fascinating ['fxsIneItIg], excitement [Ik'saItmqnt], disillusionment ["dIsI'lHZqnmqnt]

Ever since she could remember, it seemed that she and Mrs. Butterfield had been contributing their threepence a week to this fascinating national lottery. It was cheap at the price, the hope and excitement and the suspense that could be bought for no more than three pennies each. For once the coupon was filled out and dropped into the postbox it represented untold wealth until the arrival of the newspapers with the results and disillusionment, but never really disappointment since they actually did not expect to win.

Once Mrs. Harris had achieved a prize of thirty shillings (однажды миссис Харрис получила приз в тридцать шиллингов) and several times Mrs. Butterfield had got her money back (и несколько раз миссис Баттерфилд получила свои деньги обратно), or rather a free play for the following week (или бесплатную игру на следующую неделю), but, of course, that was all (но, конечно, это было все /что они выиграли/). The fantastic major prizes remained glamorous and ambition-inspiring (фантастические главные призы оставались чарующими и дразнящими желания; ambition — честолюбие; тщеславие; цель, предмет желаний; честолюбивый замысел; to inspire — вдохновлять), fairy tales that occasionally found their way into the newspapers (сказками, которые порой попадали в газеты: «находили свой путь в газеты»).

major ['meIGq], glamorous ['glxmqrqs], occasionally [q'keIZnqlI]

Once Mrs. Harris had achieved a prize of thirty shillings and several times Mrs. Butterfield had got her money back, or rather a free play for the following week, but, of course, that was all. The fantastic major prizes remained glamorous and ambition-inspiring, fairy tales that occasionally found their way into the newspapers.

Since Mrs. Harris was not sports-minded (поскольку миссис Харрис не была склонной к спорту), nor had the time to follow the fortunes of the football teams (и не имела времени, чтобы следить за успехами футбольных команд), and since as well the possible combinations and permutations ran into the millions (и поскольку вдобавок возможные комбинации и перестановки исчислялись миллионами: to run into — достигать), she was accustomed to making out her selections by guess and by God (она привыкла делать свой выбор: «была привыкшей к деланию своих выборов» наугад и с Божьей помощью). The results of some thirty games (результаты около тридцати игр), win (победа), lose (поражение), or draw (или ничья), had to be predicted (должны были быть предсказаны), and Mrs. Harris' method was to pause with her pencil poised over each line (и метод миссис Харрис состоял в том, чтобы задержать свой карандаш покачивающимся над каждой строчкой) and to wait for some inner or outer message to arrive (и подождать, /пока/ какой-нибудь внутренний или внешний сигнал поступит; message — послание) and tell her what to put down (и подскажет ей, что написать).

fortune ['fLCqn], permutation ["pWmju'teISqn], guess [ges]

Since Mrs. Harris was not sports-minded, nor had the time to follow the fortunes of the football teams, and since as well the possible combinations and permutations ran into the millions, she was accustomed to making out her selections by guess and by God. The results of some thirty games, win, lose, or draw, had to be predicted, and Mrs. Harris' method was to pause with her pencil poised over each line and to wait for some inner or outer message to arrive and tell her what to put down.

Luck, she felt, was something tangible (удача, она чувствовала, была чем-то осязаемым) that floated around in the air (что витало вокруг в воздухе; to float — плавать; всплывать; держаться на поверхности воды) and sometimes settled on people in large chunks (и иногда оседало на людях в больших количествах; chunk — ломоть /хлеба, сыра, мяса и пр.