Israel(n.以色列)'s weekly state (n.國家) lottery (n.彩票抽獎) draw (n.抽獎（結果）) at the weekend drew (v.抽獎) exactly the same six numbers as the draw 3 weeks earlier - an event statisticians (n.統計學家) said was a one in four trillion (n.萬億) chance.
The numbers that rolled out during a live (adj.現場直播的) television broadcast (n.廣播) were 36, 33, 32, 26, 14, 13, and the additional 'strong' number (n.特別號碼) 2. It didn't take long for some viewers (n.觀眾) to notice that these numbers were exactly the same as those drawn in the September 21st draw.
Israeli (adj.以色列的) radio station phone-ins (n.聽眾來電節目) were flooded (v.大量湧入) with callers who suspected the draw was rigged (v.以不正當手段操縱).
The allegations (n.指控) were denied by officials from Mifal HaPayis, the national lottery company. "We are in the business of luck, and when it comes to chances and probabilities (n.或然率) anything is possible, even the rare and infrequent (adj.罕見的), like in this case," said its statistics (n.統計學) expert.
Yitzhak Melechson (n.米力臣), a professor (n.教授) of statistics at the University of Tel Aviv (n.特拉維夫), said that the incident (n.事件) of six numbers repeating themselves within a month is an event of once in 10,000 years.
(The Daily Telegraph, October 18)
以色列每周舉行的全國彩票抽獎，在剛過去的周末抽出的六個數字跟三個星期前的結果一模一樣。統計學家指出，這樣的機會是四萬億分之一。
透過電視現場直播，滾出的數字是36、33、32、26、14、13，特別號碼是2。不用多久，一些觀眾便發現這些數字跟9月21日抽出的數字一模一樣。
以色列電台的聽眾來電節目有大批市民致電，他們質疑抽獎結果是以不正當手段操縱的。
全國彩票公司Mifal HaPayis的高層職員否認這些指控。公司的統計學專家說：“我們從事博彩業，而談到機會與或然率，任何事物都可能會發生，即使稀少罕見的都會，今次便是這樣。”
特拉維夫大學統計學教授米力臣指出，六個數字在一個月內再出現的事件，一萬年才會發生一次。
（英國《每日電訊報》，10月18日）
閱讀指引
1. lottery (n) /'l?忀t?瑆ri/，LOT-ta-ree 彩票抽獎、獎券抽籤
解讀：留意lottery並非指一張一張的彩票、獎券，而是涉及這些票券的抽獎、抽籤方法；彩票叫lottery ticket，彩票頭獎叫lottery jackpot，彩票獎金是lottery prize，彩票得主是lottery winner，彩票基金是lottery funds（這時常用複數funds）。
2. trillion (n) /'tr?笈lj?瑆n/，TRILL-lyun 萬億、1,000,000,000,000
解讀：英文的記數方式逢三個零進一，1,000是thousand（千），1,000,000是million（百萬），1,000,000,000是billion（十億），1,000,000,000,000是trillion（萬億），1,000,000,000,000,000是quadrillion（千萬億）等。
3. rig (v) /r?笈g/，r-IG 以不正當手段操縱、“造假”
解讀：動詞rig本指給船裝上船帆，或提供索具，The sailors rigged the pirate ship with large sails（眾水手給海盜船裝上大帆）；rig後來指以不正當手段操縱造假，例如rig an election是選舉舞弊。
