阅读理解
Early in the age of affluence (富裕) that followed World War II, an American retailing analyst 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 ego 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 embedded in social values. Opinion surveys in the world''s two largest economies -- Japan and the United States -- show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent.
Over consumption 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 by a mixed blessing 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 hollow -- that, misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social, psychological and spiritual needs with material things.
Of course, the opposite of over consumption -- poverty -- is no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed (被剥夺得一无所有的) peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin American, and hungry nomads (游牧民族) turn their herds out onto fragile African grassland, 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?
单选题
The emergence of the affluent society after World War Ⅱ_______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】推断题。题目询问第二次世界大战后富庶社会的出现______。文章前几段提到“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 ego satisfaction，in consumption(Lebow 呼吁我们生产力极高的经济要求我们将消费作为我们的生活方式，将购买和使用商品看成是生活的惯例，并要求我们在消费中寻求精神满足、自我满足)”，“Americans have responded to Lebow''s call，and much of the world has followed(美国人响应他的号召，世界上大部分人也响应他的号召)”，“Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in social values (在工业国家中消费已成为生活的中心支柱，甚至渗透到社会的价值观中)”。由此可推断这导致了人们对消费主义的崇拜。因此D项正确。
单选题
Apart from enormous productivity, another important impetus to high consumption is _______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】推断题。题目询问除了巨大的生产力之外，另一个推动高消费的重要的动力是______。文章第3段提到“Opinion surveys in the world''s two largest economies——Japan and the United States—show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent(对世界上最大的两个经济大国——日本和美国——的民意调查表明，消费主义倡导人对成功的定义已经变得越来越普及)”，由此可见，“成功是由他们消费多少来衡量的”这一概念对人们的消费起着重要的作用，因此D项正确。
单选题
Why does the author say high consumption is a mixed blessing?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】推断题。题目询问为什么作者说高消费有好处也有坏处。文章第5段提到“The time—honored values of integrity of character，good work，friendship，family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches(深受推崇的价值观，如完整的人格、好的工作、友谊、家庭和社区在追求富裕的过程中常常都丧失了)”由此可推断人们虽然富裕了但同时也失去了很多。因此B项正确。
单选题
According to the passage, consumerist culture _______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】辨认事实题。题目询问根据文章，消费主义观念______。文章第6段提到“many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world of plenty is somehow hollow——that，misled by a consumerist culture，they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social，psychological and spiritual needs with material things(工业国家的很多人感觉到他们物质丰富的世界变得有点空洞了——受消费主义观念的误导，他们一直用物质的东西来满足本属于社会、心理和精神上的需求，而这毫无效果)”。因此C项正确。
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】推断题。题目询问从文章中可以得出______。文章最后一段提到“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(人们消费过多或过少都会产生破坏性的结果，我们会纳闷多少才是适当的，地球能承受得起什么层次的消费)”。因此D项正确。