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这篇文章我读过N遍，完全找不到main idea ；特别是作者的态度totally看不出来，根本不知道在讲什么。麻烦哪位nn费心指点一下，不胜感激~或者说麻烦您告诉我一下这个文章的难度是在个什么档上？自信心严重受创。。。
Passage 2 (2/63)Woodrow Wilson was referring to the liberal idea of theeconomic market when he said that the free enterprise system is the mostefficient economic system. Maximum freedom means maximum productiveness; our “openness”is to be the measure of our stability. Fascination with this ideal has madeAmericans defy the “Old World” categories ofsettled possessiveness versusunsettling deprivation, the cupidity of retention versus the cupidity of seizure, a “status quo” defended or attacked. The United States
, it was believed, hadno status quo ante. Our only“station” was the turning of a stationary wheel, spinning faster and faster. Wedid not base our system on property but opportunity—which meant we based it noton stability but on mobility. The more things changed, that is, the morerapidly the wheel turned, the steadier we would be. The conventional picture ofclass politics is composed of the Haves, who want a stability to keep what theyhave, and the Have-Nots, who want a touch of (a touch of: 有一点) instability and change in which to scramble for(scramble for: v.争夺, 勉强拼凑) the things they have not. But Americansimagined a condition in which speculators, self-makers, runners arealways using the new opportunities given by our land. These economic leaders (front-runners)would thus be mainly agents of change. The nonstarters were consideredthe ones who wanted stability, a strong referee to give themsome position in the race, a regulative hand to calm manic speculation; anauthority that can call things to a halt, begin things again fromcompensatorily staggered “starting lines.”“Reform” in America
has been sterile because itcan imagine no change except through the extension of this metaphor of a race,wider inclusion of competitors, “a piece of the action,” as it were, for thedisenfranchised. There is no attempt to call off the race. Since our onlystability is change, Americaseems not to honor the quiet work that achieves social interdependence andstability. There is, in our legends, no heroism of the officeclerk (office clerk: n.职员), no stable industrial work force of thepeople who actually make the system work. There is no pride inbeing an employee (Wilsonasked for a return to the time when everyone was an employer). There has beenno boasting about our social workers—they are merely signs of the system’sfailure, of opportunity denied or not taken, of things to be eliminated. Wehave no pride in our growing interdependence, in the fact that our system canserve others, that we are able to help those in need; empty boasts from thepast make us ashamed of our present achievements, make us try to forget or denythem, move away from them. There is no honor but in the Wonderland (wonderland: n.仙境, 奇境) race we must all run, all trying to win, none winningin the end (for there is no end).1. Theprimary purpose of the passage is to
(A) criticize the inflexibility of Americaneconomic mythology
(B) contrast “Old World” and “New World” economic ideologies
(C) challenge the integrity of traditionalpolitical leaders
(D) champion those Americans whom theauthor deems to be neglected（A）
(E) suggest a substitute for thetraditional metaphor of a race
2. Accordingto the passage, “Old World” values were basedon
(A) ability
(B) property
(C) family connections
(D) guild hierarchies（B）
(E) education
3. In thecontext of the author’s discussion of regulating change, which of the followingcould be most probably regarded as a “strong referee” (line30) in the United States
?(A) A school principal
(B) A political theorist
(C) A federal court judge
(D) A social worker（C）
(E) A government inspector
4. The authorsets off (setoff: to set apart: make distinct or outstanding) the word“Reform” (line35) with quotation marks in order to
(A) emphasize its departure from theconcept of settled possessiveness
(B) show his support for a systematicprogram of change
(C) underscore the flexibility and evenamorphousness of United States
society(D) indicate that the term was one of Wilson
’s favorites（E）(E) assert that reform in the United States
has not been fundamental5. It can beinferred from the passage that the author most probably thinks that giving thedisenfranchised “a piece of the action” (line38) is
(A) a compassionate, if misdirected,legislative measure
(B) an example of Americans’ resistance toprofound social change
(C) an innovative program for genuinesocial reform
(D) a monument to the efforts of industrialreformers（B）
(E) a surprisingly “Old World” remedy for social ills
6. Which ofthe following metaphors could the author most appropriately use to summarizehis own assessment of the American economic system (lines35-60)?
(A) A windmill
(B) A waterfall
(C) A treadmill
(D) A gyroscope（C）
(E) A bellows
7. It can beinferred from the passage that Woodrow Wilson’s ideas about the economic market
(A) encouraged those who “make the systemwork” (lines45-46)
(B) perpetuated traditional legends about America
(C) revealed the prejudices of a man bornwealthy
(D) foreshadowed the stock market crash of1929（B）
(E) began a tradition of presidentialproclamations on economics
8. Thepassage contains information that would answer which of the followingquestions?
I. What techniqueshave industrialists used to manipulate a free market?
II. In what ways are“New World” and “Old World” economic policiessimilar?
III. Has economicpolicy in the United States
tended to reward independent action?(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II only（C）
(E) II and III only
9. Which ofthe following best expresses the author’s main point?
(A) Americans’ pride in their jobscontinues to give them stamina today.
(B) The absence ofa status quo ante has undermined United States economic structure.
(C) The free enterprise system has beenonly a useless concept in the United States
.(D) The myth of the American freeenterprise system is seriously flawed.（D）
(E) Fascination with the ideal of“openness” has made Americans a progressive people. |
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发表于 2010-4-2 23:52:45
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