Psychic octopus" to predict final 「通靈」章魚將預測世界盃冠軍賽結果

 ◎俞智敏
Paul the "psychic" octopus, who has become a global star after correctly forecasting all six of Germany’s World Cup games, will predict the final, but only if his hefty workload has not exhausted him.
「通靈」章魚保羅準確預測德國隊在本屆世界盃足球賽中的六場比賽結果 後，已經走紅全世界，現在保羅更將預測冠軍賽結果，但前提是要他沒有被沈重的工作量給累壞。
The mollusc medium, who stunned Germany by tipping Spain in the semi-final -- spot on as it turned out, will make his prediction for the third-place Germany match with Uruguay, a spokesman for his aquarium said.
這隻軟體動物靈媒日前預測西班牙會在 準決賽中擊敗德國，震驚了全德球迷，沒想到結果完全正確，接下來他還將預測德國與烏拉圭爭奪第三名的比賽結果，保羅所在的水族館發言人表示。
Paul’s handlers will follow the now familiar routine. Two boxes will be lowered into his tank, each containing a tasty morsel of food and the flags of the two opposing teams. Whichever box Paul wrenches open is adjudged to be the winner.
保羅的照顧人員將遵照現已廣為人熟知的程序。兩個箱子將被放進保羅的水箱裡，每個箱 子裡都有一小塊可口的食物以及參賽兩隊的國旗。哪個箱子被保羅打開，就會被宣布為贏家。
Afterwards, Paul will be offered boxes with Spanish and Dutch flags, the two teams in Sunday’s showcase final, but only if he is deemed not too tired and still hungry, the spokesman said. "We do not want to overburden him," he said.
接 著工作人員還會提供保羅貼有西班牙與荷蘭國旗的箱子，這兩隊將在週日眾所矚目的冠軍賽中對決，但條件是工作人員認為保羅沒有太累，而且還想進食，發言人表 示。「我們可不想把他累壞，」他說。
The eight-legged oracle forecast German wins over Australia, Argentina, England and Ghana. Proving he is not just attracted to the German flag, he also correctly predicted losses to Serbia and Spain, the latter live on national TV.
這隻八腳靈媒曾準確預言德國隊會擊 敗澳洲、阿根廷、英格蘭與迦納。他同時也正確預測德國會輸給塞爾維亞和西班牙，後面的一場預測更在全國電視台上直播，證明他並非僅是受到德國國旗所吸引。
新 聞辭典
forecast：動詞，指預測、預報、預言，如They forecast a large drop in unemployment over the next two years.（他們預測未來兩年內失業率會大幅下降。）或Oil prices are forecast to increase by less than 2% this year.（預估油價今年內的上漲幅度將不到2%。）
workload： 名詞，指工作量，尤指某人或機器在特定時間內所必須完成的工作，如Teachers are always complaining about their heavy workloads.（老師們總是抱怨工作量太大。）
spot-on：形容詞，非正式用語，指完全正確的，完美 的，如"How old do I reckon she is? I’d say thirty-eight." "Spot-on."（「我猜她大概幾歲？我猜是38歲。」「一點沒錯。」）或She did a spot-on impersonation of the candidate.（她模仿該位候選人維妙維肖。）