98-09+英語专业八级听力及文本_TEM8+Listening.doc

1998 SECTION A TALK One of the largest mental health problems in the US is that of compulsive gambling. Although there are no scientific studies that have discovered the exact number, experts estimate that between 5 and 10 million persons are compulsive gamblers. Like addiction to alcohol, compulsive gambling crosses all social and economic lines. Compulsive gamblers can be found in any profession and at any level of society. And the addiction affects both men and women. The gambling compulsion usually starts in the early teens. The more often the young gambler indulges in the compulsion, the more obsessive it becomes. By his early twenties, the average compulsive gambler has moved from small bets on such things as football games, horse races and card games to more adult, more expensive gambling forms. For the compulsive gambler, life becomes one continuous gambling binge. The compulsion consumes the gambling addict to such a point that nothing else matters, not even health, children or family. Studies by psychiatrists seem to show that compulsive gamblers bet to lose. Compulsive gamblers never stop when they are ahead. Instead, they try to win more. One important characteristic of the compulsive gambler is his optimism. Like most human beings, he does not like to admit defeat. Consequently, he hides his real motivations for gambling with large amounts of enthusiastic optimism. The more deeply he is committed to betting — and losing — the more fanatical his conviction that the next bet will make him wealthy. Compulsive gamblers will use almost any means to get money to feed their addiction. Borrowing or stealing from friends or family is the first method gamblers usually employ to get cash. Other common ways to get money are embezzlement, robbery or writing false checks. In recent years, psychiatrists discovered some of the basic reasons for compulsive gambling. First, compulsive gamblers almost always come from homes lacking in love. As a result, the child grows