2. 职称英语
  3. When you think of the tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s

When you think of the tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s

游客2023-11-21  18
问题      When you think of the tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s amazing how little we have developed in other respects. We may speak contemptuously of the poor old Romans because they relished the orgies of slaughter that went on in their arenas. We may despise them because they mistook these goings on for entertainment. We may forgive them condescendingly because they lived 2000 years ago and obviously knew no better. But are our feelings of superiority really justified? Are we any less blood-thirsty? Why do boxing matches, for instance, attract such universal interest? Don’t the spectators who attend them hope they will see some violence? Human beings remain as bloodthirsty as ever they were. The only difference between ourselves and the Romans is that while they were honest enough to admit that they enjoyed watching hungry lions tearing people apart and eating them alive, we find all sorts of sophisticated arguments to defend sports which should have been banned long age; sports which are quite as barbarous as, say, public hangings or bearbaiting.
     It really is incredible that in this day and age we should still allow hunting or bull-fighting, that we should be prepared to sit back and watch two men batter each other to pulp in a boxing ring, that we should be relatively unmoved by the sight of one or a number of racing cars crashing and bursting into flames. Let us not deceive ourselves. Any talk of the sporting spirit’ is sheer hypocrisy. People take part in violent sports because of the high rewards they bring. Spectators are willing to pay vast sums of money to see violence.  A world heavyweight championship match, for instance, is front page news. Millions of people are disappointed if a big fight is over in two rounds instead of fifteen. They feel disappointment because they have been deprived of the exquisite pleasure of witnessing prolonged torture and violence.
      Why should we ban violent sports if people enjoy them so much? You may well ask. The answer is simple: they are uncivilized. For centuries man has been trying to improve himself spiritually and emotionally admittedly with little success. But at least we no longer tolerate the sight madmen cooped up in cages, or public floggings of any of the countless other barbaric practices which were common in the past. Prisons are no longer the grim forbidding places they used to he. Social welfare systems are in operation in many parts of the world. Big efforts are being made to distribute wealth fairly. These changes have come about not because human beings have suddenly and unaccountably improved, but because positive steps were taken to change the law. The law is the biggest instrument of social change that we have and it may exert great civilizing influence. If we banned dangerous and violent sports, .we would be moving one step further to improving mankind. We would recognize that violence is degrading and unworthy of human beings. [br] It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s opinion of nowadays’ human beings is ______.
选项 A、not very high
B、high
C、contemptuous
D、critical
答案 A
解析 推理题。文章一开始就点出科技上取得巨大进步，而其他方面进展很少。人们以轻蔑的口气谈及可怜的古罗马人，因为他们欣赏竞技场上的屠杀。我们轻视他们，因为他们把这些屠杀视为娱乐。我们可以谅解他们，因为他们生活在2000年前，显然，不知道好的东西。在这里作者反问，我们的优越感是否正确呢?我们的嗜血性是不是少一些呢?为什么拳击比赛吸引那么多人?在场的观赏者(观众)是不是也希望看到一些暴力呢?结论是：人类和过去一样残忍。所以选A项。
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