单选题
I have observed that the Americans show a less decided taste for general ideas than the French. This is especially true in politics.
Although the Americans infuse into their legislation far more general ideas than the English, and although they strive more than the latter to adjust the practice of affairs to theory, no political bodies in the United States have ever shown so much love for general ideas as the Constituent Assembly and the Convention in France. At no time has the American people laid hold on ideas of this kind with the passionate energy of the French people in the eighteenth century, or displayed the same blind confidence in the value and absolute truth of any theory.
This difference between the Americans and the French originates in several causes, but principally in the following one. The Americans are a democratic people who have always directed public affairs themselves. The French are a democratic people who for a long time could only speculate on the best manner of conducting them. The social condition of the French led them to conceive very general ideas on the subject of government, while their political constitution prevented them from correcting those ideas by experiment and from gradually detecting their insufficiency; whereas in America the two things constantly balance and correct each other.
It may seem at first sight that this is very much opposed to what I have said before, that democratic nations derive their love of theory from the very excitement of their active life. A more attentive-examination will show that there is nothing contradictory in the proposition.
Men living in democratic countries eagerly lay hold of general ideas because they have but little leisure and because these ideas spare them the trouble of studying particulars. This is true, but it is only to be understood of those matters which are not the necessary and habitual subjects of their thoughts. Mercantile men will take up very eagerly, and without any close scrutiny, all the general ideas on philosophy, politics, science, or the arts which may be presented to them; but for such as relate to commerce, they will not receive them without inquiry or adopt them without reserve. The same thing applies to statesman with regard to general ideas in politics.
If, then, there is a subject upon which a democratic people is peculiarly liable to abandon itself, blindly and extravagantly, to general ideas, the best corrective that can be used will be to make that subject a part of their daily practical occupation. They will then be compelled to enter into details, and the details will teach them the weak points of the theory. This remedy may frequently be a painful one, but its effect is certain.
Thus it happens that the democratic institutions which compel every citizen to take a practical part in the government moderate that excessive taste for general theories in polities which the principle of equality suggests. Comprehension questions
单选题
According to the writer, what kinds of ideas have been favored by the French people?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 题目问：根据作者的观点，什么想法一直备受法国人优待?第三段“The social condition of the French led them to conceive very general ideas on the subject of government．”通 过这句话可知，法国的社会条件导致人们构思关于政府的总体思想。据此判断，应选择C。
单选题
Why do the Americans show less enthusiasm for general ideas than the French?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 题目问：为什么美国人不像法国人那样对总体构想充满热情?第三段“while their political constitution prevented them from correcting those ideas by experiment and from gradually detecting their insufficiency；whereas in America the two things constantly balance and correct each other，”通过这句话可知，法国宪法阻止人们纠正那些思想，而美国政府之间则是相互 制衡的。据此判断，应选择B。
单选题
Some people in democratic countries prefer general ideas because______
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 题目问：为什么民主国家的一些人更喜欢整体观念?第五段第一句“Men living in democratic countries eagerly lay hold of general ideas because they have but little leisure and because these ideas spare them the trouble of studying particulars．”通过这句话可知，民主国家的 人期望整体观念，因为这些观点可以帮助他们解决学习细节的麻烦。据此判断，应选择D。
单选题
What does the writer think would inhibit people"s preference for general ideas?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 题目问：作者认为什么会妨碍人们对总体观念的偏好?倒数第二段“to general ideas，the best corrective that can be used will be to make that subject a part of their dailv practical occupation，”通过这句话可知，对于整体观念，最好的纠正就是让他们的日常实践来占据这 个主题。据此判断，应选择B。
单选题
The writer"s conclusion is that______
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 题目问：作者的结论是什么?最后一段“Thus it happens that the democratic institutions which compel every citizen to take a practical part in the government moderate that excessive taste for general theories in polities which the principle of equality suggests．”通过这句 话可知，民主机制促使人们适当参与政治，这样可以减弱人们对总体观念的思考。据此判断， 应选择D。