名人教英文：借助好彩之势
to ride your luck
借助好彩之势
joe: is this the first time you've been in a casino?
乔﹕这是你第一次到赌场吗？
celia: yes, it's amazing. look at that woman over there playing roulette. she's bet three times on red and won every time.
西莉亚﹕是啊，真是开了眼界。看那边那个玩轮盘的女人，赌注连续三次押红色，每一次都赢了。
joe: is she going to take her winnings and get out of the game?
乔﹕她是不是拿了赢得的钱，就退出赌局？
celia: no look, she's placed another bet on red.
西莉亚﹕不是。你看，她又把赌注押红色。
joe: she's riding her luck, but how long can it last?
乔﹕她要借助好彩之势。但这能维持多久？
celia: the wheel's spinning so we'll soon see.
西莉亚﹕轮盘又在转了。我们很快就会看到答案。
「六博争雄好彩来，金盘一掷万人开。」这是李白《送外甥郑灌从军》诗句。赌博当然求好彩，好彩既来，乘其势而行，这英文叫做to ride one's luck，例如﹕riding his luck, he set up a gift shop, which soon developed into a roaring business（他趁着运至时来，开了家礼品店，不久就生意滔滔）。
西莉亚初到赌场，说it's amazing。amazing和surprising一般都译做「令人惊奇的」，但amazing多带赞叹含义，surprising则只是「惊奇」。《朗文当代高级英汉双解词典》amazing条以下例句，就不可改用surprising：he's an amazing player to watch（看他比赛，真精彩）。李白观庐山瀑布，留下「飞流直下三千尺」的赞叹，你也可以说﹕li bai was amazed at the great height of the mt lu waterfall。
当然，amaze可以纯粹指惊讶，例如﹕it was amazing that he never noticed the mistake（他一直没发觉错误，真奇怪）。这个意思的amazing，比surprising所示惊讶更加强烈。amaze一字，略去a，渐渐成为maze，指「迷宫」，也可见amaze令人迷惘之深。
casino今天几乎专指赌场，但从前却是指喝酒、跳舞等的娱乐场所。一九六三年版牛津字典the advanced learner's dictionary of current english给casino的注释是﹕a public room or building for music, dancing, etc, and in some places for gambling（奏乐、跳舞等的公众场所，或设赌博游戏）。但二零零五年版的注释却是﹕a public building or room where people play gambling games（赌场）。可见casino词义变化之大。