Passage 2
Woodrow Wilson was referring to the liberalidea of the economic market when he said thatthe free enterprise system is the most efficienteconomic system. Maximum freedom means maximum productiveness; our openness is tobe the measure of our stability. Fascination1 withthis ideal has made Americans defy the Old
World categories of settled possessiveness versus2unsettling deprivation3, the cupidity4 of retention versus the cupidity of seizure5, a status quodefended or attacked. The United States, it wasbelieved, had no status quo ante. Our only station was the turning of a stationary6 wheel, spinning faster and faster. We did not base our system on property but opportunity---whichmeant we based it not on stability but on mobility7. The more things changed, that is, the morerapidly the wheel turned, the steadier we wouldbe. The conventional picture of class politics is composed of the Haves, who want a stability tokeep what they have, and the Have-Nots, whowant a touch of instability and change in whichto scramble8 for the things they have not. ButAmericans imagined a condition in which spec- ulators, self-makers, runners are always using thenew opportunities given by our land. These economic leaders would thus hemainly agents of change. The nonstarters were
considered the ones who wanted stability, a strong referee9 to give them some position in therace, a regulative hand to calm manic speculation10; an authority that can call things to a halt,begin things again from compensatorily staggered starting lines.? Reform in America has been sterile11 becauseit can imagine no change except through theextension of this metaphor12 of a race, wider inclusion of competitors, a piece of the action, as itwere, for the disenfranchised. There is no attempt to call off the race. Since our only stability is change, America seems not to honor thequiet work that achieves social interdependenceand stability. There is, in our legends, no heroism13 of the office clerk, no stable industrial work force of the people who actually make the systemwork. There is no pride in being an employee. There has been noboasting about our social workers---they are merely signs of the systemsailure, of opportunity denied or not taken, of things to be eliminated. We have no pride in our growinginterdependence, in the fact that our system can erve others, that we are able to help those in need; empty boasts from the past make usashamed of our present achievements, make ustry to forget or deny them, move away fromthem. There is no honor but in the Wonderlandrace we must all run, all trying to win, none winning in the end .
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
? criticize the inflexibility14 of American economicmythology
? contrast Old World and New World economicideologies
? challenge the integrity of traditional politicalleaders
? champion those Americans whom the authordeems to be neglected
? suggest a substitute for the traditional metaphorof a race
2. According to the passage, Old World values werebased on
? ability
? property
? family connections
? guild16 hierarchies
? education
3. In the context of the authors discussion ofregulating change, which of the following could bemost probably regarded as a strong referee in the United States?
? A school principal
? A political theorist
? A federal court judge
? A social worker
? A government inspector
4. The author sets off the word Reform with quotation17 marks in order to
? emphasize its departure from the concept ofsettled possessiveness
? show his support for a systematic18 program ofchange
? underscore the flexibility15 and even amorphousnessof United States society.
? indicate that the term was one of Wilsons favorites
? assert that reform in the United States has not fundamental
5. It can be inferred from the passage that the authormost probably thinks that giving the disenfranchised
?a piece of the action is
? a compassionate19, if misdirected, legislativemeasure?
? an example of Americans resistance to profoundsocial change
? an innovative20 program for genuine social reform
? a monument to the efforts of industrial reformers
? a surprisingly Old World remedy for social ills
6. Which of the following metaphors21 could the authormost appropriately use to summarize his ownassessment of the American economic system?
? A windmill?
? A waterfall
? A treadmill
? A gyroscope?
? A bellows
7. It can be inferred from the passage that WoodrowWilsons ideas about the economic market
? encouraged those who make the system work
? perpetuated22 traditional legends about America
? revealed the prejudices of a man born wealthy
? foreshadowed the stock market crash of 1929
? began a tradition of presidential proclamations oneconomics
8. The passage contains information that would answerwhich of the following questions?
?Ⅰ.What techniques have industrialists23 used tomanipulate a free market?
?Ⅱ.In what ways are New World and Old Worldeconomic policies similar?
?Ⅲ. Has economic policy in the United States tendedto reward independent action?
? Ⅰonly?
? Ⅱonly
? Ⅲ only
? Ⅰand Ⅱ only
? Ⅱand Ⅲ only
9. Which of the following best expresses the authorsmain point?
? Americans pride in their jobs continues to givethem stamina24 today.?
? The absence of a status quo ante hasundermined United States economic structure.
? The free enterprise system has been only auseless concept in the United States
? The myth of the American free enterprise system is seriously flawed.
? Fascination with the ideal of openness has made Americans a progressive people.
