阅读理解 In the United States, a person can take credit only for what he has accomplished by himself Americans get no credit whatsoever for having been born into a rich or privilege family.(In the United States, that would be considered " an accident of birth. ")Americans pride themselves in having been born poor and, through their own hard work, having climbed the difficult ladder of success to whatever level they have achieved—all by themselves. The American social system has, of course, made it possible for Americans to move, relatively easily, up the social ladder, whereas this is impossible to do in many other countries. The "self-made man or woman" is still very much the ideal in present-day America.
Americans believe that competition brings out the best in any individual. They claim that it challenges or forces each person to produce the very best that is humanly possible. Consequently the foreign visitor will see competition being fostered(鼓励)in the American home and in the American classroom, even at the youngest age levels. You may find the value placed on competition disagreeable, especially if you come from a society that promotes cooperation rather than competition among individuals. But Americans teaching in Third World countries find the lack of competitiveness in a classroom situation equally distressing(令人苦恼的). They soon learn that what they had thought to be one of the universal human characteristics represented only a peculiarly American(or Western)value.
Americans, valuing competition, have devised an economic system to go with it—free enterprise(自由企业制). Americans feel very strongly that a highly competitive economy will bring out the best in its people and ultimately, that the society which fosters competition will progress most rapidly. If you look for it, you will see evidence in all areas—in all fields as diverse as medicine, the arts education, and sports—that free enterprise is the approach most often preferred in America.
单选题 6.What does the author mean by saying "The self-made man or woman' is still very much the ideal in present-day America" ?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】第一段中间部分讲到美国人崇尚那些出身贫寒,通过自身努力取得成功的人,由此可知答案为B。
单选题 7.What does the author think of the American social system?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】第一段倒数第二句“美国的社会制度使美国人的升迁相对容易一些,而在其他一些国家这种升迁则是不可能发生的”。由此可知正确答案为c。
单选题 8.Americans teaching in Third World countries found that______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】第二段最后一句“他们原本认为竞争是全人类都共有的特点,而这仅仅是美国或是西方的价值观”。peculiarly特有地,独特地;和unique意思相近。因此,答案为A。
单选题 9.We can infer from the passage that free enterprise is______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】第三段第一句话说明free enterprise是一个economic system,而且这个经济制度是跟美国人的竞争观是一致的,故选A。
单选题 10.Americans would most likely frown at you if you______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】第一段讲美国人信奉白手起家,自身努力,所以如果你抱怨自己出身贫寒而没有机会的话,美国人是不会理解的。因此A是正确选项。