单选题Directions: Read the following text. Answer
the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D. President Coolidge's statement, "The business of America
is business," still points to an important truth today—that business
institutions have more prestige (威望) in American society than any other kind of
organization, including the government. Why do business institutions possess
this great prestige? One reason is that Americans view business
as being more firmly based on the idea of competition than other institutions in
society. Since competition is seen as the major source of progress and
prosperity by most Americans, competitive business institutions are respected.
Competition is not only good in itself, it is the means by which other basic
American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard
work are protected. Competition protects the freedom of the
individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly(垄断) of power. In contrast to
one, all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for
profits. Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its
customers, it will lose to competing business which treats its customers more
fairly. Where many businesses compete for the customers' dollar, they cannot
afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves. A contrast is
often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a
monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it is
more supportive of freedom than government, even though government leaders are
elected by the people and business leaders are not. Many Americans believe,
then, that competition is as important, or even more important, than democracy
in preserving freedom. Competition in business is also believed
to strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity. Competition is seen as an
open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his
or her social class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the
American alternative to social rank based on family background. Business is
therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity rather
than the aristocratic(贵族的) idea of inherited privilege.
单选题
The statement "The business of America is business" probably means
"______".
A. The business institutions in America are concerned with commerce
B. Business problems are of great importance to the American
government
单选题
Government is believed to differ strikingly from business in that
government is characterized by ______.
A. its absolute control of power
B. its function in preserving personal freedom
C. its role in protecting basic American values
D. its democratic way of exercising leadership
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查细节理解。谈及government和business差异比较的地方出现在第四段开头“A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly.”此处的“monopoly”指“monopoly of power”(权力垄断也即权力的高度集中控制)故A项对。概括地说，商业的特征是竞争，而政府的特征是权力垄断。
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes ______.
A. Americans are more ambitious than people in other countries
B. in many countries success often depends on one's social status
C. American businesses are more democratic than those in other
countries
D. businesses in other countries are not as competitive as those in
America