患流感卧床 西班牙女子迟领1亿欧元大奖
A 25-year-old Spanish woman who won a record 126 million euros (172 million dollars) in the Euro Millions lottery only learned of her good luck days later after spending the weekend bed-ridden with the flu, officials said Tuesday.
The unnamed woman from the island of Majorca discovered that she had won the jackpot awarded Friday when lottery officials finally tracked her down on Monday, online lottery seller Serviapuestas said in a statement.
"I was still sick on Monday so I decided to go to work out of fear of losing my job given the economic crisis we are going through," she was quoted as saying in the statement.
The woman was the only one to tick the five correct numbers (4, 23, 24, 29, 31) and two stars (8, 9) and win the huge jackpot drawn in Paris on Friday in a ticket which she bought through Serviapuestas.
"When she learned the news she was frightened and at the same time very, very moved. Logically she asked us many questions," the company said in the statement.
She also told Serviapuestas that when they first contacted her "I thought they were pulling my leg.... I thought it was some publicity."
The woman said she now plans to buy a country house in Majorca and raise horses.
"I have always liked animals, nature, sensitive things..," she said.
The jackpot of 126,231,764 euros is enough to buy two Airbus A-320 jets.
The previous record in the lottery, run by nine European countries, had been held since July 2005 by Dolores McNamara of Gallyowen near Limerick in southwest Ireland who took home 115,436,126 euros.
Friday's winner beat odds of 76 million to one to win the equivalent of four years' salary by David Beckham, the world's best paid footballer.
Euro Millions, which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, brings together France, Britain, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Austria. The jackpot begins at 15 million euros each week but is rolled over if there is no winner.
The world record for a game of chance is 390 million dollars (286 million euros) split by two winners of the super jackpot in the American Mega Millions lottery in March 2007.
有关官员于本周二称，一名25岁的西班牙女子中得“欧洲百万大乐透”1.26亿欧元（合1.72亿美元）的破纪录大奖，但她上周末因患流感卧病在家，因此在中奖数天后才得知这一喜讯。
在线彩票经销商Serviapuestas在一份声明中称，直到本周一博彩业官员找上门时，来自马略卡岛的这名未透露姓名的女子才知道自己上周五中了大奖。
声明援引她的话说：“这周一我的病还没好，但考虑到眼下的经济危机，我决定去上班，以免丢掉饭碗。”
这名女子是唯一一位选对五个号码(4, 23, 24, 29, 31)和两个“幸运星”号码（8, 9）的彩民，她通过Serviapuestas公司购买了这期彩票，上周五在巴黎开奖时中得头彩。
公司在声明中称：“她得知这一消息时被吓到了，同时也非常非常感动。为证明其真实性，她问了我们很多问题。”
她还告诉Serviapuestas公司，在他们最初联系到她时，“我以为他们是在骗我……我以为是在搞宣传。”
这名女子说现在她计划在马略卡岛买一栋乡间别墅，再养几只马。
她说：“我一直都喜欢动物、自然，以及感性的东西。”
这名幸运儿中得的奖金金额高达126231764欧元，足够买两架空客A-320客机。
“欧洲百万大乐透”彩票由欧洲九个国家联合发行，此前的头奖纪录诞生于2005年7月，由来自爱尔兰西南部利默里克附近加里欧文地区的一个名叫多罗瑞斯•马克纳马拉的人中得，当时他获得的奖金为115436126欧元。
上周五大奖的中奖机率为7600万分之一，奖金相当于世界薪酬最高的球星大卫•贝克汉姆四年的年薪。
“欧洲百万大乐透”彩票设立刚满五年，由法国、英国、爱尔兰、西班牙、葡萄牙、比利时、瑞士、卢森堡和奥地利联合发行。每周的头奖金额为1500万欧元，如果没有中奖者，奖金将累积入下一轮。
目前，博彩业世界最高奖金纪录为3.9亿美元（合2.86亿欧元），该大奖于2007年3月由“美国超级百万”彩票的两名获奖者共同中得。
Vocabulary:
bed-ridden:卧床不起
jackpot: a top prize or reward（ 首奖，头彩）
pull one's leg:愚弄某人
