2. 外语
  3. Public officials and candidates for public office routinely use public opinion polls to keep track of what the people are thinki

Public officials and candidates for public office routinely use public opinion polls to keep track of what the people are thinki

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问题      Public officials and candidates for public office routinely use public opinion polls to keep track of what the people are thinking. An important question is the degree to which these polls should guide leaders in their actions. There are arguments for and against the use of polls as the basis for policy decisions.
     Polls can contribute to effective government by keeping political leaders from getting too far out of line with the public’ s thinking. In a democratic society, the effectiveness of a public policy often depends on the extent of its public support. When a policy is contrary to the public’ s desires, people may choose to disregard or undermine it, thus making it counterproductive or inefficient. Further, when government pursues a course of action with which a large proportion of the public disagrees, it risks a loss of public confidence, which can have a negative effect On its ability to lead. The Reagan administration, flying high from 1981 to 1985, was brought low in 1986 by public reaction to news of its secret sales of weapons to Iran. The administration had not paid sufficient attention to polls that revealed the deep antagonism Americans still felt toward Iran because the Ayatollah Khomeini’ s regime had held sixty-three American hostages in 1979 and 1981.
     However, leaders can also do a disservice to the public they represent by using poll results as a substitute for policy judgment, Effective government", as Walter Lippmann wrote, "cannot be conducted by legislators and officials who, when a question is presented, ask themselves first and last not what is the truth and which is the right and necessary course, but What does the Gallup Poll say?" During his presidential term, Jimmy Carter proposed five consecutive inflation fighting programs, changing his plans with each shift in public sentiment without having invested the political capital necessary to get Congress and the country behind any of the efforts.
     The nation and Carter would probably have been better served by a steadfast commitment to a single course of action.
The main idea of the second paragraph is that______.
选项 A、Reagan lost a lot of support later in his administration
B、leaders should learn to win support for their policies
C、it is up to the leaders to determine the value of public opinion
D、public opinion polls are very important to a democratic society
答案D
解析 本文主要谈的是如何对待民意测验的问题(第一段第二句)。第二段指出，民意测验可以防止领导违背民意、增加治国的效率。在民主社会里，政策的有效性往往取决于公众的支持程度。当政府有违民意时，公众就会对之不屑一顾或抵制，使之无效或起到相反的作用。这是第二段旨在说明的观点，下文举了里根总统的例子来说明这一点。C意为：“民意测验的价值由领导来确定”。
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