2. 外语
  3. The picnics, speeches, and parades of today’ s Labor Day were all part of the first celebration, held in New York City in 1882.

The picnics, speeches, and parades of today’ s Labor Day were all part of the first celebration, held in New York City in 1882.

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问题     The picnics, speeches, and parades of today’ s Labor Day were all part of the first celebration, held in New York City in 1882. Its promoter was an Irish - American labor leader named Peter J. Mcgurie. A carpenter by trade, Mcguire had worked since the age of eleven, and in 1882 was president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners(UBCJ). Approaching the City’ s Central Labor Union that summer, he proposed a holiday that would applaud(~)"the industrial spirit--the great vital force of every nation," On September 5th his suggestion bore fruit, as an estimated 10,000 workers, many of them ignoring their bosses’ warnings ,left work to march from Union square up Fifth Avenue to 42nd Street. The event gained national attention, and by 1893 thirty states had made Labor Day an annual holiday.
    The quick adoption of the scheme may have indicated less about the state lawmakers’ respect for working people than about a fear of risking their anger. In the 1880s the United States was a land sharply divided between the immensely wealthy and the very poor. Henry George was accurate in describing the era as one of "progress and poverty." In a society in which factory owners rode in private Pullmans while ten-year-olds slaved in the mines, strong anti - capitalist feeling ran high. Demands for fundamental change were common throughout the labor press. With socialists demanding an end to "wage, slavery" and anarchists(无政府主义)singing the praises of the virtues of dynamite(炸药), middle -of- the roaders like Samuel. Gompers and Mcguire seemed attractively mild by comparison. One can imagine practical capitalists seeing Labor Day as a bargain: A one-day party certainly cost them less than paying their workers decent wages.
We learn from the passage that the establishment of Labor Day ______.
选项 A、was accepted by most bosses as a compromise
B、marked a turning point in the workers’ struggle for more rights
C、indicated the improvement of the workers’ welfare
D、signaled the end of "wage slavery"
答案A
解析 从文章第二段对设立劳动节的背景的介绍以及对劳动节的倡导者Mcguire的评价和定位可知，当时的工人运动蓬勃发展，社会主义者和无政府主义者对工人地位的要求远不只是设立一个象征性的节日这么简单，Mcguire的倡议不过是一个相当温和的要求，所以老板们接受设立劳动节是妥协的结果，选项A正确。选项B“标志着工人为自己更多的权利斗争的转折点”不是作者的看法，在文章中也没有出现。选项C“显示了工人福利的提高”，D“标志着工资奴隶制的终结”也都没有在文章中提及。
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大学英语四级

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