PREP 2文章

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PREP文章
In a new book about the antiparty feeling of the early political leaders of

the United States, Ralph Ketcham argues that thefirst six Presidents differed

decisively from later Presidents because thefirst six held values inherited from

the classical humanist tradition of eighteenth-century England.In this view,

government was designed not to satisfy the private desires of the people

but to make them better citizens; this tradition stressed the disinterested

devotion of political leaders to the public good.  Justice, wisdom, and courage

were more important qualities in a leader than the ability to organize voters

and win elections. Indeed, leaders were supposed to be called to office rather

 than to run for office.  And if they took up the burdens of public office with

a sense of duty, leaders also believed that such offices were naturally their

due because of their social preeminence or their contributions to the country.

Given this classical conception of leadership, it is not surprising that the first six

 residents condemned political parties.  arties were partial by definition,

self-interested, and therefore serving something other than the transcendent public good.

Even during the first presidency (Washington's), however, the classical conception

of virtuous leadership was being undermined by commercial forces that had been

 gathering since at least the beginning of the eighteenth century.  Commerce--its

profit-making, its self-interestedness, its individualism--became the enemy of these

classical ideals.  Although Ketcham does not picture the struggle in quite this way,

he does rightly see Jackson's tenure (the seventh presidency) as the culmination

of the acceptance of party, commerce, and individualism.  For the Jacksonians,

nonpartisanship lost its relevance, and under the direction of Van Buren, party

gained a new legitimacy.  The classical ideals of the first six Presidents became

identified with a privileged aristocracy, an aristocracy that had to be overcome

in order to allow competition between opposing political interests.  Ketcham is so

strongly committed to justifying the classical ideals, however, that he underestimates

the advantages of their decline.  For example, the classical conception of leadership

was incompatible with our modern notion of the freedoms of speech and press,

freedoms intimately associated with thel egitimacy of opposing political parties.

Q6.

The passage is primarily concerned with

(A)describing and comparing two theories about the early history of the United States
(B)describing and analyzing an argument about the early history of the United States
(C)discussing new evidence that qualifies a theory about the early history of the United States
(D)refuting a theory about political leadership in the United States
(E)resolving an ambiguity in an argument about political leadership in the United States
   

Q7.   

According to the passage, the author and Ketcham agree on which of the following points?

(A)The first six Presidents held the same ideas about political parties as did
later Presidents in the United  States.

(B)Classical ideals supported the growth of commercial forces in the United States.

(C)The first political parties in the United States were formed during Van Buren's term in office.

(D)The first six Presidents placed great emphasis on individualism and civil rights.

(E)Widespread acceptance of political parties occurred during Andrew Jackson's presidency.


Q8.   

It can be inferred that the author of the passage would be most likely to agree
that modern views of the freedoms of speech and press are

(A)values closely associated with the beliefs of the aristocracy of the early United States

(B)political rights less compatible with democracy and individualism than with
classical ideals

(C)political rights uninfluenced by the formation of opposing political parties

(D)values not inherent in the classical humanist tradition of eighteenth-century England

(E)values whose interpretation would have been agreed on by all United States
Presidents


Q9.   

Which of the following, if true, provides the LEAST support for the author's argument
about commerce and political parties during Jackson's presidency?

(A)Many supporters of Jackson
resisted the commercialization that could result from participation in a
national economy.

(B)Protest against the corrupt and partisan nature of political parties in the United States subsided during Jackson's presidency.

(C)During Jackson's presidency the use of money became more common than bartering of goods and
services.

(D)More northerners than southerners supported Jackson because southerners were opposed to
the development of a commercial economy.

(E)Andrew Jackson did not feel as strongly committed to the classical ideals of
leadership as George Washington had felt.

Answers: BEDA

能不能给我讲下，这篇文章说得意思，都做错了！！

[此贴子已经被作者于2009/8/4 18:10:04编辑过]

上帝是个男孩

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