中英對照讀新聞／Fast-food worker returns $185,000 check after finding it on Connecticut sidewalk／速食店員工在康乃狄克州人行道上發現18萬5千美元的支票並歸還失主

◎張沛元

Reggie Damone just wanted to jot down a phone number when he picked up what he thought was litter on a sidewalk. But what he found was an envelope containing a $185,000 check.

瑞吉．達蒙當時不過是想快快抄下一個電話號碼，卻在人行道撿起一張他以為是垃圾的紙片。但是，他發現的卻是一個裝有一張18萬5千美元的信封。

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Damone, who receives government-issued food stamps for low-income workers and works at a McDonald’s fast food restaurant, said he did not think twice about trying to cash it. Instead, the 47-year-old took a bus from his Jewett City home to a bank and returned the check to the niece of the landlord to whom the check was written.

領取政府發放的低收入勞工食物券、任職於麥當勞速食店的達蒙說，他根本沒想過要把這張支票拿去兌現。這名47歲的男子反而從他居住的吉特城搭巴士到一家銀行，然後把支票還給抬頭上所寫的房東的姪女。

She thanked Damone with a $50 bill.

她以一張50美元紙幣向達蒙致謝。

Damone says he remembered his mother’s words: If you take something, you lose three times that amount _ and if you do something good, something good comes back to you.

達蒙說，他記得母親的訓示：你要是拿走什麼，就會損失3倍等值物—但你要是做了好事，一定會有好報。

新聞辭典

sidewalk：名詞，人行道，美國用法；英國則為pavement。pavement另有「鋪過的道路」與「鋪路材料」等意。相關片語：pave the way for someone/something（為…做好準備，以便日後更有可能發生）。例句：His study could pave the way for new lung cancer treatments.（他的研究有助於研發新的肺癌治療。）

food stamp：食物券；與stamp有關的片語， can fit/write on the back of a postage stamp（對某件事所知甚少）。例句：What I know about fashoin could be written on the back of a postage stamp.（我對時尚所知甚少。）