自考英语综合一下册课文 lesson 14

　　[00:00.00]Text
[00:02.48]The Outside Chance
[00:06.74]It's a funny thing about money.
[00:10.37]If you haven't got it,you think it's the most important thing in the world.
[00:16.12]That's what I used to think,too.
[00:19.46]I don't any more,though,and I learned¹ the hard way.
[00:24.01]When I was at school,we had this English master.
[00:28.97]He was always quoting to us from famous writers.
[00:33.83]I wasn't very interested,and I don't remember much about it now.
[00:39.11]But it's funny how things come back to you.
[00:42.95]He used to say:"When the gods wish to punish us,they answer our prayers."
[00:49.19]Sounds a bit silly,doesn't it?
[00:52.64]Well,I didn't understand it then,either,but I can tell you what it means now.
[00:58.70]It means if you want something really badly,you'll probably get it.
[01:04.57]But you'll probably get it in a way you don't expect.
[01:09.83]I mean,you might have to pay a price you didn't bargain for.
[01:14.68]It started one rainy day,when I was coming home from work.
[01:20.25]I'm a motor mechanic,and I like working in the garage.
[01:25.21]But,I was restless².I'd always had this dream of owning my own business.
[01:31.77]Nothing big--just something I could build up.
[01:36.03]I don't mind hard work,you see,if I'm working for myself.
[01:41.17]That's why I'd left my mum and dad in the North,and come to London.
[01:46.53]I thought I'd make more money that way.
[01:50.18]We'd had arguments about it.My dad and I.
[01:54.44]He didn't see why I should want to leave home when I had enough money to live on
[02:00.82]Enough!Enough for what?I used to ask him.
[02:05.36]To live as he had in a council³ house all his life,
[02:10.32]with nothing to look forward to but a gold watch ad a pension⁴?
[02:15.89]Oh,I was fond of him,you see,and it annoyed me to see him so content.
[02:22.42]He had nothing to show for all those years of work in that noisy factory.
[02:29.08]Anyway,all this was on my mind,as I walked home that night.
[02:34.85]The rain didn't help,either.
[02:38.20]I remember thinking,
[02:41.12]if only I could get a thousand pounds just that,just a thousand.
[02:47.39]I stopped and bought a newspaper outside the Tube.
[02:52.12]I thought it would take my mind off things on the way home.
[02:56.85]I could read about other people's troubles for a change.
[03:01.11]See what films were on.
[03:04.16]I don't know when I first realised there was something wrong with the paper.
[03:09.62]It looked ordinary enough.
[03:13.10]But there was something about it that didn't seem quite right.
[03:17.54]As if there was a gap⁵ in the news.As if it was a jump ahead.
[03:23.10]So,in the end,I looked at the front page,
[03:27.75]and instead of Tuesday 22nd November,it said Wednesday 23rd November.
[03:34.83]"My God,"I thought,"it's tomorrow's paper!"
[03:39.09]I didn't believe it to start with.
[03:42.85]But it did explain why all the news was different.
[03:47.53]There couldn't be any other explanation.
[03:51.37]Somehow,I had bought tomorrow's paper
[03:55.73]today!And that was the moment I realised it.
[04:00.40]The moment I realised that all my prayers could be answered.
[04:05.45]My hands were shaking so much that I could hardly turn the pages.
[04:11.12]But they were there.The results of tomorrow's races!
[04:16.44]I looked at the winners,and chose from them carefully.
[04:21.17]I picked only the outsiders that had won at prices like 30-1.
[04:27.65]There was even one at 50-1!A horse I would never have thought of betting⁶ on.
[04:34.31]Next morning,I went to the bank,and drew out just about all I had ￡150.
[04:42.07]I laid my bets⁷ during my lunch hour.
[04:46.22]I went to several shops.I didn't want anyone to become suspicious⁸.
[04:51.97]It's a funny thing,but I just knew the horses would win.
[04:57.14]And God forgive me I never stopped to think
[05:02.29]why I had been given this chance to see into the future.
[05:07.46]They did win every one of them.
[05:11.51]All I had to do was to go round and collect my money,
[05:16.76]and I couldn't wait to get home and count it.￡4,000!!

