地道美语
A: Did you hear? The state is thinking of legalizing gambling 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 vice industry built on deception and fed by the intentional exploitation of human weakness for the sole purpose of monetary gain! It disgusts me.

A: What are you talking about? How does it exploit people?

B: Well, to begin with, Gambling is addictive, ruins marriages, destroys families and bankrupts communities. Once you are addicted it is very difficult to stop. People have lost their houses, cars and been left out on the street after becoming addicted. Secondly, it exploits because men become addicted to gambling most often because of the action and risk. Women gamble to escape, and senior citizens will start gambling for the social 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!

【文章大意】
州政府正考虑将赌博合法化，对话围绕赌博的利弊展开。A认为赌博合法化将带来商业效应，而B认为赌博有很多危害。如果赌博成瘾，会破坏婚姻和家庭，使人破产。弊大于利。他还想组织一场集会来反对将赌博合法化。
词汇注释 .
legalize vt. 合法化
Abortion was legalized in the 1960s.
堕胎在20世纪60年代被合法化。

vice n. 罪恶； 不道德行为

exploitation n. 利用

sole purpose 唯一的理由

monetary adj. 货币的；金钱的

gambling n.赌博

casino n. 娱乐场；赌场

bookie n. 赌注登记经纪人

addicted adj. 嗜好… 的；上了…瘾的
He is addicted to smoking
他吸烟上了瘾。

【拓展词汇】
Texas Hold'em 德州扑克牌 德州扑克使用52张扑克牌，没有王牌。你手中发到2张底牌（只有自己知道哦），桌面上共发放5张公共牌（大家都能看到的）。你可以从这7张牌里挑选最大5张的组合，按照比牌规则，谁的牌面最大谁就获胜。

slot machine n. 吃角子老虎，赌博机

roulette n. 轮盘赌

odds n. 可能性；可能的机会
The odds are against us.
我们没有成功的机会。

online gambling 网络赌博