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
You hear the refrain all the time: the U.S. economy looks good statistically, but it doesn’t feel good. Why doesn’t ever-greater
You hear the refrain all the time: the U.S. economy looks good statistically, but it doesn’t feel good. Why doesn’t ever-greater
admin
2010-01-26
93
问题
You hear the refrain all the time: the U.S. economy looks good statistically, but it doesn’t feel good. Why doesn’t ever-greater wealth promote ever-greater happiness? It is a question that dates at least to the appearance in 1958 of The Affluent(富裕的) Society by John Kenneth Galbraith, who died recently at 97.
The Affluent Society is a modern classic because it helped define a new moment in the human condition. For most of history, "hunger, sickness, and cold" threatened nearly everyone. Galbraith wrote. "Poverty was found everywhere in that world. Obviously it is not of ores." After World War. Ⅱ , the dread of another Great Depression gave way to an economic boom. In the 1930s unemployment had aver aged 18.2 percent; in the 1950s it was 4.5 percent.
To Galbraith, materialism had gone mad and would breed discontent. Through advertising companies conditioned consumers to buy things they didn’t really want or need. Because so much spending was artificial, it would be unfulfilling. Meanwhile, government spending that would make everyone better off was being cut down because people instinctively and wrongly labeled government only as "a necessary evil".
It’s often said that only the rich are getting ahead; everyone else is standing still or tailing behind, Well, there are many undeserving rich overpaid chief executives, for instance. But over any meaningful period, most people’s incomes are increasing. From 1995 to 2004, inflation-adjusted average family in come rose 14.3 percent, to $ 43,200. People feel "squeezed" because their rising incomes often don’t satisfy their rising wants for bigger homes, more health care, more education, faster Internet connections.
The other great frustration is that it has not eliminated insecurity. People regard job stability as part of their standard of living. As corporate layoffs increased, that part has eroded. More workers fear they’ve become "the disposable American," as Louis Uchitelle puts it in his hook by the same name.
Because so much previous suffering and social conflict stemmed from poverty, the arrival of wide spread affluence suggested utopian(乌托邦式的) possibilities. Up to a point, affluence succeeds. Then; is much less physical misery than before. People are better off. Unfortunately, affluence also creates new complaints and contradictions.
Advanced societies need economic growth to satisfy the multiplying wants of their citizens. But the quest for growth lets loose new anxieties and economic conflicts that disturb the social order. Affluence liberates the individual, promising that everyone can choose a unique way to self-fulfillment. But the promise is so extravagant that it predestines many disappointments and sometimes inspires choices that have anti-social consequences, including family breakdown and obesity(肥胖症). Statistical indicators of happiness have not risen with incomes.
Should we be surprised7 Not really. We’ve simply reaffirmed an old truth: the pursuit of affluence docs not always end with happiness.
What does Louis Uchitelle mean by "the disposable American"( Line 3, Para. )?
选项
A、Those who see job stability as part of their living standard.
B、People full of utopian ideas resulting from affluence.
C、People who have little say in American polities.
D、Workers who no longer have secure jobs.
答案
D
解析
第五段第三句指出As corporate layoffs in creased,that part has eroded.More workers fear they’ve become“the disposable American”,所以Louis Uchitelle所说的"the disposable American"指的当然是被辞退的员工,也就是选项D所说的Workers who no longer have secure jobs.
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/UrdK777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
Decision-makingisacomplexbusinesssubjectwhichcombinesthemostcomplicatedelementsoftheoperationaland(36)______asp
A、Attheman’shome.B、InHotelScandinavia.C、InthisEnglishrestaurant.D、Inheroffice.CWheremaythewomanhaveherdinner
A、Herpassport.B、Hermoney.C、Herdrivinglicense.D、Heraddressbook.CWhichoneofthefollowingitemsdoesthehandbagnotc
TheAeroscraftisnotaBlimpbecauseitismuchlargerthanthelatterthough______.ThepowerthattheAeroscraftneedsispr
Manyteachersbelievethattheresponsibilityforlearninglieswiththestudents,Ifalongreading(47)______isgiven,instru
A、Becausetheyarenottheirownbosses.B、Becausetheycouldnotearnmuchmoney.C、Becausetheyarenotinterestedintheirjo
A、Itisnotcomfortable.B、Itisdifficulttosteer.C、Itcannotgolongdistanceswithoutrecharging.D、Itsengineeasilyoverh
A、Togetmaterialsforaclassshemissed.B、Todiscussanassignmentsheisworkingon.C、Toaskaquestionaboutavideoherc
LookatthemessI’min,______(要是当初听了你的建议就好了).
A、Funny.B、Clever.C、Brave.D、Stupid.D暗示与推理题。Joe为了赚大钱想到抢银行,Joe将钱藏到荒地,由此可知他是很笨,答案D是正确的。
随机试题
绝缘靴(鞋)的试验周期是()。
房室瓣开放始于
具有润肠泄热、行气通便功效的方剂是
女,42岁,半年前因突发呕新鲜血180ml,住院治疗。并确诊为门脉高压症,保守治疗好转后出院。本次因大量呕血再次住院,经三腔二囊管压迫止血等综合治疗6天后出血停止24h,拔除三腔二囊管后,又发大出血出血停止后,拔除三腔二囊管,又发大出血的最可能原因是(
咳嗽,咳痰不爽,痰黄或黏稠,喉燥咽痛,常伴恶风发热,头痛肢楚,鼻流黄涕,口渴,舌苔薄黄,脉浮数,其治法是:咳嗽,气息粗促,或喉中有痰声,痰多质黏厚,或稠黄,咯吐不爽,或有热腥味,胸胁胀满,或有身热,口中欲饮,舌质红,苔薄黄腻,脉滑数。其治法是:
50岁,患肝硬化食管静脉曲张、腹水入院治疗。放腹水后出现精神错乱、幻觉,伴有扑翼样震颤、脑电图异常等肝性脑病表现。目前给病人安排哪种饮食为宜
在房地产市场调研中,可通过()方式获得第一手资料。
手机短信、电子邮件、网络聊天记录等经查证属实后,可以作为法院判定案件的证据。()
关于事物的否定之否定过程,下述观点正确的有
Analystshavetheirgoathumor,andIhavereadsomeofthisinterpretativeliterature,(1)_____withoutbeinggreatlyinstruct
最新回复
(
0
)