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Woodrow Wilson was referring to the liberal idea of the economic market when he said that the free enterprise system is the most efficient economic
system. Maximum freedom means maximum productiveness; our “openness” is to be the measure of our stability. Fascination with this ideal has made Americans defy the “Old World” categories of settled possessiveness
versus unsettling deprivation, the cupidity of retention versus the cupidity of seizure, a “status quo” defended or attacked. The United States, it was believed, had no status quo ante. Our only “station” was the turning of a stationary wheel, spinning faster and faster. We did not base our system on property but opportunity—which meant we based it not on stability but on mobility. The more things changed, that is, the more rapidly the wheel turned, the steadier we would be. The conventional picture of class politics is composed of the Haves, who want a stability to keep what they have, 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 Americans imagined a condition in which speculators, self-makers, runners are always using the new opportunities given by our land. These economic leaders (front-runners) would thus be mainly agents of change. The nonstarters were considered the ones who wanted stability, a strong referee to give them some position in the race, a regulative hand to calm manic speculation; an authority that can call things to a halt, begin things again from compensatorily staggered “starting lines.” “Reform” in America has been sterile because it can 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 the disenfranchised. There is no attempt to call off the race. Since our only stability is change, America
seems not to honor the quiet work that achieves social interdependence and stability. There is, in our legends, no heroism of the office clerk (office clerk: n.职员), no stable industrial work force of the people who actually make the system work. There is no pride in being an employee (Wilson asked for a return to the time when everyone was an employer). There has been no boasting about our social workers—they are merely signs of the system’s failure, of opportunity denied or not taken, of things to be eliminated. We have no pride in our growing interdependence, in the fact that our system can serve others, that we are able to help those in need; empty boasts from the past make us ashamed of our present achievements, make us try to forget or deny them, move away from them. There is no honor but in the Wonderland
race we must all run, all trying to win, none winning in the end (for there is no end).
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to (A) criticize the inflexibility of American economic mythology (B) contrast “Old World” and “New World” economic ideologies (C) challenge the integrity of traditional political leaders (D) champion those Americans whom the author deems to be neglected (E) suggest a substitute for the traditional metaphor of a race
文章只在蓝字部分提到了美国inflextibity的观点，这样就可以构成文章的purpose吗？ 4. The author sets off (set off: to set apart: make distinct or outstanding) the word “Reform” (line 35) with quotation marks in order to (A) emphasize its departure from the concept of settled possessiveness (B) show his support for a systematic program of change (C) underscore the flexibility and even amorphousness of United States society (D) indicate that the term was one of Wilson’s favorites (E) assert that reform in the United States has not been fundamental 没看懂这里。。以及后面那个“a piece of the action”。。。 6. Which of the following metaphors could the author most appropriately use to summarize his own assessment of the American economic system (lines 35-60)? (A) A windmill (B) A waterfall (C) A treadmill (D) A gyroscope (E) A bellows
这五个东西我都没有研究，，是怎么选出来的呢？
谢谢，，，谢谢。。。帮帮我吧。。。
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发表于 2008-1-24 21:41:00
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