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  3. What our society suffers from most today is the absence of consensus about what it and life in it ought to be, such consensus ca

What our society suffers from most today is the absence of consensus about what it and life in it ought to be, such consensus ca

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问题      What our society suffers from most today is the absence of consensus about what it and life in it ought to be, such consensus cannot be gained from society’s present stage, or from fantasies about what it ought to be. For that the present is too close and too diversified, and the future too uncertain, to make believable claims about it. A consensus in the present hence can be achieved only through a shared understanding of the past, as Homer’s epics informed those who lived centuries later what it meant to be Greek, and by what images and ideals they were to live their lives and organize their societies.
     Most societies derive consensus from a long history, a language all their own, a common religion, common ancestry. The myths by which they live are based on all of these. But the United States is a country of immigrants, coming from a great variety of nations. Lately, it has been emphasized that an asocial, narcissistic personality has become characteristic of Americans, and that it is this type of personality that makes for the lack of well-being, because it prevents us from achieving consensus that would counteract a tendency to withdraw into private worlds. In this study of narcissism, Christopher Lash says that modern man, "tortured by self-consciousness, turns to new therapies not to free himself of his personal worries but to find meaning and purpose in life, to find something to live for". There is widespread distress because national morale has declined, and we have lost an earlier sense of national vision and purpose.
     Contrary to rigid religions or political beliefs, as are found in totalitarian societies, our culture is one of the great individual differences, at least in principle and in theory; but this leads to disunity, even chaos. Americans believe in the value of diversity, but just because our is a society based on individual diversity, it needs consensus about some dominating ideas more than societies based on uniform origin of their citizens. Hence, if we are to have consensus, it must be based on a myth--a vision about a common experience, a conquest that made us Americans, as the myth about the conquest of Troy formed the Greeks. Only a common myth can offer relief from the fear that life is without meaning or purpose. Myths permit us to examine our place in the world by comparing it to a shared idea. Myths are shared fantasies that form the tie that binds the individual to other members of his group. Such myths help to ward off feelings of isolations, guilt, anxiety, and purposelessness--in short, they combat isolation and the breakdown of social standards and values.
The asocial personality of Americans results from
选项 A、the multiracial constituents of the U.S. society.
B、the absence of a common religion and ancestry.
C、the want of shared myths they possess in life.
D、the obstruction of achieving a general agreement.
答案A
解析 细节题。文章第二段指出，大多数社会从悠久的历史、共同的语言、共同的信仰以及共同的祖先那里获得一致意见，他们赖以生活的神话就是基于所有这些东西；但是，美国是一个移民国家，这些移民来自于许多国家；近来，得到强调的是，以自我为中心的、自我陶醉的个性已经成为美国人的特性，正是这种个性导致了美国缺少安宁，因为这种个性妨碍我们达成一致意见。这说明，美国人以自我为中心的个性源于多民族的社会。这与A项的意思相符。B、C和D都与文章的意思不符。
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