Winning the lottery

Song Winning the lottery
Artist 英语听力
Album VOA慢速英语：词汇典故

Lyrics

[00:00.10] Now, the VOA
[00:12.70] Special English program
[00:15.09] WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
[00:17.67] I think people everywhere
[00:20.16] dream about having lots of money.
[00:23.40] I know I do.
[00:24.89] I would give anything
[00:27.23] to make money hand over fist.
[00:30.12] I would like to earn
[00:32.01] large amounts of money.
[00:34.25] You could win a large amount
[00:37.08] of money in the United States
[00:38.92] through lotteries.
[00:41.31] People pay money for tickets
[00:44.01] with numbers.
[00:45.40] If your combination
[00:47.79] of numbers is chosen,
[00:49.75] you win a huge amount of money
[00:53.19] – often in the millions.
[00:55.53] Winning the lottery is a windfall.
[00:59.41] A few years ago,
[01:02.49] my friend Al won the lottery.
[01:05.48] It changed his life.
[01:07.87] He did not have a rich family.
[01:11.05] He was not born
[01:12.64] with a silver spoon
[01:14.64] in his mouth.
[01:15.88] Instead, my friend was
[01:18.42] always hard up for cash.
[01:20.41] He did not have much money.
[01:23.05] And the money he did earn
[01:25.63] was chicken feed – very little.
[01:28.92] Sometimes Al even had
[01:31.51] to accept hand-outs, gifts
[01:34.34] from his family and friends.
[01:36.48] But do not get me wrong.
[01:38.67] My friend was not a deadbeat.
[01:41.66] He was not the kind of person
[01:44.00] who never paid the money he owed.
[01:46.98] He simply pinched pennies.
[01:50.22] He was always very careful
[01:52.86] with the money he spent.
[01:54.50] In fact, he was often
[01:56.94] a cheapskate.
[01:58.33] He did not like to spend money.
[02:01.32] The worst times were
[02:04.30] when he was flat broke
[02:06.29] and had no money at all.
[02:08.88] One day, Al scraped together
[02:13.56] a few dollars for a lottery ticket.
[02:16.54] He thought he would never
[02:18.68] strike it rich or gain lots
[02:21.92] of money unexpectedly.
[02:23.86] But his combination of numbers
[02:27.54] was chosen and he won the lottery.
[02:31.42] He hit the jackpot.
[02:33.86] He won a great deal of money.
[02:37.00] Al was so excited.
[02:40.39] The first thing he did
[02:42.78] was buy a costly new car.
[02:46.21] He splurged on the one thing
[02:49.60] that he normally would not buy.
[02:52.48] Then he started spending money
[02:56.57] on unnecessary things.
[02:59.10] He started to waste it.
[03:01.95] It was like he had money to burn.
[03:05.38] He had more money than he needed
[03:08.97] and it was burning a hole
[03:11.70] in his pocket so he spent it quickly.
[03:15.44] When we got together for a meal
[03:19.23] at a restaurant, Al paid every time.
[03:23.51] He would always foot the bill,
[03:26.05] and pick up the tab.
[03:27.89] He told me the money made him
[03:31.47] feel like a million dollars.
[03:33.91] He was very happy.
[03:36.50] But, Al spent too much money.
[03:40.28] Soon my friend was down and out again.
[03:44.36] He had no money left.
[03:46.75] He was back to being
[03:49.24] strapped for cash.
[03:50.78] He had spent his bottom dollar,
[03:53.52] his very last amount.
[03:56.35] He did not even build up a nest egg.
[04:00.48] He had not saved any of the money.
[04:03.87] I admit I do feel sorry
[04:07.56] for my friend.
[04:08.81] He had enough money to live like a king.
[04:12.69] Instead, he is back to living
[04:16.02] on a shoestring -- a very low budget.
[04:19.60] Some might say he is penny wise
[04:23.39] and pound foolish.
[04:25.28] He was wise about small things,
[04:28.01] but not about important things.
[04:31.00] (MUSIC)
[04:41.50] WORDS AND THEIR STORIES,
[04:44.14] in VOA Special English,
[04:46.88] was written by Jill Moss.
[04:49.02] I'm Faith Lapidus.

