彩票(Lottery)
彩票(Lottery)
In the last decades, the development of market oriented economy has brought a large number of newly emerging things into our daily life. Yet when it comes to one of these new things lottery, welfare lottery in particular, some people believe that it creates a good social atmosphere while others argue that the opposite is true. There is probably a little bit of truth in both statements. But in recent years, lottery has done a lot to support the view that it does more good than harm.
On one hand, welfare lottery encourages people to do small kindness for the welfare of others as well as for the profit of oneself. When we read the daily newspapers, we are frequently appraised of the "Big Kindness" performed by well-to-do philanthropists who donate large sums of money for the establishment of schools, libraries, free hospitals for the poor, orphanages,and the like. These, of course, are laudable acts of charity that deserve wide public acclaim. But in my estimation, not all the people have the financial ability to support these "Big Kindness",and those many minor acts of kindness performed daily in different situations by public minded citizens who receive no recognition or praise from the mass media are equally commendable.Similarly, welfare lottery provide the majority of people a chance to perform this kind of small kindness.
On the other hand, in a large city like Shanghai, where the general tendency of the people is "to look out only for one's own", the atmosphere is cold and miserable for those unable to keep up with the rapid pace of competitions. By launching a personal campaign such as welfare lottery, we can try to remedy the present situation and to make our society a much better place to live in.
However, every coin has two sides. Lottery, inevitably,has some side effects. As to the general CRIticism that it encourages some people's opportunistic attitudes and makes them unwilling to make a living by finding a job, I believe that the tax system in our society will keep the necessary balance between the poor and the rich, thus maintains the stability and unity of our country.
Recognition of a problem is the first step toward its solution. Since we are now generally aware of the advantages and disadvantages of lottery, it seems necessary that we improve this scheme to meet the public needs. If we are to succeed as a society in 21st century, a better society atmosphere should be created.
简 评
彩票作为最近十几年来出现的新鲜事物，其是是非非引起人们争议。作者开篇明义，指出彩票虽利弊各半，但近年来其用明显超过其弊端。作者认为，福利彩票鼓励人们为他人和自己而做善事。大慈善家有足够的财富做大善事(big kindness)，建学校、图书馆、医院、孤儿院，赢得广泛赞誉。但作者认为那些默默地做好事的普通人同样值得赞扬，福利彩票正是提供了这样一种做好事的机会。此外，作者还举上海为例，认为在上海这样竞争激烈、各顾自己的社会，福利彩票之类活动是对这种状况的矫正。当然，作者也承认事物的两面性，如彩票助长投机心理，使人不愿踏实工作，但认为税收体系可以解决此问题。作者最后引用一句名言“认识到问题是解决问题的第一步”(Recognition of a problem is the first step toward its solution)，认为当务之急是完善彩票体系，创造一个良好的社会氛围，提出解决问题的途径，结束全文。
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