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
(1)Thirty-seven men have been elected President since 1789, and the American people have applied two different standards in eval
(1)Thirty-seven men have been elected President since 1789, and the American people have applied two different standards in eval
admin
2019-05-24
52
问题
(1)Thirty-seven men have been elected President since 1789, and the American people have applied two different standards in evaluating their achievements. The first was formulated by Alexander Hamilton who test-drove the presidency in the Federalist papers. The difficulty of winning the job, he argued, virtually guaranteed it would be held by the best men. "Talents for low intrigue, and the little art of popularity", could "elevate a man to the first honors in a single state". But only "characters pre-eminent for ability and virtue" could impress the nation as a whole. The first seven Presidents, who filled the job for almost a half-century, confirmed Hamilton’s prediction. George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were heroes of the American Revolution. James Madison was the prime mover in the push to write and ratify the Constitution. James Monroe and John Quincy Adams had signal triumphs: Monroe successfully fought against the English troops during the war in 1814, and Adams, as Monroe’s Secretary of State, conceived the Monroe Doctrine, which waved Europe off the western hemisphere. Andrew Jackson, the frontier warrior, beat the Creek Indians in the old Southwest and the British in New Orleans.
(2)It was not until the eighth President, Martin Van Buren, that America aimed lower. Van Buren was a smooth self-made man from upstate New York who clambered to leadership first in his state, then in the Democratic Party nationwide. He was a wire puller and wheeler-dealer. Former President John Quincy Adams praised his "calmness", "gentleness" and "discretion", though not his "profound dissimulation" and "fawning servility". Van Buren was a pol, first, last and always. He showed mat intrigue and the art of popularity were now enough to win the White House. Since 1841, most successful presidential candidates have passed the Van Buren test. The electorate wants leaders who have played the game, even if they haven’t been All-Stars. It’s a low but sensible hurdle; Obama qualifies by that standard.
(3)Voters also don’t take kindly to non-politicians: two businessmen, Wendell Willkie and Ross Perot, made serious runs for the White House, although neither came close. Americans will elect a political neophyte only if he passes the Hamilton test of pre-eminent ability. Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight Eisenhower had never held elective office, but they won their wars. Some Presidents pass both tests: Theodore Roosevelt fought well in the Spanish-American War and in New York State politics. Among the prospective 2008 candidates, only one has shown pre-eminent ability: Rudy Giuliani, in solving the crime problem in the nation’s largest city and in bis response to 9/11.
(4)But is pre-eminent ability a reliable predictor of success? It doesn’t guarantee victory at the polls. Henry Clay was master of legislative finesse who helped broker the Missouri Compromises of 1820-1821, a deal between slave states and free states that kept the two sides from each other’s throats for 30 years. Yet he failed to become President in three tries. Great achievements don’t guarantee great presidencies even when the pre-eminent man wins. The Eisenhower Administration, scorned by eggheads of the left and right while it was going on, has been revised upward by later scholars, and a similar process is lifting Grant’s presidency from the cellar to which an unholy alliance of neo-Confederates and genteel reformers had consigned it. But neither man will ever be considered as great in peace as he was in war.
(5)There have also been ordinary-seeming politicians who became epoch-making Presidents. After the 1932 Democratic Convention picked New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, journalist H. L. Mencken described him as a man "whose competence was plainly in doubt." The Republican nomination of one-term Illinois Congressman Abraham Lincoln in 1860 brought this sneer from diarist George Templeton Strong: "He cut a great many rails, and worked on a flatboat in early youth; all which is somehow presumptive evidence of his statesmanship."
(6)Statesmanship is an art, which means there is always room for inspiration, and for grace. We are right to look for a record of pre-eminent ability when we can find it. But the basic doctrine of republican government, that all men are created equal, can be a surprise bonus for some leaders, as well as a guarantee of rights for all of us. Sometimes greatness appears in unlikely places, even in ordinary pols from Illinois.
Van Buren could win the presidency NOT because ______.
选项
A、of his intrigue and the art of popularity
B、he was a self-made man from upstate New York
C、of his "profound dissimulation" and "fawning servility"
D、the Americans changed their standards
答案
B
解析
B“他来自纽约州的偏远地区,靠自己的奋斗成功”是关于范布伦从政前的介绍,并不是他赢得选举的原因。结合第3段第1、6句可知,A、D符合文意;C具有较大的干扰性,不过经过分析可知C其实是intrigue and the art of popularity的体现,故排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/kdEK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Languageandculturearenotfundamentallyinseparable.Atthemostbasiclevel,languageisamethodofexpressingideas.That
Thequestionofwhetherlanguagesshapethewaywethinkgobackcenturies;Charlemagneproclaimedthat"tohaveasecond【S1】__
Inrecentyears,railroadshavebeencombiningwitheachother,mergingintosupersystems,causingheightenedconcernsaboutmo
Aprojectlikelytoevolveinthenearorintermediatefutureisspacetourism.Todayspacetourismhasbecomeapurecommercial
Someparentsaresendingtheirpreschoolagechildrentotakeforeignlanguagecourses,withaviewtodevelopingtheirkids’fo
FourCharacteristicsofCultureI.Cultureisshared—Region,climateand【T1】_____formasetofvaluesandbeliefs【T1】______—
FourCharacteristicsofCultureI.Cultureisshared—Region,climateand【T1】_____formasetofvaluesandbeliefs【T1】______—
DaydreamingI.DaydreamingcanbeharmfulbecauseitwasconsideredasA.awasteof【T1】______【T1】______B.a【T2】______ofne
A、Takingred-eyeflights.B、Orderingdiscounttickets.C、Buyingcheaperticketstodestinationsbeyond.D、Comparingthepriceso
随机试题
古希腊“百科全书式”的哲学家是()
A公司某项库存商品20lO年12月31日账面余额为l00万元,已计提存货跌价准备20万元。2011年1月20日,A公司将上述商品对外出售,售价为90万元,增值税销项税额为15.3万元,收到款项存入银行。要求:编制出售商品时的会计分录。
女,13岁,发热伴右大腿疼痛2周,查体:精神委靡,患肢呈半屈曲位,皮温高,右大腿远端有压痛。WBC:14×109/L,中性粒细胞占90%,股骨正侧位X线片可见干骺端骨质疏松及层状骨膜反应。为明确诊断,最有意义的检查是
人体存在细菌最多的部位是
药物的吸收、分布、排泄过程要求药物既具有脂溶性又有水溶性。根据药物溶解性和肠壁渗透性的不同可将药物分为不同类别:A.高水溶解性、高渗透性的两亲性分子药物B.低水溶解性、高渗透性的亲脂性分子药物C.高水溶解性、低渗透性的水溶性分子药物D.低水溶解性、
胃阴枯竭、胃气大伤的舌苔为
标准化心理测验具有的优点有()。
不当得利是指没有合法根据,且非基于本人原因导致他人遭受损失而自己获得利益的法律事实。其中,利益取得人叫受益人,负有返回取得利益的义务,遭受损失的人叫受害人,享有请求受益人返回不当利益的权利。根据上述定义,下列属于不当得利的是:
twitter
有如下定义:intb[10]={1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10},*q=b;则数值为8的表达式是()。
最新回复
(
0
)