章鱼哥八猜全中 获颁山寨大力神杯

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.

神算章鱼“保罗”于本周一获颁一个“山寨版”大力神杯，以奖励它在世界杯赛事预测中八猜全中的完美战绩。而全世界的一些赌球者们则因按照它的预测下注小赚了一笔。

这只现年两岁的“神算”章鱼因准确预测了德国在本届世界杯上五场胜利和两场失败的比赛结果而走红全球。保罗还正确预测了上周日西班牙战胜荷兰的决赛结果。

德国奥伯豪森水族馆的女发言人坦娅·穆吉将大力神杯模型颁发给保罗后说：“保罗收到了很多邀请，但它仍将留在这里，继续履行它原来的职责——给孩子们带去欢乐。”

“至于它为什么总能猜对，没有什么合理的解释。”

英国最大的博彩公司之一、位于伦敦的威廉希尔公司的媒介总监格雷厄姆．夏普称，全世界的赌球者们沾了保罗的光，小赚了一笔。

夏普说：“我这辈子见过很多事情，但还是头一次见到人们根据一只章鱼的选择来下赌注。”

夏普说：“有些人来了之后说他们也不知道该赌哪边，但听说这只德国章鱼很神，所以想按它的预测赌一把。这听起来很荒唐，但它总能猜对。这是有史以来最完美的预测战绩。”

夏普称，如果从世界杯一开始就按照保罗的选择累计下注10英镑，那么在比赛结束时能够赚得3000英镑（合4500美元）。

保罗所生活的奥伯豪森海洋世界水族馆被游客和来自欧洲各国的媒体围得水泄不通。很多新闻频道还对保罗的选择过程进行了直播。数百名游客于本周一现场目睹了工作人员将奖杯放入保罗所在水箱的颁奖仪式。

Vocabulary:

psychic: outside of natural or scientific knowledge; spiritual（有特异功能的，通灵的）

tip: to provide with a piece of confidential, advance, or inside information（预言……获胜；事先说……会成功）

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.（累计下注，每赢一次即押于下一轮赌博）

inundated: to overwhelm as if with a flood; swamp（淹没，洪水般的扑来）