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  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

admin2012-08-05  61
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.
Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
选项 A、Country leaders should be ready to yield to public opinion.
B、Public opinions should be carefully used in policy making.
C、Governmental policies should be made in line with public thinking.
D、Public polls are useless unless they are used for policy making.
答案B
解析 文章第二句表达了全文的主旨：民意究竟应该在多大程度上左右领导人的决策?民意不能不尊重(第二段)，但过多地依赖它也是不可取的(第三段)，所以要合理地运用它。A意为：“国家领导应随时向公众意见妥协”：C意为：“国家政策应符合民意”：D意为：“只有用于制定政策民意才有用”。
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