The House Always Wins|谁是赢家？

The House Always Wins

by Marcus Maurice

Blackjack, baccarat, and poker are just three of the hundreds of games played in casinos.

　　Casinos have been around for as long as people have had the desire to gamble, which is a very, very long time. The term casino comes from the Italian word casa, which means house. The first casinos were buildings built for _(1)_ in villages and included dancing, drinking and, of course, gambling.

　　Nowadays, casinos are a multi-billion dollar industry. Las Vegas has been home _(2)_ legalized gambling in the US since 1931, and for many years it was the biggest gambling town in the world. Over the past few years, though, Macau has overtaken Las Vegas in terms of profitability. With so many Chinese people now _(3)_ money to blow, it seems as though Macau will continue to get bigger for many years to come.

　　The inside of a casino is a psychological minefield for the _(4)_ gambler. There are no clocks or windows, and all the important places, like bars and bathrooms, are all _(5)_ in random corners. Casinos tend to give away free drinks, free rooms, free tickets to fancy shows, and just about anything else _(6)_ so that customers will gamble their money away in their establishments. The casino business is a fierce one, and competition for high rollers is non-stop.

　　Going to a casino is great fun, but don't bet money you cannot afford to lose. Since casinos have the slight _(7)_ in every game, there is an old adage that states, "The house always wins." This means that while people might win money on one hand, one night, or even go on a hot streak, eventually that same person will dump his or her money back into the casino.

1. (A) pleasure (B) complaint (C) discovery (D) protection

2. (A) with (B) up (C) upon (D) to

3. (A) by having (B) are having (C) have (D) having

4. (A) liberal (B) average (C) irregular (D) sufficient

5. (A) strengthened (B) confessed (C) disturbed (D) scattered

6. (A) defensive (B) flexible (C) imaginable (D) habitual

7. (A) edge (B) expansion (C) output (D) mischief

谁是赢家？

二十一点、百家乐和扑克牌只是数百种赌场游戏中的其中三种。

　　从人们有赌博的欲望以来，赌场便一直存在，而这是很久很久以前的事了。『赌场』（casino）这个名词来自于意大利文中的 casa 这个字，意思指的是房子。最早的赌场是在村落里建立来提供乐趣的建筑物，里面包括了跳舞、喝酒，当然还有赌博。

　　时至今日，赌场成了资本额数十亿元的产业。从 1931 年起，拉斯维加斯一直是美国合法赌场的所在地，而有许多年它都是世界上规模最大的赌城。然而，在过去几年，澳门在获利方面已超越了拉斯维加斯。现今澳门有这么多中国人有钱可花，它的规模似乎在未来许多年都还会持续扩大。

　　对一般赌客而言，赌场内部是一种心理上的地雷区。赌场里没有时钟或是窗户，而且所有重要的地方，象是酒吧和浴室，都随机散布在各个角落。赌场往往会发送免费的饮料、免费的房间、精彩节目的免费入场券，还有其他任何你想象得到的东西，好让客人在赌场里把钱赌个精光。赌场业是竞争相当激烈的一项行业，而且竞相争取那些挥金如土的客人是没完没了的。

　　去赌场很好玩，但下注的钱不要超过自己所能负担的能力。由于赌场在每一种游戏都有少许的优势，因此古谚有云：『庄家永远是赢家。』这意味着虽然人们可能会赢了一把、一整晚，或甚至是连胜不止，但他（她）最后终将会把钱输回给赌场的。

答案： 1. A 2. D 3. D 4. B 5. D 6. C 7. A