"The purpose of this law is simple," said President Lyndon Johnson on July 2nd 1964, as he prepared to sign the Civil Rights Act

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问题     "The purpose of this law is simple," said President Lyndon Johnson on July 2nd 1964, as he prepared to sign the Civil Rights Act. It would forbid segregation at hotels and restaurants, he explained , and ban discriminatory rules for voter registration. It had passed both chambers of Congress with a two-thirds majority, meaning that both Democrats and Republicans had supported the bill. The law’s bulwark, he added, would be "voluntary compliance". That was a wish as well as a warning.
    The law may have been simple, but Johnson intended its effects to be profound: " to promote a more abiding commitment to freedom, a more constant pursuit of justice, and a deeper respect for human dignity". And he knew that many whites, particularly in the South and in his home state of Texas, would resist its implementation.
    In the second week of April the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, the Texas capital, hosted a summit on civil rights, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the law’s passage. The speakers included advocates, athletes and artists: blacks, whites and Hispanics: leaders of the movement and people bom years later: and politicians from both parties, including the heaviest hitters available. Only five people alive have held the office of president of the United States. Four of them, including the incumbent, spoke at the summit.
    The fact that the Civil Rights Act can now be the subject of a major conference is, in itself, a sign of how much the country has changed since its passage. In the early 1960s opposition to racial equality was widespread, brutal and sometimes lethal. It was also a more or less mainstream political position at the time the law was passed, and for years thereafter, at least in parts of the country.
    Former President Jimmy Carter, who spoke on the first day of the summit, recalled that when he was elected governor of Georgia in 1970, segregation in public services such as schools was the norm, even though it was illegal. Even today, he continued, racial inequality can be seen in employment statistics and educational outcomes. "Too many people" , he warned, "are at ease with the still existing disparity. "
The word"heaviest hitters"(Line 5, Para. 3)most probably means______.

选项 A、the heaviest persons
B、the eldest politicians
C、the most excellent killers
D、the most important persons

答案D

解析 词义题可以根据句子背景猜测:politicians from both parties,including the heaviesthitters available.Only five people alive have held the office of president of the United States.通过该句可以猜测这里的heaviest hitters指前面的politicians“政客”;而下文的“只有5位曾任美国总统”同样指这些人,故可以猜测heaviest hitters指的是总统这样的政客,而总统自然而然是“最重要的人”,故[D]项the most important persons为答案。
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