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
59
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.
According to the author, customers of the happiness-market do not know ______.
选项
答案
what is it they are trying to buy
解析
参见文章第5段:很明显,任何有理智的人都不会全然为此类的广告艺术、药丸或产品所打动。然而仍然有人跃跃欲试,每年花销数十亿美元来购买这种梦想。显然,幸福市场不乏顾客,但是他们打算要购买的又是什么呢?
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/XKOK777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
A、Thetwospeakerswillcontinuetalkingandbecomefriends.B、Thetwospeakerswillspendtheirvacationtogether.C、Thewoman
Asrecentlyasthirtyyearsago,manyAmericansbelievedthatusingcreditwasanunwiseand(36)______waytopayforwhatthey
A、PublicBusesarefastandcheaptransportationtools.B、Parkingisbecomingabigproblem.C、Subwaytrainsareevensaferthan
A、HowtostudyItalianGrammar.B、HowtoenlargeherItalianvocabulary.C、HowtoimproveherspeakingandlisteninginItalian.
Mostpeoplewouldbe【S1】bythehighqualityofmedicine【S2】tomostAmericans.Thereisalotofspecialization,agreatdeal
InNovember1965,NewYorkwasblackedoutbyanelectricityfailure.The【B1】______promisedthatitwouldnothappenagain.Pe
A、Hehassomeknowledgeofthelaw.B、Hehadthesameproblem.C、Heknowstheowner.D、Hecanbringalawsuitagainsttheowner.
Astudyofpeoplewhousedcellphonesforanaverageoflessthanthreeyearsfoundnoevidencethedevicescausebraincancer.
Mostpeoplefeellonelysometimes.Butitusuallyonlylastsbetweenafewminutesandafewhours.Thiskindoflonelinessisn
随机试题
A、酒精性肝硬化B、淤血性肝硬化C、病毒性肝炎后肝硬化D、原发性胆汁性肝硬化E、血吸虫病性肝纤维化血清抗线粒体抗体阳性率高且滴度高的为()
Glasgow昏迷量表包括如下项目评定
对账的主要内容包括()。
基金管理人依法发售基金份额,募集基金,应当向国务院证券监管机构提交()文件,并经管理机构核准。
思想教育目标可以分为三个层次,它们是()。
打字高手不看键盘就可以打字,这说明动作技能形成的标志是()
从所给的四个选项中,选择最合适的一个填入问号处,使之呈现一定的规律性:
童年罹患过传染性疾病或许可以赋予你一个强壮的免疫系统,但却伴随着折寿的代价——至少,对俗称面粉虫的甲虫来说是这样的。研究表明,那些在幼虫阶段感染过病菌或有肠道受损经历的甲虫,比对照组甲虫的寿命缩短了10%。致死的主要原因是免疫反应的副产物黑色素堵塞了功能近
秋收起义失败后,毛泽东潜心研究中国革命道路的理论。在领导农村革命根据地的革命斗争实践中,毛泽东相继写下了《中国的红色政权为什么能够存在?》《井冈山的斗争》《星星之火,可以燎原》等文章,从而初步形成了
A、Gohillwalking.B、Goswimming.C、Gocycling.D、Dineout.D细节题。本题四个选项均为动词原形,应涉及某个行动:打算、建议等。对话中女士说她没有心情爬山,也不擅长骑车,所以A、C两项肯定不对。最后
最新回复
(
0
)