whether it worked, but he did succeed in nearly burning down his home, causing $50,000 worth of damage.

我们不知道这是否奏效，但他确实成功烧毁了自己的房子，造成了价值5万美元的损失。

A woman won $25,000 after entering a sweepstakes at an Illinois gambling¹ parlor².

一名女子进入伊利诺斯州的一家赌场，抽奖赢得了2.5万美元。

Good for her, except that she happens to be a prominent anti-gambling crusader, having gone after casinos, a VFW raffle³,

这对她来说是好事，除了她正好是一位杰出的反赌人士，去过赌场，抽了彩票，

and even the parent company of the gambling parlor where she won.

甚至还去了她赢钱的那家赌场的母公司。

Still, she insists she's not a hypocrite: Her winnings are a result of her crusade. "It's God showing his grace on me."

尽管如此，她仍然坚称自己不是伪正人：中奖奖金是她反赌的结果。“这是上帝在向我显示他的恩典。”

A man was arrested after Florida police mistook the glaze⁴ on his Krispy Kreme doughnut for crystal meth.

美国佛罗里达州一名男子因将卡卡圈坊上的奶浆错拿成冰毒而被捕。

His sweet revenge: a $37,500 settlement.

甜蜜的代价是：37500美元的赔偿。

1 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

2 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

3 raffle   

n.废物，垃圾，抽奖售卖；v.以抽彩出售

参考例句：

• The money was raised by the sale of raffle tickets.这笔款子是通过出售购物彩券筹集的。
• He won a car in the raffle.他在兑奖售物活动中赢得了一辆汽车。

4 glaze   

v.因疲倦、疲劳等指眼睛变得呆滞，毫无表情

参考例句：

• Brush the glaze over the top and sides of the hot cake.在热蛋糕的顶上和周围刷上一层蛋浆。
• Tang three-color glaze horses are famous for their perfect design and realism.唐三彩上釉马以其造型精美和形态生动而著名。