ADJECTIVE | VERB + ODDS | ODDS + VERB | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤considerable, great, impossible, incredible, insurmountable, overwhelming, terrible相當大的/巨大的/無法想像的/難以置信的/無法克服的/令人不知所措的/可怕的困境◇She struggled against terrible odds to overcome her illness.她奮力與可怕的困境抗爭去戰勝疾病。➤good幾率大➤high, low可能性大;可能性小▸➤long, short (especially BrE) 高賠率;低賠率◇Sometimes an outsider will win at long odds, but not often.有時不被看好的賽馬也會爆冷獲勝,但這種情況並不經常發生。◇The bookmakers are offering only short odds on the favourite. (BrE) 賽馬博彩經紀人只給熱門馬很低的賠率。VERB + ODDS➤offer, quote開出賠率▸➤lay打賭◇I'll lay odds we never see him again.我打賭我們再也不會見到他了。➤reduce, shorten降低可能性;減少幾率➤improve, increase提高幾率;增加可能性▸➤beat, defy, overcome排除可能性;克服困難◇She defied the odds to beat the clear favourite / favorite.她克服困難擊敗了最有希望的奪冠者。➤calculate預測賠率ODDS + VERB➤fall, go down, lengthen (especially BrE) 賠率下降;可能性增加▸➤go up, increase, shorten (especially BrE) 賠率上升;可能性減小➤favour/favor sb情形對某人有利PREPOSITION➤against the odds儘管困難重重◇The movie is a heart-warming tale of triumph against the odds.電影講述了一個克服重重困難獲得成功的感人故事。➤odds against對⋯不利的因素◇The odds against making a profit in this business are huge.在這一行業要實現盈利有巨大的困難。➤odds of⋯的賠率◇They were offering odds of ten to one.他們提出以 10 比 1 的賠率打賭。➤odds on在⋯方面的賠率◇The odds on the outsider were 100-1.冷門馬的賠率是 100 比 1。PHRASES➤against all odds, against all the odds克服重重困難◇Against all the odds, we managed to get through to the final.我們克服重重困難進入了決賽。➤face impossible odds, face insurmountable odds遭遇幾乎想像不到的/遭遇無法逾越的困難➤the odds are stacked against sb, the odds are stacked in favour/favor of sb情況對某人不利/有利◇He will try hard to win, although he knows the odds are stacked against him.儘管知道困難重重,他仍將盡力爭取獲勝。