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
The right to pursue happiness is promised to Americans by the US Constitution, but no one seems quite sure which way happiness r
The right to pursue happiness is promised to Americans by the US Constitution, but no one seems quite sure which way happiness r
admin
2010-05-09
35
问题
The right to pursue happiness is promised to Americans by the US Constitution, but no one seems quite sure which way happiness ran. It may be we are issued a hunting license but offered no game. Jonathan Swift conceived (构思) of happiness as "the state of being well-deceived," or of being "a fool among idiots," for Swift saw society as a land of false goals.
It is, of course, un-American to think in terms of false goals. We do, however, seem to be dedicated to the idea of buying our way to happiness. We shall all have made it to Heaven when we possess enough.
And at the same time the forces of American business are hugely dedicated to making us deliberately unhappy. Advertising is one of our major industries, and advertising exists not to satisfy desires but to create them--and to create them faster than anyone’s budget can satisfy them. For that matter, our whole economy is based on addicting us to greed. We are even told it is our patriotic (爱国的) duty to support the national economy by buying things.
Look at any of the magazines that cater (迎合) to women. There advertising begins as art and slogans in the front pages and ends as pills and therapy in the back pages. The art at the front illustrates the dream of perfect beauty. This is the baby skin that must be hers. This, the perfumed breath she must breathe out. This, the sixteen-year-old figure she must display at forty, at fifty, at sixty, and forever. This is the harness into which Mother must strap herself in order to display that perfect figure. This is the cream that restores skin, these are the tablets that melt away fat around the thighs (大腿), and these are the pills of perpetual (永久的) youth.
Obviously no reasonable person can be completely persuaded either by such art or by such pills and devices. Yet someone is obviously trying to buy this dream and spending billions every year in the attempt. Clearly the happiness-market is not running out of customers, but what is it they are trying to buy?
Defining the meaning of "happiness" is a perplexing (令人困惑的) proposition: the best one can do is to try to set some extremes to the idea and then work towards the middle. To think of happiness as achieving superiority over others, living in a mansion made of marble, having a wardrobe (衣柜) with hundreds of outfits (配备), will do to set the greedy extreme. To think of happiness as the joy of a holy man of India will do to set the spiritual extreme.
What makes the American deliberately unhappy according to the author?
选项
答案
The forces of American business
解析
参见第3段:And at the same time the forces of American business are hugely dedicated to making us deliberately unhappy.其大意是:与此同时,美国商业势力却大肆渲染,人为地使我们感到不幸福。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/PKOK777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
eBayeBayisaglobalphenomenon—theworld’slargestgaragesale,onlineshoppingcenter,cardealerandauctionsitewith1
FromwhattheBrazilianbiologistsays,weknowthattouristslikeher______.Thereasonwhy1994wasexceptionalisthat____
Alltheworld’smostsuccessfulCEOshavetoomuchtodoandtoolittletimetohavetheirpersonallife.Inthepassage,thea
Thefirstmainreasonformanypeople’sunhappinessintheirjobsrisesfromtheirconvictionthat______.Itcanbeinferredt
______(已婚夫妇的首要责任),therefore,wastothinkoftheirchildren’shappiness.
A、Industryandeducationhaveaclearmutualityofinterest.B、Businessmenandeducatorshaveaharmoniousfriendship.C、Industr
Asrecentlyasthirtyyearsago,manyAmericansbelievedthatusingcreditwasanunwiseand(36)______waytopayforwhatthey
A、He’salsointerestedinAmericanliterature.B、Hehasn’tdecidedifhewouldtaketheliteratureclass.C、Thewomanshouldhav
A、Bystudyingthesignsaroundthemwitheyesandbrains.B、Bychangingtheweather.C、Bycontrollingtheweather.D、Bylistenin
Mostpeoplefeellonelysometimes.Butitusuallyonlylastsbetweenafewminutesandafewhours.Thiskindoflonelinessisn
随机试题
若对男性睾酮水平下降的程度做最好评价,应测定下面哪个时间的睾酮水平
根据《跟单信用证统一惯例》,银行在以下哪些情况下可拒绝付款?
2012年,长春市汽车工业完成产值4888.5亿元,比上年增长16.5%;完成工业增加值1104.7亿元。2012年1~11月,汽车工业实现主营业务收入4954.2亿元,比上年同期增长11.6%;实现利润总额442.1亿元,比上年同期增长16.8%,高于全
最佳质量成本模型图表示了故障成本、鉴定成本与()以及总质量成本之间的关系。
成功人士之所以成功,往往有着独特的、别人无法做到、无法效仿的东西。就像人们常说的那句话,“戏法人人会变,各有巧妙不同”。这就是为什么世界上只有一个爱因斯坦,只有一个比尔·盖茨,只有一个乔布斯等等。而且,即使是成功者本人向你宣讲他是如何成功的,你也无法完全学
根据上述种植要求,如果北区种植龙柏,以下哪项一定为真?
CultureTherearesomanythingsaboutourlivesthatbelongtoculture.I.Language—Languageiswhatpeopleandanimalsuseto
Severalmonthshasalreadypassed,butsheisstill______withherfailureatthespeechcontest.
DearManager,Iamwritingtoyoutocomplainabouttheserviceinyourhotel.Ihadaterriblestayinroom2532ofOrang
Businessmenmakemostoftheirincomefromprofit______byproducingandsellingproducts.
最新回复
(
0
)