　　[05:22.64]Well,nothing could stop me now!
[05:26.30]I'd give in my notice at work the next day,and look for a place of my own.
[05:32.25]Wait till I told Mum and Dad!They'd hardly be able to believe it.
[05:37.89]I switched on the television,but I couldn't concentrate on it.
[05:42.86]I kept thinking what I'd do with the money.I hardly heard a word of the programme.
[05:49.34]Then the news came on.
[05:52.57]The announcer⁹ mentioned Selby.That was where my parents lived.
[05:57.62]I began to listen.
[06:00.65]There had been an explosion¹⁰ up there,that afternoon,
[06:05.48]followed by a fire in a factory.
[06:09.32]Twenty-two people had been killed,and many more were in hospital.
[06:15.38]I don't remember the rest--something about a government enquiry.
[06:20.84]I stopped listening,but I couldn't move out of the chair.
[06:25.88]I think I must've known then that my dad was dead even before the telegram came.
[06:32.65]The newspaper had fallen on the floor.
[06:36.59]I picked it up,not realising what I was doing.
[06:41.14]Then,I saw it in the"Stop Press."FACTORY DISASTER IN SELBY.MANY FEARED DEAD.
[06:48.58]I hadn't seen it before.
[06:51.82]I'd been too busy picking winners.
[06:55.58]I could've saved my dad's life,but I'd been too busy picking bloody¹¹ winners.
[07:01.75]I don't often cry,but the words swam in front of me then.
[07:07.39]There isn't much more to tell.I got my own business,and I'm doing well.
[07:13.03]As for my Mum,she was paid insurance by the firm that owned the factory,
[07:18.91]so she's better off than she ever was.
[07:22.96]The only thing is,she doesn't care if she's alive or dead now my Dad's gone.
[07:28.99]When the gods wish to punish us,they make a damn¹² good job of it.

1 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

2 restless   

adj.焦躁不安的；静不下来的，运动不止的

参考例句：

• He looks like a restless man.他看上去坐立不安。
• He has been very restless all day and he awoke nearly all last night.他一整天都心神不定，昨夜几乎一整夜没有合眼。

3 council   

n.理事会，委员会，议事机构

参考例句：

• The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律，禁止散发传单。
• The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。

4 pension   

n.退休金，年金，抚恤金；v.发给退休金

参考例句：

• The country provided a pension to the old person.国家给老人们提供养老金。
• She went to the company to draw her pension.她去公司领退休金。

5 gap   

n.缺口；间隔；差距；不足，缺陷

参考例句：

• We must see that there is no gap in our defence.我们必须确保我们的防御没有漏洞。
• There is a gap of five miles between towns.镇与镇之间相隔五英里。

6 betting   

n. 打赌; 动词bet的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• If you are only betting two dollars, I'll book you myself. 如果你只下两元赌注，我可以和你赌。
• Some people are fond of betting. 有些人喜欢打赌。

7 bets   

v.敢说，八成儿( bet的第三人称单数 )；打赌(on,against,with)；敢断定；敢说

参考例句：

• Place your bets now—the race begins in half an hour! 现在可以下赌注——赛事于半小时后开始。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But he did not enter all the losing bets in the accounts-book. 但输家交来的赠金，他并不全部登记入册。 来自辞典例句

8 suspicious   

adj.可疑的，容易引起怀疑的，猜疑的，疑心的

参考例句：

• A man was hanging about the house in a suspicious manner.一个男人在房子周围可疑地荡来荡去。
• He's so suspicious he would distrust his own mother.他这个人疑心太重，连自己的母亲也不相信。

9 announcer   

n.宣布者；电(视)台播音员，报幕员

参考例句：

• The radio announcer said it was nine o'clock.电台播音员报时9点整。
• The announcer tells the listeners what programme comes next.广播员告诉听众下一个是什么节目。

10 explosion   

n.爆发，发出，爆炸

参考例句：

• The police arrived right at the moment of the explosion.警察就在爆炸的那个时候赶到了。
• The shock of the explosion was felt far away.爆炸引起的震动很远都可感觉到。

11 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

12 damn   

int.该死，他妈的；vt.指责，贬斥，诅咒

参考例句：

• Damn this useless typewriter!这台破打字机真该死！
• I knew damn well what he was going to say.我非常清楚他要说什么。