首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Somehow California is always at the cutting edge, be it in the flower-power days of the 1960s or the dotcom boom of the 1990s. A
Somehow California is always at the cutting edge, be it in the flower-power days of the 1960s or the dotcom boom of the 1990s. A
admin
2010-05-25
69
问题
Somehow California is always at the cutting edge, be it in the flower-power days of the 1960s or the dotcom boom of the 1990s. As Kevin Start points out in his history of the state, California has long been "one of the prisms through which the American people, for better and for worse, could glimpse their future".
Mr. Starr is too good a historian to offer any pat explanation; instead, he concentrates on the extraordinary array of people and events that have led from the mythical land of Queen Calafia, through the rule of Spain and Mexico, and on to the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, an iron-pumping film star with an Austrian accent. Moreover, he does so with such elegance and humor that his book is a joy to read.
What emerges is not all Californian sunshine and light. Think back to the savage violence that accom-punted the 1849 Gold Rush; or to the exclusion orders against the Chinese; or to the riots that regularly marked industrial and social relations in San Francisco. California was very much the Wild West, having to wait until 1850 before it could force its way to statehood.
So what tamed it? Mr. Staff’s answer is a combination of great men, great ideas and great projects. He emphasizes the development of California’s infrastructure, the development of agriculture; the spread of the railroads and freeways; and, perhaps the most important factor for today’s hi-tech California, the creation of a superb set of public universities.
All this, he writes, "began with water, the sine qua non of any civilization." He goes on cheerfully to note the "monumental damage to the environment" caused by irrigation projects that were "plagued by claims of deception, double-dealing and conflict of interest".
One virtue of this book is its structure. Mr. Starr is never trapped by his chronological framework. Instead, when the subject demands it, he manages deftly to flit back and forth among the decades. Less satisfying is his account of California’s cultural progress in the 19th and 20th centuries: does he really need to invoke so many long-forgotten writers to accompany such names as Jack London, Frank Norris, Mark Twain or Raymond Chandler?
But that is a minor criticism for a book that will become a California classic. The regret is that Mr. Starr, doubtless pressed for space, leaves so little room—just a brief final chapter—for the implications of the past for California’s future. He poses the question that most Americans prefer to gloss over: is California governable? "For all its impressive growth, there remains a volatility in the politics and governance of California, which became perfectly clear to the rest of the nation in the fall of 2003 when the voters of California recalled one governor and elected another."
Indeed so, and Mr. Starr wisely avoids making any premature judgment on their choice. Ills such as soaring house prices, grid locked freeways and "embattled" public schools, combined with the budgetary problems that stem from the tax revolt of 1978 would test to the limit any governor, even the Terminator. As Mr. Stars notes, no one should cite California as an unambiguous triumph: "There has always been something slightly bipolar about California. It was either utopia or dystopia, a dream or a nightmare, a hope or a broken promise—and too infrequently anything in between."
Which one of the following is NOT the characteristic of the book?
选项
A、The distributional imbalance of each of the part.
B、The chaotic arrangement and design of the structure.
C、The improper selection of some materials.
D、The cautious view and attitude of the writer.
答案
B
解析
事实细节题。根据文章第七段第二句话“The regret is... leaves so little room for the implications of the past for California’s future”,由于篇幅有限,Starr未能对加州的过去对其未来的指导意义作更多说明,所以排除A ;第六段第四句话中作者对加州的文化进程的描述,认为不应该把一些没人提及的作家与Jack London等名人相提并论,所以排除C ;选项D 则可以根据第二段“Mr. Starr is too good a historian to offer any pat explanation”和最后一段第一句话“Mr. Starr wisely avoids making any premature judgment”排除,Mr. Starr很明智,并没有仓促下结论。根据第六段前两句话可以得知本文作者还是比较赞赏文章不拘泥于时间顺序,按照主题进行结构安排的。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/Hc2K777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Thetourists_______throughthefog,tryingtoreadwhatwasengravedonthegravestoneShakespearehadChoosenforhimself.
Inbringing【C1】______children,everyparentwatcheseagerlythechild’sacquisitionofeachnew【C2】______--thefirstspokenwo
AccordingtotheU.N.FoodandAgriculturalOrganization,howmuchwillZimbabwe’scerealproductiondropfromlastyear?
AccordingtotheU.N.FoodandAgriculturalOrganization,howmuchwillZimbabwe’scerealproductiondropfromlastyear?
InAmerica,olderpeoplerarelylivewiththeiradultchildren.Butinmanyothercultureschildrenareexpectedtocare【C1】____
Noonecandenythatpesticidehaveimprovedtheabilityoffarmerstobringtheircropstomarket.【C1】______pesticides,farmer
Scientistssaythatmanyfactors______greatchangesintheweather.
Theprofessor’sspeech______awiderangeofsubjectsfromdrugabusetowomen’srights.
WhichoneofthefollowingwasNOTamongtheconditionsofthemanseveralyearsago?
InEnglandrecentlythreeforeigngentlemenapproachedabusstop.Theystudiedtheinformationonthesign【C1】______totheco
随机试题
以下关于滑坡地段路基施工的叙述,错误的是()。
作为一名工作认真负责的员工,应该是()。
下列有关主动脉瓣狭窄特点的叙述,不正确的是
下列各项,关于肺结核病理变化叙述,错误的是()
给病人输液时,责任护士误将甲床患者的青霉素注射给乙床患者。发现错误后,该护士心里十分矛盾和紧张,对乙床患者进行了严密观察,没有出现青霉素过敏反应。对此,以下说法符合伦理的是
2004年9月,上海金发房地产有限公司取得了上海市人民政府的行政许可,被批准在浦东某地区建一栋大型写字楼。为此,金发房地产有限公司先期投人开发成本达30万元。11月,上海市人民政府接到群众反映。经调查确实,该写字楼位置选取不尽合理,如果建成会大大影响当地居
下列关于对妨害民事诉讼的强制措施的说法中,不符合我国法律规定的是哪一项?()
()是防止施工现场火灾相互蔓延的关键。
细菌对抗生素的耐药性问题日益严重,超级细菌已经造成每年十万人的死亡。新的研究发现,附着在昆虫身上的微小的土壤颗粒中的微生物可能是新的抗生素“源头”,这些小虫子身上的微生物能有效阻止我们所知道的一些最危险、最有耐药性的病原体。因此,研究者认为,人们可以从昆虫
把实体一联系模型转换为关系模型时,实体之间的多联系在关系模型中是通过______。
最新回复
(
0
)