The Super Bowl and the Oscars are the moon and the sun of American communal rituals. Together, more Americans watch them than at

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问题    The Super Bowl and the Oscars are the moon and the sun of American communal rituals. Together, more Americans watch them than attend church or vote in presidential elections.
   Like it or not, they are America’s preeminent means of announcing itself to the world; we can share our ideals with hundreds of millions of our friends (and enemies) around the planet.
   Of the two events, one emphasizes the spirit of collective effort, by gathering anonymous men in identical uniforms to sacrifice themselves for the shared ideals of the tribe. The other glorifies the exceptional individual, who is celebrated for the very beauty and talent that sets him or her apart from lesser members of the species. Virtually anywhere there is a television — in Afghanistan, in Uruguay — these grand pageants are watched.
   The Super Bowl offers us a model of the kind of moral clarity that can be elusive on the playing fields of our lives. Its scores are settled on neutral territory, and its teams are governed by inflexible rules. There is little room for favoritism or sentimentality or emotional nuance. Football knows right from wrong. The Super Bowl shows us a world we all can agree on — one in which, far removed from the messiness of everyday life, strength and skill and practical intelligence prevail. Its champions earn their trip to Disneyland, because they prove themselves to be rulers of a magical kingdom.
   The Oscars, on the other hand, restore us to the commotion of the social world. They allow charm, money, fame and influence to matter. Sex and youth count above all, which is why, to the Oscars’ disgrace, women over 40 are rarely on display. Like Greek gods, the stars of the show are magnifications of the best and worst in all of us. No matter that they arrive bedecked with jewels or with a supermodel on their arm or with a complexion whose glow is suspiciously youthful, at the Oscars they are stripped to their most vulnerable selves, utterly at the mercy of the unpredictable. The Oscars give us unfiltered human spectacle, in which one is either called to the stage to meet with approval or forced to sit and contend with feelings of neglect and disappointment.
According to the author, the Oscars offer us a human scene that shows a contrast between______.

选项 A、trust and suspicion
B、justice and injustice
C、wealth and poverty
D、delight and dismay

答案D

解析 本题是长句理解题,考查对第五段最后一句话的理解,关键点:…either called to the stage to meet with approval or forced to sit and contend with feelings of neglect and disappointment…。
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