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There is a phrase in English when someone gets a big salary that they earn "telephone numbers". A man in New York is suing the city (and others) for so much that it is almost impossible to think of a comparison. Anton Purisima, 62, is suing for two undecillion dollars. Over 99.99 per cent of English speakers would not know or have heard of the word for this amount. That astronomical figure is two undecillion dollars – a two followed by 36 zeros. The only people who are likely to need this word are probably astrophysicists and astronomers. Two undecillion dollars is, in fact, more than all the money in the whole world. Even more than all the wealth created throughout humankind's entire history.
英语中有一个短语用来形容工资很高，那就是earn telephone number. 纽约的一个人起诉该市(和其他人),称这一数字根本是无法想象的。安东里西马今年62岁，控告城市赔偿两倍的1066美元。99.99%以上的以英语为母语的人根本没有听过这样一个数字。这一天文数字是1066美元的两倍，也就是数字2后面有36个数字0.唯一的人可能需要这个词的人可能是天体物理学家和天文学家。事实上, 1066美元的两倍超过整个世界上所有的钱的数量。甚至比人类整个历史上创造的所有财富还要多。
So what did New York City do so wrong to be sued for such a mind-bogglingly gargantuan sum? Quite a lot, it seems. The New York Post reports that Mr Purisima is suing the city (as well as two local hospitals, LaGuardia Airport, the transportation system, a bakery and even a dog owner) for "civil-rights violations, personal injury, discrimination in national origin, retaliation, harassment, fraud, attempted murder, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and conspiracy to defraud". Why? Well, it's because last month a "rabies-infected" dog bit his finger on a city bus; then, a "Chinese couple" took photos of him without asking; and to add insult to injury, he is routinely overcharged for coffee at LaGuardia Airport.
那么纽约做了什么错事的被起诉赔偿这样令人难以置信的巨款呢？似乎很多。《纽约邮报》报道说,里西马先生起诉纽约市。(以及两个当地医院,拉瓜迪亚机场,交通系统,面包店,甚至一位狗主人)“侵犯公民权利,人身伤害,种族歧视,报复,骚扰,欺诈、蓄意谋杀,故意精神伤害,合谋欺骗”。为什么?这是因为上个月在在城市公交车上，一只感染了狂犬病的狗咬破了他的手指头。然后,一对“中国夫妇”在没有经其同意的情况下拍下了照片，这对其造成了受伤后的侮辱，他经常在拉瓜迪亚机场被多收喝咖啡的费用。
译文属可可英语原创，未经允许，不得转载。
