Passage Two
One thing almost everyone is agreed on, including Americans, is that they place a very high valuation up on success. Success does not necessarily mean material rewards, but recognition of some sort-preferably measurable. If a boy turn out to be a preacher(传真者) instead of a businessman, that’s all right. But the bigger his church is, the more successful he is judged to be.
A good many things contributed to this accent on success. There was the Puritan(清教徒) belief in the virtue of work, both for its own sake and because the rewards it brought were regarded as signs of God’s love. There was the richness of opportunity in a land waiting to be settleD. There was the lack of a settled society with fixed ranks and classes, so that a man was certain to rise through achievement. Here was the de- termination of an immigrant to gain in the new world what bad been denied to him in the old, and on the part of his children an urge to throw off the
A. success is highly valued in American society
B. success surely brings material rewards
C. success equals measurable recognition
D. people agree on what success means
| One year ago we stared aghast at images
of the Southeast Asian tsunami. Video cameras taken on vacation to record the
everyday pleasures of the beach were suddenly turned to quivering utility as
they documented the panic and mayhem of a natural disaster. Who can forget the
disbelief in the recorded voices This can’t be happening to us. Human beings
are never prepared for natural disasters. There is a kind of optimism built into
our species that seems to prefer to live in the comfortable present rather than
confront the possibility of destruction, It may happen, we seem to believe, but
not now, and not to us. Mount Vesuvius has been erupting since historical
records began. The eruption of A. D. 79 both destroyed Pompeii and preserved it
for posterity. Pliny the Younger starkly recorded the details in prose that can
still be read as a A. they believe that all preparation is useless for disasters B. they believe that disasters will never happen to them C. they believe that gods are helpful when disasters happen D. none of these [单项选择]Passage Two
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