The Lottery: More Good Than Harm

Have you noticed the large number of stalls scattered near bus stops and shopping centers selling lotteries？ Have you watched the rites drawing lottery on TV and read the draw prize winning numbers publicized on newspapers every week？ Have you heard of some poor workers earning great wealth by lottery overnight？ Admit it or not， lottery has already become a much concerned social issue of wide controversy in our city.

　　There's no denying that lottery may encourage people to indulge in a spectacular dream of gaining great fortune overnight without hard work and thus distract their devotion to routine work. However， an objective analysis shows that lottery does more good than harm， mainly for three specific reasons.

　　First of all， lottery offers an effective way to collect great amount of funds needed for social construction and welfare of the poor. It provides people with a promising opportunity of getting desirable returns instead of plainly soliciting contributions，which somewhat meet the trait of human nature. Various kinds of lottery， such as sports lottery， welfare lottery， transfer the collected treasury to people and industries that are in urgent demand of money， hence facilitate to realize the optimization of resource allocation.

　　Secondly， lottery， as a novelty that emerged a few years ago， has turned into a pleasant ingredient in people's daily life，bringing us much excitement and surprise. It not only offers a probability of becoming rich out of good luck， but make people's fine wishes for future's affluence seem a little more reasonable as well， which may serve as a spiritual prop for those impoverished to strive on. Buying lottery is also a way of investment， like the fund operation in the stock market. The increase in value isn't necessarily achieved at the cost of physical labor， but mainly depends on an acute grasp of market opportunity and a profitable investment decision. Some branches of learning which claim to study the principles of lottery have also emerged， indicating lottery's stepping out of a mere fad into a mature stage and people's rational attitude towards it.

　　Finally， lottery also serves as an invisible bond between different social classes， which confer our materialistic world a little human touch. Statistics from a recent survey indicate that most lottery buyers consider the money their donation to the society if they aren't lucky enough to win the prizes. Indeed， lottery prorides us with a simple and concrete way to make a bit contribution to our country and people， as the cost of per share of lottery is considerably low. Lottery is in some way similar to gambling，but at least it's for a right purpose.

　　So as I see it， the advantages of lottery fully outweigh its disadvantages， and it has turned into a significant part in our daily life. Why not try your luck and buy some kind of lottery one day？ Maybe you'll get a big surprise.

　　简 评

　　显然裘珈珈同学具有高超而娴熟的写作技巧，开头第一段就使用了大量排比的问句，仿佛作者在与读者进行面对面的沟通和交流，使得行文亲切而生动。然后作者从三个方面进行抽丝剥茧的分析，说理透彻，令人信服。作者的知识面较广，在行文中旁征博引，resource allocation（资源配置）等热门词汇信手拈来，而不显得刻意做作或卖弄。作者的语言基本功比较扎实，因而可以灵活驾驭大量对于大多数大学生来说较难的词汇，即使大量使用长句也很少犯语法错误，这是相当难能可贵的。

　　当然，作为一名英语学习者，作者在行文和语言方面都还具有少量的母语表达和文化迁移的痕迹。从思维方式上来说，中国人崇尚中庸之道，赞赏做辩证的分析，而西方的人文和科学思想往往倾向于"排中律"，在文章立意上常常要求非此即彼，明确自己的立场，即所谓taking sides.从这个角度出发，我们发现第二段的开头和第五段的最后一句就显得多余，而且这种看似客观辨证的分析实则冲淡了主体，建议进行弱化或干脆删除。从语言上看，作者使用的长句虽然数量较多，但仔细分析就会发现，其中部分长句的构成显得有点松散，尤其是几个使用非限定性定语从句的句子，建议考虑将其中部分非限定性定语从句改为独立的单句。

　　瑕不掩瑜，裘珈珈同学的这篇文章仍不失为一篇上乘佳作。我们期待着裘珈珈同学在成才道路上取得更大的进步。