If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition—wealth, distinction, control over one’s destiny—must be deemed worth

admin2016-06-22  18

问题     If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition—wealth, distinction, control over one’s destiny—must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambition’s behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves admired, the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have given up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition—if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. There is a heavy note of hypocrisy in this, a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped—with the educated themselves riding on them.
    Certainly people do not seem less interested in success and its signs now than formerly. Summer homes, European travel, BMWs—the locations, place names and name brands may change, but such items do not seem less in demand today than a decade or two years ago. What has happened is that people cannot confess fully to their dreams, as easily and openly as once they could, lest they be thought pushing, acquisitive and vulgar. Instead, we are treated to fine hypocritical spectacles, which now more than ever seem in ample supply: the critic of American materialism with a Southampton summer home; the publisher of radical books who takes his meals in three-star restaurants; the journalist advocating participatory democracy in all phases of life, whose own children are enrolled in private schools. For such people and many more perhaps not so exceptional, the proper formulation is, "Succeed at all costs but avoid appearing ambitious. "
    The attacks on ambition are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive, while they are not extremely unattractive. As a result, the support for ambition as a healthy impulse, a quality to be admired and fixed in the mind of the young, is probably lower than it has ever been in the United States. This does not mean that ambition is at an end, that people no longer feel its stirrings and promptings, but only that, no longer openly honored, it is less openly underground, or made sly. Such, then, is the way things stand: on the left angry critics, on the right stupid supporters, and in the middle, as usual, the majority of earnest people trying to get on in life.
From the last paragraph the conclusion can be drawn that ambition should be maintained ______.

选项 A、secretly and vigorously
B、openly and enthusiastically
C、easily and momentarily
D、verbally and spiritually

答案B

解析 本题可参照文章的最后一段,从中可知,对抱负的攻击有很多,这些攻击来自于不同的角度。结果,在美国,人们不再像以前那样把抱负看成是一种健康的动力,看成是一种应该受到羡慕、应该深深地扎根于年轻人心目中的品质,因而对它的支持可能比以前少了。但这并不意味着人们没有了抱负,并不意味着人们感受不到它对人的鼓舞和启发了,只不过是人们不再公开以它为荣了,更不愿意公开表白它了。当然,由此产生了一些后果,抱负或被迫转入地下,或是被暗藏心中。于是,情况就成了这样——左边是愤怒的批评家,右边是愚笨的支持者,而中间,通常是大多数认真而努力地在生活中追求着成功的人们。据此可知,作者认为人们应该大胆、公开地追求自己的理想。B项与文章的意思相符,因此B项为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/RSQi777K
0

最新回复(0)