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  3. Dumb and Dumber, one of the modern classics of American comedy, tells the story of an affable idiot, Lloyd Christmas, who falls

Dumb and Dumber, one of the modern classics of American comedy, tells the story of an affable idiot, Lloyd Christmas, who falls

admin2012-12-01  91
问题     Dumb and Dumber, one of the modern classics of American comedy, tells the story of an affable idiot, Lloyd Christmas, who falls in love with a classy beauty, Mary Swanson. In one scene he asks her the chances of "a guy like you and a girl like me" ending up together. The answer is "Not good". "Not good like one out of a hundred?" asks Lloyd. "More like one out of a million," Mary replies. Lloyd pauses for a moment, then shoots back, "So you’re telling me there’s a chance?"
    That is the American spirit. Americans have traditionally been much more optimistic than Europeans, and happier too. They believe that people determine their own destinies rather than being the mere playthings of fate. They also believe that their children will have a better life than they do.
    This helps to explain the dynamism of the American economy. Americans regard failure — even bankruptcy — as a stone in the road rather than a damning verdict. It also helps to explain the appeal of the American experiment. "The American, by nature, is optimistic," JFK once said. "He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly." Europeans ask, "Why?" Americans ask, "Why not?"
    But the past five years have produced a dramatic souring in the country’s mood. Three-quarters of Americans now think that the country is "on the wrong track". The number of people who are hostile to trade and immigration has risen sharply, as has the number who think that America should engage less in world affairs. Trust in government is half what it was in 2001. Both the president and Congress have bargain-basement approval ratings. And people are increasingly pessimistic about the future. Barely a third thinks that their children will be better off than they themselves are. The reason why the man with the message of hope, Barack Obama, and the man who hails from Hope, Mike Huckabee, are doing so well is that people think hope is in short supply.
    There are good reasons for this pessimism. People are tired of the Bush administration, with its partisanship and incompetence. The Iraq war has shattered America’s image of itself as a mighty but good-hearted giant. Iraq means chaos and Abu Ghraib rather than the triumphant export of democracy.
    The war may be going better of late, but the majority of Americans still think that it was not worth the fighting, and the bad news about the economy is burying the good news about the "surge". Americans are accustomed to thinking of their houses as pots of gold (and pots of gold that can be remortgaged when you need a bit of extra cash). The gold is now turning into lead.
    This is creating a bull market in pessimism. The likes of Bill O’Reilly and Lou Dobbs have transformed themselves into cable stars by ranting about cultural decay and "broken borders". Patrick Buchanan’s latest book is called Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology and Greed are Tearing America Apart. "We are on a path to national suicide," he says. America is not just "coming apart", but also "decomposing".
    There is certainly no shortage of bad news. But coming apart? Decomposing? The current issue of Commentary — a magazine hardly noted for its sunny disposition — contains an excellent article, Crime, Drugs, Welfare and Other Good News by Peter Wehner (a former senior White House aide) and Yuval Levin, which shows why Mr. Buchanan is talking through his hat.
All of the following are seen as a dramatic change in the country’s mood EXCEPT that
选项 A、the majority of Americans think the country is being led astray.
B、more and more Americans are opposed to their country’s frequent involvement in world affairs.
C、the Bush administration’s approval rating hits an all-time low ever since 2001.
D、Most people look forward hopefully to the government led by Barack Obama.
答案D
解析 事实细节题。首先定位到第四段。[A]项“绝大多数美国人认为他们的国家被误导”，这和该段第二句话一致;[B]项“越来越多的美国人反对他们的国家过多地参与世界事务”是该段第三句的“反话正说”；[C]项“布什政府的支持率达到自2001年以来的最低”与该段第五句话吻合，注意该句中的bargain-basement approvalratings意为“最糟糕的支持率”；故答案选[D]“大多数人憧憬奥巴马执政的政府”，这是对文中某些信息的拼凑。
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