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Render the text into English and express your attitude to the antiglobal movement.




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.. 2006

UNIT 10.
FOR EVERY WINNER, THERE IS A LOSER

Easy Money

 

A. What forms of gambling are popular in your country? Are there any restrictions on gambling? Read the text and discuss in what way the following quotation applies to it.

To be on the wire is life the rest is waiting (Karl Wallenda high wire artist)

 

We all take risks every day of our lives. Driving to work, catching an airplane, even crossing the road. These sorts of risks are qualified as actuaries and covered by insurance policies. The insurance company, working on the past record of many hundreds of thousands of instances, calculates the probability of a particular accident befalling the individual seeking cover and sets the premium for the policy accordingly, plus a healthy margin to take care of its operating costs and profits. Exactly as the casinos do. But whereas most prudent people would take out an insurance policy, as basic part of their game-plan for living, gamblers choose to take a wholly unnecessary and avoidable risk. Seeking risk for its own sake, as a diversion.

Part of the attraction, I feel sure, is the physical sensations offered. Consider simply the case of someone like you or me, planning to spend a night out at the casino. First comes the pleasure of anticipation, thinking through the day about going out to gamble; then perhaps comes the agreeable social pleasure of making arrangements to meet friends, other gamblers; not forgetting the important point of ensuring that you have the money to gamble That may be the nervous-making element, especially if you cant really afford it, or cant afford to lose; then comes the physical sensation, the pitter-patter ofexcitement as you walk through the doors of the casino, the sight and sound of action in the gambling rooms twitches of nervous tension finally the see-saw sensations of each coup, one after the other in rapid succession, as the wheel spins or the dice roll or the cards fall; the exhilaration of winning and the depression of losing.

The same sequence of sensations applies to any other kind of bet, or, for that matter, an investment in the stock market. Currency speculation, which I have tried, is much the best for round-the -clock action: as soon as the market in London closes, the dealing starts up in New York, and then moves to the Far East, and so back to London again. All bets are essentially the same, it is the time scale thats different. However this amalgam of sensations, of anticipation, excitement and resolution, may be described, the impact is in the body, physical.

Such feelings are not limited to gamblers. The same sort of sensations, I suppose, are felt by glider pilots, racing drivers, deep-sea divers, to name but three (operating as it were above, on and below the level of everyday living). The difference is in the pay-off: the thrill of trusting to the wind, speed around the track, piercing the darkness of deep water. When you come to think about it, almost all human activities carry an emotional charge, in varying degrees the actor going on stage, the politician at a public meeting, the salesman trying to close a deal. In this sense gamblers are not so different. The emotional charge is a common experience, known colloquially as getting the adrenalin going. There is one key difference, though, which distinguishes the activity of gambling from gliding, racing, diving and all the other things that people do when they are enjoying themselves. In all these activities, the pilot, driver, swimmer, or whoever, has trained or practiced or worked out the right or the wrong way of doing it, has been taught and tested at some length how to perform and has, in sum, established that he or she is in a position to carry through the action successfully. There may be accidents freak winds, oil on the track, oxygen failure but the chances are very strongly in their favour. In gambling it is exactly the opposite! The odds are against the player and everyone knows it. The risk is worse than fifty-fifty. Gamblers who manage to get a fifty-fifty break count themselves lucky!

After all, you cannot win at gambling in the long run, and that is the basic truth and the basic point about it. The very point that makes the motive for gambling such a mystery. Put it this way: suppose you are walking down the street and you meet some fellow who offers to toss a coin with you, heads or tails: the only snag is, when you lose, you pay a dollar, when you win, you get paid only 99 cents. You wouldnt do that, would you? Youd be out of your mind to do that. But that is what happens, exactly what happens, when you bet in a casino. I do it, you do it, and everybody does it. That is how the casinos make their huge profits.

So why gamble? The reasons are as many and various as the stars in the sky. I prefer to take the question the other way round. Why do some people not gamble? Its such a widespread trait of human conduct that it might be considered abnormal not to do it. The thought is not new. Gaming in all its forms- casinos, horse-racing, lotteries, card-games is simply too large an industry to be based on services catering for a deviant sub-group of the population. As the great gambler and early student of probability, Geronimo Cardano (c. 1530) observed, Even if gambling were altogether an evil, still on account of the very large number of people who play, it would seem to be a natural evil.

 

Readers Digest. 2007

 

B. Explain the meaning of the underlined phrases in the text.

 

C. Find a word or phrase in the text which, in context, is similar in meaning to:

a. happening to (paragraph 1)

b. a bet (paragraph 2)

c. 24-hour a day activity (paragraph 3)

d. buying and selling (paragraph 3)

e. mixture of feelings (paragraph 3)

f. the reward (paragraph 4)

g. the problem (paragraph 5)

h. mad (paragraph 5)

i. a common characteristic (paragraph 6)

j. an abnormal minority (paragraph 6)

 

D. Translate paragraph 2 into Russian.

 

E. Answer the questions.

1. How many different forms of risk-taking activity are mentioned by the writer, and what are they?

2. How are they comparable to gambling according to the author?

3. Do you agree that these activities are comparable to gambling?

4. In the introduction to his book the writer says: Gambling is a deeply rooted human instinct, as strong as hunger, thirst or sex. As such, it is my contention that gambling is good for you.

Do you agree with him? Can you think of arguments against his point of view?

 

F. Summarize the text.

Gambling

 

A. Fill each of the numbered blanks in the following passage with one suitable word.

Many people love to gamble, but very few are any good (1) it. When things go wrong, those (2) have lost their money blame someone (3) and shout for help.

For some people the desire to gamble is very strong, (4) irresistible, in fact. It is possible to become addicted to gambling in the (5) way as people are addicted to alcohol or drugs. When this happens, as well as losing all their money, gamblers (6) lose their jobs and suffer many personal difficulties, (7) as their marriage (8) up. They may (9) to crime to finance their gambling habit.

A very large number of people, perhaps the majority, (10) bets at (11) time in their lives. These are usually small (12) of money which are gambled on the results of football matches, (13) on horse and dog races. Almost all sports attract some (14) of betting. In as (15) as you have to use your knowledge of the sport to decide (16) you think the result will be, there is an (17) of skill involved. The odds, however, will always be against you and you can only win a fortune by taking a huge (18).

The same (19) for casinos. A gambler may have a (20) of good luck but the casino always wins in the end about 20% of the money which is bet stays with the house.

Newsweek. 2007

 

B. Give the main idea of the passage.

 

 

Render the article into English and say if you agree that it is possible to use the gambling industry as a solution to our depressed economy and social problems.

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10.4.

 

Render the article into Russian. Do you agree with the author of the article? Could you give any more arguments against gambling?

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A. Render the text into Russian and say if there is any difference between making a bet in a bookmakers office and a casino.

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B. Answer the question.

1. Have you ever made any bets on a sport event? Did you win? Did you like it?

 

10.6.

 

Render the article into English and say whether it is possible to control gambling in Russia. If so, what measures should be taken?

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. 2005

 

10.7.

Render the text into Russian. Are you a gambler? Why do you think so?

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-. 2005. 7

 

 

 

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Raise the Issues

IV

21.05.10.

60841/16.

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100 . ________

 

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