I live in a primarily agricultural community, and most of the population lives hand to mouth. Parents keep children home from school to work in the fields. If there is a flood or a drought, people starve. A new factory would mean regular monthly salaries as well as protection against natural disasters or a sudden drop in the price of our main agricultural product, say, corn.

Regular salaries would allow families the confidence to make investments in their futures. The locals would be able to plan their finances accurately and free themselves from debt. This in turn would encourage entrepreneurship and further develop the local economy. People could begin to open shops, restaurants, dormitories, and entertainment facilities to serve the factory workers with their savings. Profits from these small enterprises would further enrich the local community and turn our relatively poor farmland into a truly profitable development zone. Perhaps more parents could then afford to send all of their children to high school and maybe even college.

There would certainly be negative effects as well. If the area becomes prosperous, immigrants from poorer regions will come here looking for work. Because of their relative poverty they will work harder for less money than the locals and drive wages down. There might be more immigrants than factory jobs available, leading to an unemployment crisis with a rising crime rate as a potential negative side effect.

On the other hand, the proposed factory would almost certainly have adverse effects on the local environment, particularly in regards to polluting the water. This is perhaps the most serious concern, because without clean water the area cannot sustain life of any kind, corn, livestock, or human.

However, because of the relatively desperate economic situation of my hometown, I believe the potential benefits of opening a new factory would outweigh the risks. If we take the proper precautions, such as imposing strict environmental standards and providing adequate social services for immigrants, the whole area stands to benefit.

Word List

primarily ［prai?mer?li］adv.首要地，主要地

immigrant ［?imigr?nt］ n. 移民

drought ［draut］ n. 干旱

potential ［p??ten??l］ adj. 潛在的

entrepreneurship ［?a:ntr?pr??n?:?ip］n. 企業(yè)家的身份（地位）

livestock ［?laiv?sta:k］ n. 家畜，牲畜

outweigh ［aut?wei］v. 在重量

(或價值) 上超過

facility ［f??siliti］ n. 設(shè)施

profitable ［?pra:fit?bl］ adj. 有利可圖的

precaution ［pri?k?:??n］ n.預(yù)防，預(yù)防措施