首页
登录
职称英语
Dumb and Dumber, one of the modern classics of American comedy, tells the st
Dumb and Dumber, one of the modern classics of American comedy, tells the st
游客
2023-12-07
62
管理
问题
Dumb and Dumber, one of the modern classics of American comedy, tells the story of an affable idiot, Lloyd Christmas, who falls in love with a classy beauty, Mary Swanson. In one scene he asks her the chances of "a guy like you and a girl like me" ending up together. The answer is "Not good". "Not good like one out of a hundred?" asks Lloyd. "More like one out of a million," Mary replies. Lloyd pauses for a moment, then shoots back, "So you’re telling me there’s a chance?"
That is the American spirit. Americans have traditionally been much more optimistic than Europeans, and happier too. They believe that people determine their own destinies rather than being the mere playthings of fate. They also believe that their children will have a better life than they do.
This helps to explain the dynamism of the American economy. Americans regard failure — even bankruptcy — as a stone in the road rather than a damning verdict. It also helps to explain the appeal of the American experiment. "The American, by nature, is optimistic," JFK once said. "He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly." Europeans ask, "Why?" Americans ask, "Why not?"
But the past five years have produced a dramatic souring in the country’s mood. Three-quarters of Americans now think that the country is "on the wrong track". The number of people who are hostile to trade and immigration has risen sharply, as has the number who think that America should engage less in world affairs. Trust in government is half what it was in 2001. Both the president and Congress have bargain-basement approval ratings. And people are increasingly pessimistic about the future. Barely a third thinks that their children will be better off than they themselves are. The reason why the man with the message of hope, Barack Obama, and the man who hails from Hope, Mike Huckabee, are doing so well is that people think hope is in short supply.
There are good reasons for this pessimism. People are tired of the Bush administration, with its partisanship and incompetence. The Iraq war has shattered America’s image of itself as a mighty but good-hearted giant. Iraq means chaos and Abu Ghraib rather than the triumphant export of democracy.
The war may be going better of late, but the majority of Americans still think that it was not worth the fighting, and the bad news about the economy is burying the good news about the "surge". Americans are accustomed to thinking of their houses as pots of gold (and pots of gold that can be remortgaged when you need a bit of extra cash). The gold is now turning into lead.
This is creating a bull market in pessimism. The likes of Bill O’Reilly and Lou Dobbs have transformed themselves into cable stars by ranting about cultural decay and "broken borders". Patrick Buchanan’s latest book is called Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology and Greed are Tearing America Apart. "We are on a path to national suicide," he says. America is not just "coming apart", but also "decomposing".
There is certainly no shortage of bad news. But coming apart? Decomposing? The current issue of Commentary — a magazine hardly noted for its sunny disposition — contains an excellent article, Crime, Drugs, Welfare and Other Good News by Peter Wehner (a former senior White House aide) and Yuval Levin, which shows why Mr. Buchanan is talking through his hat. [br] The phrase "talking through his hat" (Last line in the last paragraph) most probably means
选项
A、talking with the hat in hand.
B、talking in a showy way.
C、talking nonsense.
D、talking without hesitation.
答案
C
解析
语义理解题。文章最后一段的两个问句But coming apart?Decomposing?是理解该短语的关键,其隐含的信息是对上一段意思的转折,并且评论Mr.Buchanan的文章的题目是Crime,Drugs,Welfare and OtherGood News,由Good News可看出,Peter Wehner和Yuval Levin认为Mr. Buchanan“一派胡言”,故选[C]。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3252676.html
相关试题推荐
WhichofthefollowingwritersisnottherepresentativeofModernisminthe20t
MindAgingisanewexpressioncomingintotheviewofthemodernpeople.It
AllofthefollowingaremajorfiguresofliterarymodernismEXCEPT______.A、Jam
JohnKeatswasa(n)_______.A、BritishpoetB、AmericanpoetC、BritishnovelistD、A
______istheleadinggeneraloftheSouthintheAmericanCivilWar.A、GrantB、S
______isnotanovelaboutAmericanNegrolife.A、UncleTom’sCabinB、NativeSon
AsthebackboneoftheNorthAmericancontinent,______isknownastheContinent
WhowroteTheAmerican?A、HermanMelville.B、NathanielHawthorne.C、HenryJames.
TheoriginoftheAmericanpartysystemcanbetracedto______.A、thestruggleb
Whichofthefollowingwritersdidn’tbelongtothepoetsinAmericanColonialP
随机试题
Throughouthistory,peoplehavebeenthevictimsofpickpockets.Today,pock
PASSAGETWOGlobalwarming.根据题干中的manypeople和theultimatecauseofthissummer’s
Thewebisstillinitsinfancy,sopeopleareuninterestedinit.[br]Accordin
TherearemanytheoriesaboutthebeginningofdramainancientGreece.The
Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteanessayentitledTheImporta
下列有关地下水取水构筑物的表述中,哪几项正确?()A.管井有完整式和非完整式
按照《证券投资基金法》第二十条、第一百二十三条的规定,公开募集基金的基金管理人、
可以一天一次给药用于尿路感染治疗的药物是A.氯法齐明B.伊曲康唑C.洛美沙星D.
患者,女性,消化道溃疡久治不愈,今突然呕血约700ml,立即给予输血,10分钟后
公共行政的核心原则是( )。A.公民第一 B.行政权力 C.讲究效率 D
最新回复
(
0
)