It is widely believed that our never-ending quest for material goods is part of the basic character of human beings. According to the popular belief, we may not like it, but there’s little we can do about it.
Despite its popularity, this view of human nature is wrong. While human beings may have a basic desire to strive towards something, there is nothing inevitable about material goods. There are numerous examples of societies in which things have played a highly restricted rule. In medieval Europe, the acquisition of goods was relatively unimportant. The common people, whose lives were surely poor by modern standards, showed strong preferences for leisure rather than money. In the nineteenth-and early twentieth-century United States, there is also considerable evidence that many working people also exhibited a restricted appetite for material goods.
Materialism is not a basic trait of human nature, but a specific product of capitalism. With the development
A. is a by-product of capitalism
B. originated from the circles of the rich
C. was first created among the middle class
D. is not popular in the developing world
Passage Five
Christine Evert Lloyd is an American tennis champion and one of the top women players in the world. She is noted for her strong backhand and her intense concentration during a match.
Christine Marie Evert was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She learned to p]ay tennis from her father. Because she learned to play on the slow clay tennis courts which are common in southern Florida, Evert is at her best on slow courts.
In 1971, at the age of sixteen, Evert became the youngest player to reach the semifinals of the United States Open Tennis Championships. This was her first time to participate in the U.S. Open. In 1972, she turned professional and was able to accept money and other prizes for winning matches.
In 1974, she won the women’s singles title in two major tournaments. These titles were at Wimbledon, the British championship, and the French Open, which is played on clay. Later she won the U.S. and Australian Opens, the
A. the U.S. Open
B. the British championship
C. the French Open
D. both B and C
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