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
Despite Denmark’s manifest virtues, Danes never talk about how proud they are to be Danes. This would sound weird in Danish. Whe
Despite Denmark’s manifest virtues, Danes never talk about how proud they are to be Danes. This would sound weird in Danish. Whe
admin
2017-03-25
22
问题
Despite Denmark’s manifest virtues, Danes never talk about how proud they are to be Danes. This would sound weird in Danish. When Danes talk to foreigners about Denmark, they always begin by commenting on its tininess, its unimportance, the difficulty of its language, the general small-mindedness and self-indulgence of their countrymen and the high taxes. No Dane would look you in the eye and say, "Denmark is a great country. " You’re supposed to figure this out for yourself.
It is the land of the silk safety net, where almost half the national budget goes toward smoothing out life’s inequalities, and there is plenty of money for schools, day care, retraining programs, job seminars—Danes love seminars: Three days at a study center hearing about waste management is almost as good as a ski trip. It is a culture bombarded by English, in advertising, pop music, the Internet, and despite all the English that Danish absorbs—there is no Danish Academy to defend against it—old dialects persist in Jutland that can barely be understood by Copenhageners. It is the land where, as the saying goes, "Few have too much and fewer have too little," and a foreigner is struck by the sweet egalitarianism that prevails, where the lowliest clerk gives you a level gaze, where Sir and Madame have disappeared from common usage, even Mr. and Mrs. It’s a nation of recy-clers—about 55% of Danish garbage gets made into something new—and no nuclear power plants. It’s a nation of tireless planners. Trains run on time. Things operate well in general.
Such a nation of overachievers—a brochure from the Ministry of Business and Industry says, "Denmark is one of the world’s cleanest and most organized countries, with virtually no pollution, crime, or poverty. Denmark is the most corruption-free society in the Northern hemisphere. " So, of course, one’s heart lifts at any sighting of Danish sleazy: skinhead graffiti on buildings("Foreigners Out of Denmark!"), broken beer bottles in the gutters, drunken teenagers slumped in the park.
Nonetheless, it is an orderly land. You drive through a Danish town, it comes to an end at a stone wall, and on the other side is a field of barley, a nice clean line: town here, country there. It is not a nation of jaywalkers. People stand on the curb and wait for the red light to change, even if it’s 2 a. m. and there’s not a car in sight. However, Danes don’t think of themselves as a waiting-at-2-a. m. -for-the-green-light people—that’s how they see Swedes and Germans. Danes see themselves as jazzy people, improvisers, more free spirited than Swedes, but the truth is(though one should not say it)that Danes are very much like Germans and Swedes. Orderliness is a main selling point. Denmark has few natural resources, limited manufacturing capability; its future in Europe will be as a broker, banker, and distributor of goods. You send your goods by container ship to Copenhagen, and these bright, young, English-speaking, utterly honest, highly disciplined people will get your goods around to Scandinavia, the Baltic States, and Russia. Airports, seaports, highways, and rail lines are ultramodern and well-maintained.
The orderliness of the society doesn’t mean that Danish lives are less messy or lonely than yours or mine, and no Dane would tell you so. You can hear plenty about bitter family feuds and the sorrows of alcoholism and about perfectly sensible people who went off one day and killed themselves. An orderly society cannot exempt its members from the hazards of life.
But there is a sense of entitlement and security that Danes grow up with. Certain things are yours by virtue of citizenship, and you shouldn’t feel bad for taking what you’re entitled to, you’re as good as anyone else. The rules of the welfare system are clear to everyone, the benefits you get if you lose your job, the steps you take to get a new one; and the orderliness of the system makes it possible for the country to weather high unemployment and social unrest without a sense of crisis.
The author thinks that Danes adopt a______attitude towards their country.
选项
A、boastful
B、modest
C、deprecating
D、mysterious
答案
C
解析
本题的四个选项中,只有C项为正确答案。这可从文中第一段的“Danes talk to…,the difficulty of its language...”推知,即丹麦人对自己的国家不满意。A项与文章的意思相反;B、D两项与文章的意思不符。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/ryGO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Manyyearsagopeoplethoughttheearthwasflat.Theybelievedthatthesky【C1】______abigupside-downbowlandthatthesun,m
Thequestionisstill______discussion.
Afteryou’vestarttomasterthetechniques,therealstruggleisjustbeginning.It’s______thatmakesyougreat.
NewresearchfromAustraliasupportsthebeliefthatmanypetownershave—itshowsthatpetsaregoodforyourhealth.The【C1】
Ifyoudosomethingon______,youdoitbecauseyousuddenlywantto,althoughyouhaven’tplannedto.
Incontrasttorockmusicians,jazzplayersprefertospendtheirtimewiththeirmusicandtendtomeasuresuccessbythatsing
Mostworthwhilecareersrequiresomekindofspecializedtraining.Ideally,therefore,thechoiceofan【C1】______shouldbemade
OurculturehascausedmostAmericanstoassumenotonlythatourlanguageisuniversalbutthatthegesturesweuseareunderst
Inolddays,whenaglimpseofstockingwaslookeduponassomethingfartooshockingtodistracttheseriousworkofanoffice,
Tomcouldhardly_____hisexcitementasheknewthathehadmadearealdiscovery.
随机试题
癌细胞侵入背部、对侧胸壁导致癌肿破溃形成溃疡呈
下列哪些药物对Ml胆碱受体具有选择性作用,用于治疗胃及十二指肠溃疡,副作用小
阵发性室上性心动过速不伴有心力衰竭者宜选
胆道梗阻病人,为明确梗阻占位,应采用()。
依据《中华人民共和国防治海岸工程建设项目污染损害海洋环境管理条例》,建设岸边油库工程时应当采取的环境保护措施有()。
背景资料:某城市主干道路改扩建工程,道路结构层为:上面层为4cm厚沥青混合料,中面层为5cm厚中粒式沥青混凝土,底面层为6cm厚粗粒式沥青混凝土,基层为36cm厚石灰粉煤灰稳定碎石,底基层为30cm厚12%石灰土,结构总厚度81cm,线路长度1.
背景:某商业用房工程,建筑面积15000m2,地下2.层,地上10层,施工单位与建设单位采用《建设工程施工合同(示范文本)》(GF一2013—0201)签订了工程施工总承包合同。合同约定:工程工期自2013年7月1日至2014年5月31日;工程承
对使领馆申报运进的公务用品,经海关审核后应全部予以免税。()
母公司编制合并资产负债表时,应将归属于少数股东的外币报表折算差额列入少数股东权益项目。()
下列店堂告示中,符合法律规定的是:
最新回复
(
0
)