Being one of the most successful board games ever made, Monopoly is just like the real world of business

　　Monopoly is one of the most successful board games ever made. More than a billion people have played the game, which is surprising when you consider what it is about. In Monopoly, you buy, sell, and manage property2. The goal is to become richer than everyone else and take all your opponents' money. In fact, it is just like the real world of business. An American woman named Lizzie J. Magie came up with the original game in 1904. Later, a man named Charles Darrow tried to sell his version to a toy company.

　　However, the company rejected Darrow, so he took it upon himself to make 5,000 sets of the game on his own and get them to a department store in time for Christmas. Word about Monopoly being a lot of fun spread, and every set was sold in no time. When the toy company realized their mistake, they arranged to buy the game from Darrow, and the rest is history.

　　Magie's invention was called The Landlord's3 Game. She created it to show how bad it could get when someone controlled too much property. However, most people don't think about that when they are playing. Any Monopoly player will tell you that it is a game that breeds greed. Play for a minute and you will see. Before long, all you will want to do is win, win, win!.
 
 

　　大富翁是有史以來最成功的棋盤遊戲之一（編按：『大富翁』為一般通譯，後來台灣的發行公司正式將其重譯為『地產大亨』）。總共有十億多人玩過這個遊戲，而且當您仔細想想遊戲的內容是跟什麼有關時，這麼多的人數尤其令人感到訝異。在大富翁裡，您必須買賣並管理資產。遊戲的目標就是要變得比其他人更為富有，並且贏光對手的財產。事實上，這跟真實的商業世界沒什麼兩樣。一位名叫莉茲‧梅基的美國女士於1904年發明了最初的大富翁。爾後，查爾斯‧戴洛這位男子則試圖將自己所創的那個版本賣給一間玩具公司。

　　不過那間玩具公司竟回絕了戴洛，因此他決定自行製作五千套遊戲，然後趕在聖誕節前舖貨到某家百貨公司。大富翁非常好玩的消息就此流傳開來，因此每一套遊戲都迅速被人搶購一空。當該間玩具公司發現他們犯下大錯之後，就連忙安排向戴洛買下遊戲，然後接下來就是大家耳熟能詳的故事了。

　　梅基所發明的則稱為『大地主遊戲』。她創造這個遊戲的用意是要展現當一個人掌控太多地產時會有多少壞處。不過大多數人在玩的時候都不會想到這點。任何大富翁的玩家都會告訴您這個遊戲會讓人滋生貪念。玩上一分鐘之後，您就能明白這點。不用花太多時間，您滿腦子想做的就只有贏、贏、贏！
 
  1. opponent　n. 對手，敵手
    To everyone's surprise, the world champion was defeated by his opponent.
    出乎所有人的意料之外，那位世界冠軍竟被他的對手擊敗了。
  2. original　a. 最初的，原本的
    The original manuscript for that great book is kept in a special library.
    那本偉大書籍的原稿被收藏在一間特別的圖書館裡。
  3. reject　vt. 拒絕，回絕
    Darren couldn't believe that his girlfriend rejected his marriage proposal.
    達倫簡直不敢相信他的女友竟拒絕了他的求婚。
  4. breed　vt. 引起，招致（尤指不好的事，三態為：breed, bred, bred。）
    Poverty is likely to breed crime and violence.
    貧窮容易引起犯罪和暴力事件。
  5. greed　n. 貪心，貪婪
    Driven by greed and envy, Gina tricked her friend out of a million dollars.
    受到貪婪和妒忌心的驅使，吉娜騙走她朋友一百萬元。
  1. take it upon + 反身代名詞 + to + 原形動詞　　
    （某人）自作主張（做）……
    My mom took it upon herself to pack my suitcases for me for my trip to Europe.
    我媽自動幫我把我去歐洲旅行要用的行李都打包好了。
  2. in no time　　很快，立即
    Michelle recovered from her breakup in no time.
    蜜雪兒很快就從失戀的痛苦心情中回復過來。
  3. ...and the rest is history　　
    ……接下來發生的就是眾所周知的事了
    Wang Chien-ming made his MLB debut in 2005, and the rest is history.
    王建民於2005年在大聯盟初登板，此後的故事大家都耳熟能詳。
 
  1. economics　n. 經濟學
  2. property　n. 財產，所有物（本文中亦作形容詞用）
  3. landlord　n. 地主；房東
 

Word about Monopoly being a lot of fun spread...
（大富翁非常好玩的消息就此流傳開來……）
以下為各位介紹 word 的不同意思及用法：

  1. 本文中的 word 表『消息』，為不可數名詞。
    　Word has it + that 子句　　傳言……
    　 Word has it that Allen is quitting soon.
    （傳聞艾倫很快就要辭職了。）
  2. 若表『諾言』時，亦為不可數名詞。
    keep + 所有格 + word　　（某人）堅守承諾
    When Sal makes a promise, he always keeps his word.
    （沙爾只要做出承諾就會信守到底。）
  3. 若表『言詞；文字』時，則為可數名詞。
    have a word with + 人　　與某人談一談
    I'd like to have a word with you about your attitude.
    （有關你的態度一事，我想要好好跟你聊一聊。）
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