Pinyin

[00:00.10] Now, the VOA
[00:12.70] Special English program
[00:15.09] WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
[00:17.67] I think people everywhere
[00:20.16] dream about having lots of money.
[00:23.40] I know I do.
[00:24.89] I would give anything
[00:27.23] to make money hand over fist.
[00:30.12] I would like to earn
[00:32.01] large amounts of money.
[00:34.25] You could win a large amount
[00:37.08] of money in the United States
[00:38.92] through lotteries.
[00:41.31] People pay money for tickets
[00:44.01] with numbers.
[00:45.40] If your combination
[00:47.79] of numbers is chosen,
[00:49.75] you win a huge amount of money
[00:53.19] often in the millions.
[00:55.53] Winning the lottery is a windfall.
[00:59.41] A few years ago,
[01:02.49] my friend Al won the lottery.
[01:05.48] It changed his life.
[01:07.87] He did not have a rich family.
[01:11.05] He was not born
[01:12.64] with a silver spoon
[01:14.64] in his mouth.
[01:15.88] Instead, my friend was
[01:18.42] always hard up for cash.
[01:20.41] He did not have much money.
[01:23.05] And the money he did earn
[01:25.63] was chicken feed very little.
[01:28.92] Sometimes Al even had
[01:31.51] to accept handouts, gifts
[01:34.34] from his family and friends.
[01:36.48] But do not get me wrong.
[01:38.67] My friend was not a deadbeat.
[01:41.66] He was not the kind of person
[01:44.00] who never paid the money he owed.
[01:46.98] He simply pinched pennies.
[01:50.22] He was always very careful
[01:52.86] with the money he spent.
[01:54.50] In fact, he was often
[01:56.94] a cheapskate.
[01:58.33] He did not like to spend money.
[02:01.32] The worst times were
[02:04.30] when he was flat broke
[02:06.29] and had no money at all.
[02:08.88] One day, Al scraped together
[02:13.56] a few dollars for a lottery ticket.
[02:16.54] He thought he would never
[02:18.68] strike it rich or gain lots
[02:21.92] of money unexpectedly.
[02:23.86] But his combination of numbers
[02:27.54] was chosen and he won the lottery.
[02:31.42] He hit the jackpot.
[02:33.86] He won a great deal of money.
[02:37.00] Al was so excited.
[02:40.39] The first thing he did
[02:42.78] was buy a costly new car.
[02:46.21] He splurged on the one thing
[02:49.60] that he normally would not buy.
[02:52.48] Then he started spending money
[02:56.57] on unnecessary things.
[02:59.10] He started to waste it.
[03:01.95] It was like he had money to burn.
[03:05.38] He had more money than he needed
[03:08.97] and it was burning a hole
[03:11.70] in his pocket so he spent it quickly.
[03:15.44] When we got together for a meal
[03:19.23] at a restaurant, Al paid every time.
[03:23.51] He would always foot the bill,
[03:26.05] and pick up the tab.
[03:27.89] He told me the money made him
[03:31.47] feel like a million dollars.
[03:33.91] He was very happy.
[03:36.50] But, Al spent too much money.
[03:40.28] Soon my friend was down and out again.
[03:44.36] He had no money left.
[03:46.75] He was back to being
[03:49.24] strapped for cash.
[03:50.78] He had spent his bottom dollar,
[03:53.52] his very last amount.
[03:56.35] He did not even build up a nest egg.
[04:00.48] He had not saved any of the money.
[04:03.87] I admit I do feel sorry
[04:07.56] for my friend.
[04:08.81] He had enough money to live like a king.
[04:12.69] Instead, he is back to living
[04:16.02] on a shoestring a very low budget.
[04:19.60] Some might say he is penny wise
[04:23.39] and pound foolish.
[04:25.28] He was wise about small things,
[04:28.01] but not about important things.
[04:31.00] MUSIC
[04:41.50] WORDS AND THEIR STORIES,
[04:44.14] in VOA Special English,
[04:46.88] was written by Jill Moss.
[04:49.02] I' m Faith Lapidus.