万花筒 2009-01-07&01-08丈夫亡故，飞来千万横财

It's a lottery¹ story unlike so many others, where chance was followed quickly by fate and grief gave way to an amazing discovery. That's Charlotte Peters, and that's a golden lottery ticket she almost threw away. Her husband had bought it a couple of months ago, but died of a heart attack that same day, never knowing the ticket was a big winner.

My husband had purchased it on November 1st and he had a heart attack on November 1st, and this was drawn² on December 2nd.

His wife didn't know it was a winner either and put the ticket aside during weeks of mourning until just recently.

 

I was on the verge³ of throwing it out, and I was in the grocery store, and I asked to have it checked, and they told me I was a winner. I had no idea how much it was.

She now knows that ticket is worth $10 million. Donald Peters was a retired⁴ factory worker and had been playing the lottery regularly for 20 years.

 

Sandy Cousell, the Associated Press.

 

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 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

4 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。