(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
And now for the VOA Learning English program, Words and Their Stories.
When you work hard for your money, you do not want to lose it. And if you invest your hard-earned money, you want to see great returns. But if you're looking to invest money, be careful!
We have an expression: If a deal is too to be true, it probably is.
There are many ways to be tricked out of your money. There are frauds, schemes, scams and cons carried out by fraudsters, schemers, scammers and con artists.
Two types of rip-offs that are good to know are pyramid schemes and Ponzi schemes.
First, let's talk about pyramid schemes. It may sound like they started in ancient Egypt. But they did not. A pyramid scheme is a dishonest and usually illegal business in which the money of later investors is used to pay the people who invested first.
The fraudsters behind a pyramid scheme make their marketing scheme look real with many types of products or services. However, pyramid schemers simply use money coming in from new investors to pay off early stage investors.
When they can't raise enough money from new investors to pay earlier ones, the pyramid scheme falls apart. As it comes crashing down, many people can lose lots of money.
A Ponzi scheme is similar, but also different.
In both Ponzi and pyramid schemes, existing investors are paid by the money of new investors. But there is a big difference between a Ponzi and pyramid scheme.
In a Ponzi scheme participants believe they are actually earning returns from their investment. In a pyramid scheme, participants are aware that they are earning money by finding new participants. They become part of the scheme.
A Ponzi scheme is an investment trick.
Ponzi scheme is named after Charles Ponzi. In the 1920s, Charles Ponzi tricked thousands of people into investing in a postage stamp scheme.
At the time of his scheme, the annual interest rate for bank accounts was five percent. Ponzi promised investors a high return -- 50 percent -- in a very short amount of time. However, there were no investments. There were no honest returns. Ponzi used incoming funds from new investors to pay the returns to the earlier investors.
A man named Bernie Madoff ran the largest and longest-running Ponzi scheme in the United States. The website BusinessInsider.com says Madoff made off with about $20 billion of investors' funds.
One reason Madoff was able to fly under the radar for so long is because he was very well-known and trusted in the financial industry. He started his own investment firm in 1960 and helped start the Nasdaq stock market.
But no matter how financially smart you are, a Ponzi scheme can only work if the clients keep their money in the scheme.
Madoff's world came crashing down when his clients demanded to be paid about $7 billion and Madoff had only $200 - $300 million.
In 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme and stealing $17.5 billion from investors. He is serving a 150-year sentence in prison. But that is cold comfort to the thousands of investors, some of whom lost their entire life savings.
So consider yourself warned! If an investment scheme sounds too good to be true, it is.
I'm Anna Matteo.
重点解析
1.hard-earned money 血汗钱，辛苦赚来的钱
So how can you start a new hobby without wasting your hard-earned money?
那么，怎样开始一个新的爱好而不浪费辛苦赚来的钱呢?
2.marketing scheme 营销方案
The agent for rational and feasible marketing scheme formulated, and assist agent complete before-sale, middle-sale and after-sale services of each work.
为代理商制定合理可行的营销方案，并协助代理商完成售前、售中、售后的各项工作业务。
3.crash down 朝下猛撞
It seems to depict a storm at sea, almost as if the Egyptians are in boats, and a big wind makes a giant wave, and another wind then makes it crash down on them.
而是描述了一阵风，就像埃及士兵在船上，狂风掀起大浪，另一阵风，掀翻了船。
4.made off 逃走；离开；匆忙离开
They broke in and made off all the furniture.
他们破门而入，把所有家具都搬走了。
参考译文
这里是VOA学英语《词汇掌故》节目。
如果你努力赚钱，是因为你不想没钱。如果你把你辛苦赚来的钱拿来投资，你想见到更大的收益。但是，投资需谨慎！
我们有个表达：如果一个交易太不真实，那它也许真得不是真的。
有太多的方法骗出你的钱。骗子会实施欺骗，阴谋，诈骗，骗局来骗出你的钱。
有两种诈骗手段你最好知道：金字塔骗局和庞氏骗局。
首先，我们来谈谈金字塔骗局。这个名字听起来像这种骗局发源于古埃及，但实际上不是。金字塔骗局是一种欺诈的，通常是违法的商业行为，骗子会把后期投资者的钱用来偿还给前期投资者。
金字塔骗局的诈骗者用许多不同的产品或者服务让他们的营销方案看起来更加真实，但是骗子只是简单地把新投资者投进来的钱再付给早期阶段的投资者们。
当骗子从新的投资者那筹不到足够的钱给早期的投资者，他们的金字塔骗局就失败了。由于金字塔骗局失败了，许多人会损失很多钱。
旁氏骗局和金字塔骗局类似，但是是有差别的。
这两个骗局都存在投资者们的投资收益来源于新投资者的行为。但这两个骗局有着很大的不同。
在庞氏骗局里，投资者们相信他们是靠投资得到的收益。在金字塔骗局中，投资的人知道他们是靠拉入新的参投者来赚钱的，他们成为了骗局的参与者。
庞氏骗局是一种投资诈骗。
庞氏骗局是以查尔斯·庞兹命名的。在20世纪20年代，查尔斯·庞兹诱骗了成千上万的人投资了一个邮票投资骗局。
在他实施骗局的那个时候，银行每年的存款利率是5%。庞兹承诺投资者们在很短的时间内就能得到更高的收益率——50%。但并没有什么投资，也没有真实的收益。庞兹利用从新投资者那得到的资金偿还给早期的投资者。
一个名叫伯纳德·麦道夫的人实施了美国最大，持续时间最长的庞氏骗局。网站“BusinessInsider.com”指出麦道夫携带着大约200亿美元的投资基金潜逃了。
麦道夫之所以能在监控之下实施骗局这么长时间是因为他在金融业很有名，也很值得信赖。他在1960年开了自己的投资公司，并协助创立了纳斯达克证券市场。
但无论你多有经济头脑，只有客户投了钱才能奏效。
当麦道夫的客户要求赎回70亿美元投资的时候，他的骗局开始败露，因为他只有2-3亿美元。
2009年，麦道夫承认实施庞氏骗局并窃取投资者175亿美元。他被判150年监禁。但这并不能给投资者们带来丝毫慰藉，因为其中一些人失去了他们一辈子的积蓄。
所以你要谨记：如果一件事情听起来好得难以置信，那么它也许真的不可信。
我是安娜·马特奥。
