Patricia去找同事Kelly。
Patricia: Hey, Kelly...the boss just called me into his office. You and I have to go to Macau for a meeting with our international marketing department. The meeting is on a Friday afternoon so I was thinking we could spend the weekend down there!
Kelly: Macau, eh? So I guess you're thinking about doing some gambling, right?
P: Well, it is legal in Macau. We might as well take advantage of this golden opportunity! Oh, there's John.John and I used to win some serious money in Las Vegas.
Patricia告訴Kelly,老板讓他們兩人星期五去澳門出差,跟公司的國際營銷部同事開會,問Kelly愿不愿意索性在澳門待一個周末,去賭場試試手氣。這時候,另外一位同事John走過來,Patricia說,John和他以前就曾在美國的賭城拉斯維加斯贏過不少錢,他說的some serious money意思是可觀的數(shù)額。John說,
John: Yep, Pete and I used to go to Las Vegas at least twice a year. Gambling can be a lot of fun.
K: I've never really seen the appeal of gambling. I know it's possible to win big, but I've never won. I really hate losing money.
P: I hear you....but if you ever hit a jackpot you'll be addicted for life!
J: Winning is a pretty good feeling, but a lot of people can take it too far. Patricia, did you hear about Joe?
P: You mean Joe Klein? How's he doing?
J: Not so good. He lost his house and his wife left him. We didn't know it at the time, but he actually had a serious gambling problem.
John 和Patricia以前每年至少一起去兩次拉斯維加斯。Kelly說自己逢賭必輸,所以賭錢對她沒有appeal吸引力。Patricia說,雖然win big贏大錢的機會不多,但是if you ever hit a jackpot, you'll be addicted for life. 一旦中了頭獎,就會一輩子上癮。John說,贏錢感覺是不錯,但千萬不能take it too far玩過頭,他們有個朋友Joe Klein had a serious gambling problem. 就是賭錢上癮,結果輸了房子不說,老婆也不要他了。
P: Really? That's too bad.
J: He was over $75,000 in debt...so eventually the bank took his house. As you can imagine, his wife wasn't too happy about that.
K: See? These are exactly the kind of stories I'm talking about! I think gambling can be as addictive as illegal drugs!
J: And I would have to agree. I don't have an addictive personality by nature so I'm generally able to control myself. But...I have lost more money than I can afford on more than one occasion.
Kelly 覺得,gambling can be as addictive as illegal drugs. 賭博跟毒品差不多,讓人上癮。John 表示贊同,他說自己雖然自控能力比較強,and don't have an addictive personality by nature 也不是那種做事喜歡上癮的人,但是賭錢的時候,還是不止一次輸?shù)贸隽俗约旱某惺苣芰Γ@里說的 more than one occasion 意思是不止一次。