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
More than any other country, America defines itself by a collective dream: the dream of economic opportunity and upward mobility
More than any other country, America defines itself by a collective dream: the dream of economic opportunity and upward mobility
admin
2012-03-23
34
问题
More than any other country, America defines itself by a collective dream: the dream of economic opportunity and upward mobility. Its proudest boast is that it offers a chance of the good life to everybody who is willing to work hard and play by the rules. This ideal has made the United States the world’s strongest magnet for immigrants; it has also reconciled ordinary Americans to the rough side of a dynamic economy, with all its inequalities and insecurities. Who cares if the boss earns 300 times more than the average working staff, if the staff knows be can become the boss?
Look around the world and the supremacy of "the American model" might seem assured. No other rich country has so successfully harnessed the modern juggernauts of technology and globalization The hallmarks of American capitalism—a willingness to take risks, a light regulatory touch and sharp competition—have spawned enormous wealth. "This economy is powerful, productive and prosperous," George Bush once boasted, and by many yardsticks he was right. Growth was fast, unemployment was low and profits were fat. It was hardly surprising that so many other governments were trying to "Americanize" their economies—whether through the European Union’s Lisbon Agenda or Japan’s reforms.
Yet many people feel unhappy about the American model—not least in the United States. Only one in four Americans believes the economy is in good shape. While firms’ profits have soared, wages for the typical worker have barely budged. The middle class—admittedly a vague term in America—feels squeezed. A college degree is no longer a passport to ever-higher pay. Now politicians are playing on these fears. Populists complain about Mr. Osama’s plutocratic friends exporting jobs abroad; nativists howl about immigrants wrecking the system.
The debate about the American model echoes far beyond the nation’s shores. Europeans have long held that America does not look after its poor—a prejudice reinforced by the ghastly scenes after Hurricane Katrina. The sharp decline in America’s image abroad has much to do with foreign policy, but Americanization has also become synonymous with globalization, Across the rich world, global competition is forcing economies to become more flexible, often increasing inequality; Japan is one example. The logic of many non-Americans is that if globalization makes their economy more like America’s, and the American model is defective, then free trade and open markets must be bad.
This debate mixes up three arguments—about inequality, meritocracy and immigration. The word that America should worry about most is the one you hear least—meritocracy.
Begin with inequality. The flip-side of America’s economic dynamism is that it has become more unequal—but in a more complex way than first appears. America’s rich have been pulling away from the rest of the population, as the returns for talent and capital in a global market have increased. Even if American business stopped at the water’s edge, Bill Gates and the partners of Goldman Sachs would still be wealthy people; but since software and investment banking are global industries, Mr. Gates is worth $ 50 billion and the average pay-and-benefits package for Goldman’s 22,400 employees is above $ 500,000.
On the other hand, the current wave of globalization may not be widening the gap between the poor and the rest. Indeed, the headwinds of the global economy are being felt less by Americans at the bottom than by those in the middle. The jobs threatened by outsourcing—data-processing, accounting and so on—are white-collar jobs; the jobs done by the poor—cleaning and table-waiting, for example—could never be done from Bangalore.
Those at the bottom have different fears, immigration high among them. Their jobs cannot be exported to rival countries perhaps, but rival workers can and are being imported to America. Yet there is surprisingly little evidence that the arrival of low-skilled workers has pulled poor Americans’ wages down. And it has certainly provided a far better life for new arrivals than the one they left behind.
The word "yardsticks" in the second paragraph probably means
选项
A、standards.
B、means.
C、people.
D、chance.
答案
A
解析
语义题。由题干定位至第二段。第四句指出“‘This economy is powerful,productive and prosperous,’George Bush once boasted,and by many yardsticks he was right.”,之后对该句进行补充说明“Growth was fast,unemployment was low and profits were fat.”,显然后面的内容是对The economy is powerful的最好说明,也是布什做出判断的依据,即标准,[A]符合此处语境,故为答案。其他三项分别表示方法、人和机会,这与该处上下文没有语义上的关联,排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/2kjYFFFM
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Foronebriefmoment,afteryearsoffearandloathing,AmericaseemedreadytomakepeacewiththeSAT.WhentheUniversityof
MasstransportationrevisedthesocialandeconomicfabricoftheAmericancityinthreefundamentalways.Itcatalyzedphysical
Accordingtotheprescriptiverule,whichofthefollowingsentenceswouldbeconsideredawrongsentence?
RainmakingScientificrainmakingwasstartedbyVincentJ.Schaeferaftertheyearof【1】.Alucky【2】broughthimtosuccess.
A、hadfailedtobringeconomicstabilitytoItalyB、calledagainforearlygeneralelectionsC、ruledoutresigningbeforethemo
Canada’slargestcityis______.
Pageantsareusuallyconceivedonafairlylargescale,oftenundertheauspicesofsomelocalorcivicauthorityoratanyrate
ThelargestoftheethnicminoritiesinAmericais______.
Scienceisadominantthemeinourculture.Sinceittouchesalmosteveryfacetofourlife,educatedpeopleneedatleastsome
WhenaMassachusettsbiotechcompanyrecentlydeclaredthatitsresearchershadclonedhumanembryos,itconjuredupscaryimage
随机试题
简述颅内、外的静脉交通。
岩体的基本质量主要由岩石的坚硬程度和岩体完整程度决定。是岩体所固有的属性。从岩石坚硬程度的定性划分,主要根据对岩石风化情况、锤击手感、浸水后的反应等方面进行判断。以下对岩石坚硬度划分正确的是()。
【背景资料】某水利枢纽工程由混凝土重力坝、溢洪道和坝后式厂房等组成。。发包人与承包人签订了混凝土重力坝施工合同。合同约定的节点工期要求:(1)2005年12月1日进场准备(指“四通一平”);(2)围堰填筑及基坑排水在2006年11月1日开始;(3
盐渍吐露堤应分层铺垫分层压实,每层松铺厚度不大于()。
如果市场是强式有效的,证券组合的管理者会选择()的态度,只求获得市场平均的收益水平。
请根据人教版高中历史必修1第1课《夏商周的政治制度》的内容写一篇说课稿。
试述“教会学生学习”的重要性,并联系实际谈谈怎样教会学生学习。
(2010年黑龙江.61)请从所给的四个选项中,选择最合适的一个填在问号处,使之呈现一定的规律性:
令f(x)=x-[x],求极限.
EventsBicycletourandraceAbiketourandracewillbeheldonMayIand2(Sat.&Sun.),at6:00a.m.Theriderswilllea
最新回复
(
0
)