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
75
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."
From the text we can learn that Mr. Start is very ______ as a historian.
选项
A、conservative
B、cunning and shrewd
C、objective and canny
D、critical and aggressive
答案
C
解析
推理判断题。文章第二段的前两句话“Mr. Start is too good a historian to offer any pat explanation”,可以看出他很客观,用事实说话,第八段第一句话也说他不做出不成熟的结论“avoids making any premature judgment”,这些都说明他客观、谨慎、负责,而不是狡猾、保守,所以排除了选项A 和B ;Mr. Start并没有咄咄逼人、特别具有批判性,所以排除选项D ;在赞扬加州美丽的同时也不回避其缺点,都说明他作为历史学家很客观,故选择C 。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/Uc2K777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Therailroads【C1】______akeyroleinthesettlementoftheWest.Theyprovidedrelativelyeasy【C2】______totheregionforthe
Iremember______thedoorbeforeIwenttobed.
【C1】______snakes,lizards,andcrocodiles,turtlesbelongtotheclassofanimalscalledreptiles.Theearliestfossilsrecogni
California,bysomemeasuresAmerica’smost【C1】______state,isatthesametimeitsmostagriculturalstate【C2】______totalfar
--Whyareyoustaring?--I’veneverseen_______treebefore.
Peoplewhowaitforallconditionstobeperfectbeforeacting,______
Thetotalcasualtieshavesurpassed______.
Notcontentwithitsdoubtfulclaimtoproducecheapfoodforourownpopulation,thefactor,farmingindustryalsoarguesthat
Fortheexecutiveproducerofanetworknightlynewsprogram,theworkdayoftenbeginsatmidnight—asminedidduringsevenyea
BurnCaloriesWhileYouDoYourChores!Youmaynotrealizejusthowmanycaloriesyouburndoingeverydaytasks.Dailycho
随机试题
二重积分(x+2y)dy=_______.
一女性患者,40岁,已婚,因月经淋漓不净20天来就诊。妇科检查:子宫6+周妊娠大小,两侧附件阴性。B超提示“粘膜下子宫肌瘤”。下列哪项临床表现不符合该诊断()
女性,24岁。发现心尖区Ⅲ级收缩期杂音3年,发热2周。可闻收缩中、晚期喀喇音,有杵状指,足底有无痛性小出血点。该病例心脏超声检查哪项表现对诊断最有意义
技术风险的防范可以根据业务需求建立完善的信息技术系统及相应的容错备份系统和灾难备份系统,其包括( )。
2015年8月15日,甲市税务机关认为本市乙公司有逃避纳税义务行为,既不提供纳税担保又有明显的转移、隐匿其应纳税的商品、货物等迹象,经甲市税务局局长的批准,遂将乙公司的一批货物扣押,乙公司认为自己没有问题,所以对此行为不服。2015年9月20日,乙向甲市人
A、 B、 C、 D、 C
萨特认为人的本质只有与他人和社会隔离开来才能显现。这种观点是
在包含1000个元素的线性表中实现如下各运算,哪一个所需的执行时间最短?
需求分析阶段的任务是()。
______ispopularinthesouth?______hasflowersofdifferentcolorsbetweensingleformanddoubleform?
最新回复
(
0
)