章魚哥八猜全中 獲頒山寨大力神杯
Paul the oracle octopus was given a replica of the World Cup on Monday as a reward for his perfect eight-for-eight record in picking matches as bettors worldwide collected their winnings based on his selections.
The two-year-old octopus with possible psychic powers turned into a worldwide celebrity for accurately predicting the winner of Germany's five World Cup wins as well as their two defeats. Paul also tipped Spain to beat Netherlands in Sunday's final.
"We've had a lot of offers for Paul but he will definitely be staying with us and returning to his old job -- making children smile," Sea Life spokeswoman Tanja Munzig in Oberhausen said after presenting Paul with the World Cup replica.
"There's no rational reason why he always got it right."
Bettors around the world made small fortunes based on Paul's uncanny picks, said Graham Sharpe, media relations director at William Hill in London, one of Britain's largest bookmakers.
"I've seen a lot of things in my lifetime but this is the first time I've ever seen people making their picks based on what an octopus tells them," Sharpe said.
"We had people coming in saying they didn't know how to place a bet but heard about this German octopus and wanted to bet with him. It's ludicrous. But he kept getting it right," said Sharpe. "It's one of the finest tipping feats ever."
Sharpe said that anyone who had placed a 10-pound accumulator bet on Paul's picks from the start of the World Cup would have won 3,000 pounds ($4,500) by the end of the tournament.
Paul's home at Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen has been inundated with visitors and media from across Europe. Many networks broadcast his picks live. Hundreds were on hand to watch the World Cup replica lowered into his tank on Monday.
神算章魚“保羅”於本週一獲頒一個“山寨版”大力神杯，以獎勵它在世界盃賽事預測中八猜全中的完美戰績。而全世界的一些賭球者們則因按照它的預測下注小賺了一筆。
這隻現年兩歲的“神算”章魚因準確預測了德國在本屆世界盃上五場勝利和兩場失敗的比賽結果而走紅全球。保羅還正確預測了上週日西班牙戰勝荷蘭的決賽結果。
德國奧伯豪森水族館的女發言人坦婭·穆吉將大力神杯模型頒發給保羅後說：“保羅收到了很多邀請，但它仍將留在這裏，繼續履行它原來的職責——給孩子們帶去歡樂。”
“至於它爲什麼總能猜對，沒有什麼合理的解釋。”
英國最大的博彩公司之一、位於倫敦的威廉希爾公司的媒介總監格雷厄姆•夏普稱，全世界的賭球者們沾了保羅的光，小賺了一筆。
夏普說：“我這輩子見過很多事情，但還是頭一次見到人們根據一隻章魚的選擇來下賭注。”
夏普說：“有些人來了之後說他們也不知道該賭哪邊，但聽說這隻德國章魚很神，所以想按它的預測賭一把。這聽起來很荒唐，但它總能猜對。這是有史以來最完美的預測戰績。”
夏普稱，如果從世界盃一開始就按照保羅的選擇累計下注10英鎊，那麼在比賽結束時能夠賺得3000英鎊（合4500美元）。
保羅所生活的奧伯豪森海洋世界水族館被遊客和來自歐洲各國的媒體圍得水泄不通。很多新聞頻道還對保羅的選擇過程進行了直播。數百名遊客於本週一現場目睹了工作人員將獎盃放入保羅所在水箱的頒獎儀式。
Vocabulary:
psychic: outside of natural or scientific knowledge; spiritual（有特異功能的，通靈的）
tip: to provide with a piece of confidential, advance, or inside information（預言……獲勝；事先說……會成功）
ludicrous:absurd（荒唐的；滑稽的）
accumulator: a bet on a series of races or other events, where the money won or originally bet is placed on the next race, etc.（累計下注，每贏一次即押於下一輪賭博）
inundated: to overwhelm as if with a flood; swamp（淹沒，洪水般的撲來）
