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  3. Is online gambling legal? It all depends on where you live. Last September, several U.S. lawmakers are trying to crack down on t

Is online gambling legal? It all depends on where you live. Last September, several U.S. lawmakers are trying to crack down on t

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问题     Is online gambling legal? It all depends on where you live. Last September, several U.S. lawmakers are trying to crack down on the industry by clarifying existing U.S. laws and making it easier to go after offenders. Actually, opinions vary on whether the online gambling should be banned. The following are some of the typical opinions on the issue. Read them carefully and write your response in NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
    1. summarize briefly the opinions;
    2. give your comment
Earl L. Grinols, professor of Baylor University
    It is impossible to stop online gambling. When it has been banned, people have just used sites based in other countries. It is better to legalize and regulate online gambling than to drive gamblers to poorly-regulated foreign operators. Regulation can reduce the problems identified by the proposition. For example, online gamblers can be required to give personal details when registering (e.g. occupation, income). If this information suggests they are spending more than they can afford, the company can block their credit card. In any case, most online gamblers do not get addicted. Why should they be denied an activity that they enjoy?
Jimmy Doherty, dean of the Faculty of Economy at Princeton University
    Internet gambling is especially dangerous. Someone can become addicted very easily—they don’t even need to leave their home. This also means that they are gambling in private. They may therefore be less reluctant to wager very large sums they cannot afford. It is very hard to know the identity of an online gambler—there have been several cases of people (including children) using stolen credit cards to gamble online. Online gambling may be hard to control but that is not a reason to try— making an activity more difficult to pursue will still reduce the number of those who take it up. It is not impossible to put effective deterrent steps in place, such as the recent US ban on American banks processing credit card payments to internet gambling sites.
Brad DeLong, professor of politics at U.C. Berkeley
    Prohibition doesn’t work. We’ve tried it before. As our history books show, the Volstead Act, which prohibited the sale of alcohol in the 1920s, closed the doors of legal, regulated businesses. In their place, it opened a Pandora’s box with unintended consequences. These consequences—criminal activity, illegal manufacturing and distribution, and more—took years and significant resources to fully combat. All for the act to later be repealed.
    Let’s not let history repeat itself. Americans enjoy entertainment, especially gambling. Gambling is woven into American history, having existed in some form since our nation’s establishment. Let’s rely on common-sense safeguards and consumer protections. Let’s extend well-established and effective gaming regulations to the newest form, online gaming.
Rick Perry, governor of Texas
    Internet gambling is particularly worrisome. Evidence overwhelmingly shows that compulsive gambling is three to four times more common among online gamblers than non-Internet gamblers. Online gambling is fundamentally more dangerous than other forms of gambling. The 24/7 ease of access, speed of the game, solitary nature of play and ability to play multiple games at once make it so. It’s also possible to lose more money than you have on hand.
    Legalizing online gambling may seem like an attractive solution to a state’s budget woes. Evidence, however, suggests the contrary. Gambling disproportionately impacts the poor. It diverts money away from local businesses and displaces existing sales tax revenue while fueling societal ills. Both sides of this debate agree a state-by-state patchwork of online gambling regimes will not work. Congress needs to act in the interest of families and communities. It should update the Wire Act to ensure enforcement of federal law prohibiting Internet gambling.
选项
答案 Reduce Online Gambling Through Education With the access to the Internet, people can gamble whenever and wherever they want, so the present society has witnessed a dramatic increase of online gambling. Concerning such a problem, some critics, like professors from Baylor University and U.C. Berkeley, suggest legalizing the online gambling and regulating it properly, while the other two critics above advocate a strong prohibition on online gambling. For me, prohibition is necessary if we want to control the online gambling; what’s more, if we want to accomplish the goal of reducing online gambling in the long run, education is the key. For one thing, the effect of legalizing online gambling is still questionable and it is dangerous for the government to do away with the prohibition on online gambling. Les Vegas, where gambling is legalized, is a perfect example to illustrate this. Now an increasing number of casinos are being constructed there. Why is that? Without doubt, the ultimate reason is that there are an increasing number of gamblers flocking there, and the same goes for online gambling. Thus, to ensure the reduction of online gambling, legalization is not a reliable way. Prohibition is still needed. For another, in order to persuade people out of gambling online, prohibition is not enough and education is the key. A recent study has shown that the younger generation in the U.S. is less inclined to smoke than the elder generation because now the younger generation has a relatively thorough understanding of the harms of smoking to their health. Likewise, we can solve the problem of online gambling in the same way: tell them the harm and adverse consequences of online gambling on top of banning such a behavior. In conclusion, when faced with the problem of online gambling, the government should first place the prohibition on it. Then for the long-term effect, it should strive to educate people, especially the younger generation. Only in this way can the number of online gamblers be reduced.
解析     材料给出了四个人关于“是否立法禁止网上赌博”的评论，其中第一个人和第三个人认为我们不可能完全禁止赌博，应该通过法律的手段对网上赌博进行规范化管理(to legalize and regulate online gambling)。因为网络赌博无法禁止(impossible to stop online gambling)，与禁酒令一样，禁止网上赌博是不奏效的(All for the act to later be repealed)。第二个人和第四个人则认为网上赌博的危害很大(especially dangerous)，我们不应该使网上赌博合法化。因为网上赌博带来的问题很多，将网上赌博合法化不可取，应该更新法规(update the Wire Act)，加大禁止网上赌博的力度(ensure enforcement of…prohibiting Internet gambling)。
    开篇：概括材料的主要观点，并在此基础上提出个人对于网上赌博的看法——要减少网上赌博，禁令是必要，教育是关键。
    主体：分别举例说明禁赌的必要性和方法——以拉斯维加斯为例说明网上赌博合法化的不可行性以及禁止网上赌博的必要性；用美国年轻一代吸烟较少的例子来说明教育对于减少网上赌博的重要性。
    结尾：总结全文，重申观点——政府应该首先颁布禁令，然后通过教育的方式去减少网上赌博。
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