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
"It was the beginning of a revolution in America and the world, a revolution that some have yet to acknowledge and many have yet
"It was the beginning of a revolution in America and the world, a revolution that some have yet to acknowledge and many have yet
admin
2021-06-15
37
问题
"It was the beginning of a revolution in America and the world, a revolution that some have yet to acknowledge and many have yet to appreciate," says Harold Skramstad, president of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. 1776? No indeed: 1896, when Frank Duryea finally perfected the Duryea Motor Wagon. At its first airing, the contraption rolled less than 100 metres before the transmission froze up. But by the end of 1896 Duryea had sold 13 of them, thus giving birth to the American motor industry.
That industry(whose roots, outside America, are usually attributed to tinkerings by Messrs Daimler and Benz in Germany)is being celebrated hugely over the coming months, culminating with a Great American Cruise in Detroit in June. "Our goal is to attract the greatest collection of antique and classic cars this nation has ever seen in one place at one time," says Mr. Skramstad modestly.
Americans may indeed blame the car for almost everything that has happened to their country, and themselves, since 1896. The car has determined:
The way they live. From cradle to grave, the car marks every rite of American passage. Home by car from the maternity ward; first driving licence(usually at the age of 16); first(backseat)sexual experience; first car of one’s own(and the make of car is a prime determinant of social status, symbolic of everything a person is or does). In Las Vegas, and elsewhere, Americans can get married at drive-in chapels. They then buy, or lust after, a house with garages big enough for not one but two or three cars. This allocates more space to cars than to children. And when the time comes, they may lie in state at a drive-through funeral home, where you can pay your respects without pulling over.
The way they shop. Main Street has been replaced by the strip mall and the shopping mall, concentrating consumer goods in an auto-friendly space. A large part of each shopping trip must now be spent, bags under chin, searching for the place where the car was left.(And another point; bags have annoyingly lost their carrying handles since shoppers ceased to be pedestrian)Since car-friendly living and shopping became the role, most built-up parts of America now look like every other part. There is simply no difference between a Burger Inn in California and one on the outskirts of Boston.
The way they eat. A significant proportion of Americans’ weekly meals are now consumed inside cars, sometimes while parked outside the(drive-by)eatery concerned, sometimes en route, which leads to painful spillages in laps, leading to overburdening of the legal system. Dozens of laws have been written to deal with car cases, ranging from traffic disputes to product liability. Drive-by shootings require a car, as do most getaways. The car is a great crime accessory; and it also causes the deaths of nearly 40,000 Americans every year.
Personal finances. Before the age of the car, few people went into debt; no need to borrow money to buy a home. Now Americans tie themselves up with extended installment loans, and this in turn has spawned a whole financial industry.
The wealth of the nation. By 1908, an estimated 485 different manufacturers were building cars in the United States. Employment grew nearly 100-fold in the industry during the first decade of the 20th century. When Henry Ford, in a stroke of genius, automated his production line he required a rush of new, unskilled labour, which he enticed by offering an unheard-of $ 5 a day in wages. Henceforth, workers could actually afford to buy what they built.
And Americans never looked back. Today, the Big Three car manufacturers(Food, GM and Chrysler)generate more than $ 200 billion a year in business inside the United States. Directly and indirectly, the industry employs roughly one in seven workers. Every car job is reckoned to add $ 100,000 in goods and services to the economy, twice the national average.
People occasionally suppose that the car is under attack as it enters its second century. Environmental regulators and transport planners(with their talk of car pools and subways)tend to give this impression. There are signs that personal computers may be replacing the sports car as the chief passion, and expense, of young men. But, in the end, nothing beats the idea of individual mobility. In a society that values freedom above all, the obvious way to celebrate a centenary is just to keep driving.
It is suggested that automobiles will not be as popular as before owing to the possibility that______.
选项
A、Americans tie themselves up with extended installment loans
B、Americans become more interested in antiques
C、employment in motor industry has grown to such a point that no more unskilled worker are needed
D、young people in America will be obsessed by personal computers
答案
D
解析
本题的四个选项中,只有D项为正确答案。这可从文中的“There are signs that personal computers may be replacing the sports car as the chief passion,and expense,of young men.”推知。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/VxTO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
______thatmyheadhadcleared,mybrainwasalsobeginningtoworkmuchbetter.
ThenewtechnologicalrevolutioninAmericannewspapershasbroughtincreased______,awiderrangeofpublicationsandanexpan
BillGatesandWaltDisneyaretwopeoplethemagazinehas______tobetheGreatestAmerican.
Americahasnowadoptedmore______European-styleinspectionsystems,andtheincidenceoffoodpoisoningisfalling.
"ItwasthebeginningofarevolutioninAmericaandtheworld,arevolutionthatsomehaveyettoacknowledgeandmanyhaveyet
WehavemanyholidaysfromtheendofMarchtillthebeginningofApril.Theyarethebestdaysfor______.
OurculturehascausedmostAmericanstoassumenotonlythatourlanguageisuniversalbutthatthegesturesweuseareunderst
OurculturehascausedmostAmericanstoassumenotonlythatourlanguageisuniversalbutthatthegesturesweuseareunderst
随机试题
沃尔评分法的分析步骤中,最为关键也最为困难的有()
何谓紫外线?
不支持病毒性心肌炎诊断的是
短暂性脑缺血发作(TIA),出现相应的症状及体征,完全恢复最长应在
甲将摄录自己婚礼庆典活动的仅有的一盘录像带交给个体户乙制作成VCD保存,乙的店铺因丙抽烟不慎失火烧毁,导致录像带灭失。下列说法哪一个是正确的?()(04年司考.卷三.单19)
拆除租赁房屋时,如果被拆迁人与承租人未就解除租约达成协议,房屋拆迁补偿方式是()。
下列化合物中属于醛类的是()。
国际铁路运输中的大陆桥有()。
某机场一条自动人行道长42m,运行速度0.75m/s,小王在自动人行道的起始点将一件包裹通过自动人行道传递给位于终点位置的小明,小明为了节省时间,在包裹开始传递时,沿自动人行道逆行领取包裹并返回。假定小明的步行速度是1m/s,则小明拿到包裹并回到自动人行道
对儿童脑电变化的研究表明,大脑各区域中最后成熟的是
最新回复
(
0
)