单选题 Conservatism, George Will told me when I interviewed him many years ago, was rooted in reality. It started not from an imagined society but from the world as it actually exists. But conservatives now champion ideas drawn from abstract principles with little regard to the realities of America's present or past. This is a tragedy, because conservatism has an important role to play in modernizing the U. S.
Consider the debates over the economy. The Republican prescription is to cut taxes and slash government spending, but what is the evidence that tax cuts are the best path to revive the U. S. economy? Taxes as a percentage of GDP are at their lowest level since 1950. The U. S. is among the lowest taxed of the big industrial economies. So the case that America is grinding to a halt because of high taxation is not based on facts but is simply a theoretical assertion. The rich countries that are in the best shape right now, with strong growth and low unemployment, are ones like Germany and Denmark, neither one characterized by low taxes.
In fact, right now any discussion of government involvement in the economy—even to build vital infrastructure—is impossible because it is a cardinal tenet of the new conservatism that such involvement is always and forever bad. Meanwhile, across the globe, from Singapore to South Korea to Germany to Canada, evidence abounds that some strategic actions by the government can act as catalysts for free-market growth. Of course, American history suggests that as well. In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, the U.S. government made massive investments in science and technology, in state universities and in infant industries. Those investments triggered two generations of economic growth and put the U. S. on top of the world of technology and innovation.
But that history has been forgotten. When considering health care, for example, Republicans confidently assert that their ideas will lower costs, when we simply do not have much evidence for this. What we do know is that of the world's richest countries, the U.S. has by far the greatest involvement of free markets and the private sector in health care. It also consumes the largest share of GDP, with no significant gains in health on any measurable outcome. We need more market mechanisms to cut medical costs, but Republicans don't bother to study existing health care systems anywhere else in the world. "I know it works in practice," the old saw goes, "but does it work in theory?"
Conservatives used to be the ones with heads firmly based in reality. Their reforms were powerful because they used the market, streamlined government and empowered individuals. We need conservative ideas to modernize the U. S. economy and reform American government. But what we have instead are policies that don't reform but just cut and starve government—a strategy that pays little attention to history or best practices from around the world and is based instead on a theory.

单选题 The Republican proposal to cut taxes
A. will send America on its way to economic recovery.
B. is based on a reasonable theoretical assertion.
C. will play an important role in modernizing America.
D. indicates that conservatives have lost touch with reality.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】第一段提到，保守主义植根于现实中，它起源于对现实世界的关注，但是现在的保守派人物推崇一些抽象的思想，脱离了美国的实际。第二段提到，作为保守派的共和党提出了减税和减少政府开支的主张，但是却没有任何证据证明减税能使得美国经济复苏，因为美国目前的税率处于有史以来最低水平。第二段实际上是举例说明为什么说美国的保守派失去了与现实的联系，致使他们提出的政策置事实于不顾。
单选题 That heavier taxes burden the American economy
A. is widely acknowledged in America.
B. is an idea ridiculed by conservatives.
C. is based on false abstract principles.
D. is an idea shared by European economists.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】第二段指出，有些人认为美国经济停止增长这是由于高税率造成的，但在作者看来，这种说法不是基于事实，而仅仅是一种理论上的论断，因为在其他经济状况良好的富国，税率并没有降低。
单选题 The author is clearly in favor of
A. government intervention in economy.
B. massive investments in vital infrastructure.
C. heavier taxation of the rich population.
D. a theoretical foundation for government policies.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】第三段提到，因为保守派反对政府干预经济，认为这种做法永远是错误的，所以在美国根本没法谈论政府涉足经济的问题，而在新加坡等国，政府的干预为经济增长起到了催化剂的作用。美国自身的历史也说明政府干预经济是必要的，能带来经济的持续繁荣，但是这种历史的经验在今天却被忘记了。可见，在目前状况下，作者是支持政府涉足经济的。
单选题 It is implied that the American health care system
A. requires more government involvement.
B. requires more private investment.
C. has caused the shrinking of GDP.
D. works only in practice but not in theory.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】第四段提到美国医疗体制的改革问题。共和党自认为自己提出的医改方案能降低成本，但他们的这种信念却是缺乏事实依据的。美国的医保市场是最市场化的，但是美国人不研究其他国家的医保政策。言外之意，其他国家的医保方案并非像美国一样是完全市场化的，是有政府涉足其中的。在这一段中，作者再次以医保为例，批评了保守派脱离现实、置事实于不顾的做法，认为适当的政府干预是必要的。
单选题 The conservative policies used to work because they
A. were based on sound economic theories.
B. catered to individual preferences.
C. were deeply rooted in reality and practice.
D. reformed the government by starving it.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】文章第一、二句就提到了这个道理，第一段最后一句说这种做法在使美国走向现代化道路上起到重要作用。第三段还提到务实的政策(指政府涉足经济)曾经给美国带来了长期的繁荣。最后一段提到，植根于现实的政策曾使美国保守派的改革获得了巨大成功，但是现在的保守派已经脱离了现实，置历史与现实于不顾，把自己的政策不是基于现实之上，而是基于抽象的理论之上。