英语播客EnglishPod 406

 A:     Did you hear? The state is thinking of legalizing
       gambling¹ in our city! Soon we are gonna have
       amazing hotels and casinos here which will be
       good for our business!

 B:    Are you serious? Gambling is a vice² industry built
       on deception³ and fed by the intentional⁴ exploita-
       tion of human weakness for the sole purpose of
        monetary⁵ gain! It disgusts me.

 A:    What are you talking about? How does it exploit
        people?
 B:    Well, to begin with, Gambling is addictive⁶, ruins
        marriages, destroys families and bankrupts com-
        munities. Once you are addicted⁷ it is very diffi-
       cult⁸ to stop. People have lost their houses,  cars
       and been left out on the street after becoming
       addicted. Secondly⁹, it exploits because men be-
       come  addicted  to  gambling  most  often  because
       of the action and risk. Women gamble to escape,
       and senior citizens will start gambling for the so-
       cial  interaction. Underage  gamblers  often  start
       gambling on sports  with friends  and then illegal
        bookies.

 A:    Geez!  Now that I think about it, maybe legalizing
       gambling isn’t such a good idea! Although, I have
        been to Las Vegas, and I didn’t become addicted
       or anything like that.

 B:    You  cannot predict who will become addicted  to
       gambling. Now excuse me, I have a protest rally
       to organize!

1 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 deception   

n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计

参考例句：

• He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
• He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。

4 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

5 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

7 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

8 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

9 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。