Early in the age of affluence1 that followed World War II, an American retailing2 analyst3 named Victor Lebow proclaimed, Our enormously productive economy...demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego4 satisfaction, in consumption... .We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate.
Americans have responded to Lebow's call, and much of the world has followed.
Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded5 in social values. Opinion surveys in the world's two largest economiesJapan and the United Statesshow consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent.
Overconsumption by the world's fortunate is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anything but perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate.
Ironically, high consumption may be a mixed blessing6 in human terms, too. The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches.
Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world of plenty is somehow hollowthat, misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially7 social, psychological and spiritual needs with material things.
Of course, the opposite of overconsumptionpovertyis no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely8 worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin America, and hungry nomads9 turn their herds10 out onto fragile African grassland11, reducing it to desert.
If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we
are left to wonder how much is enough. What level of consumption can the earth support?
When does having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction?
1. The emergence12 of the affluent13 society after World War II .
A. led to the reform of the retailing system
B. resulted in the worship of consumerism
C. gave rise to the dominance of the new egoism
D. gave birth to a new generation of upper class consumers
2. Apart from enormous productivity, another important impetus14 to high consumption
is______.
A. the people's desire for a rise in their living standards
B. the concept that one's success is measured by how much they consume
C. the imbalance that has existed between production and consumption
D. the conversion15 of the sale of goods into rituals
3. Why does the author say high consumption is a mixed blessing?
A. Because poverty still exists in an affluent society.
B. Because overconsumption won't last long due to unrestricted population growth.
C. Because traditional rituals are often neglected in the process of modernization16.
D. Because moral values are sacrificed in pursuit of material satisfaction.
4. According to the passage, consumerist culture .
A. will not alleviate17 poverty in wealthy countries
B. will not aggravate18 environmental problems
C. cannot thrive on a fragile economy
D. cannot satisfy human spiritual needs
5. It can be inferred from the passage that .
A. human spiritual needs should match material affluence
B. whether high consumption should be encouraged is still an issue
C. how to keep consumption at a reasonable level remains19 a problem
D. there is never an end to satisfying people's material needs
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