In general, our society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a bureaucratic management in which man becomes a small, well-oiled cog in the machinery. The oiling is done with higher wages, Nell-ventilated factories and piped music, and by psychologists and human relations experts; yet all this oiling does not alter the fact that man has become powerless, that he is bored with it. In fact, the blue and the white-collar workers have become economic puppets who dance to the tune of automated machines and bureaucratic management.
The worker and employee are anxious, not only because they might find themselves out of a job; they are anxious also because they are unable to acquire any real satisfaction of interesting life. They live an die without ever having confronted the fundamental realities of human existence as emotionally and intellectually independent and productive human beings.
Those higher up on the social ladder are no less anxious. Their lives are no less empty than those of their subordinates. They are even more insecure in some respects. They are in a highly competitive race. To be promoted or to fall behind is not a matter of salary but even more a matter of self-respect. When they apply for their first job, they are tested for intelligence as well as for the right mixture of submissiveness and independence. From the moment on they are tested again and again by the psychologists, for whom testing is a big business, and by their superiors, who judge their behavior, sociability, capacity to get along, etc. This constant need to prove that one is as good as or better than ones fellow competitor creates constant anxiety and stress, the very causes of unhappiness and illness.
Am I suggesting that we should return to the preidustrial mode of production or to nineteenth-century free enterprise capitalism? Certainly not. Problems are never solved by returning to a stage which one has already outgrown. I suggest transforming our social system form a bureaucratically managed industrialism in which maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves into a humanist industrialism in which man and full development of his potentialities those of all love and of reason are the aims of social arrangements. Production and consumption should serve only as means to this end, and should be prevented from ruling man.
1. By a well-oiled cog in the machinery the author intends to deliver the idea that man is ____.
A. a necessary part of the society though each individuals function is negligible
B. working in complete harmony with the rest of the society
C. an unimportant part in comparison with the rest of the society
D. a humble component of the society, especially when working smoothly
2. The real cause of the anxiety of the workers and employees is that ____.
A. they are likely to lose their hobs
B. they have no genuine satisfaction or interest in life
C. they are faced with the fundamental realities of human existence
D. they are deprived of their individuality and independence
3. From the passage we can conclude that real happiness of life belongs to those _____.
A. who are at the bottom of the society
B. who are higher up in their social status
C. who prove better than their fellow competitors
D. who could dip far away from this competitive world
4. To solve the present social problems the author puts foruard a suggestion that we should ______.
A. resort to the production mode of our ancestors
B. offer higher wages to the workers and employees
C. enable man to fully develop his potentialities
D. take the fundamental realities for granted
5. The authors attitude towards industrialism might best be summarized as one of ______.
A. approval B. dissatisfaction
C. suspicion D. susceptibility
参考答案:CDDCB
2017年戛纳电影节九桩事
测试你的“表情符号智商”[1]
开眼界:神翻译不只中国有[1]
美国“第一千金”的时尚之路
纯属搞笑:最容易出轨的英文名
众多公司发推文,推新品庆祝全美同性婚姻合法化[1]
国内英语资讯:Xi says China to continue to support WHO playing leading role in COVID-19 fight
那些关于印度的谬传[1]
欧盟新规:地标建筑前禁自拍[1]
体坛英语资讯:UEFA hopes to restart football league in July and August
“无手机恐惧症”测试
每日一词∣中国人民政治协商会议 Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)
有钱人的玩具比你的好玩多了[1]
美大学办"二次元"毕业礼
洞洞鞋又被乔治带火了![1]
21世纪英语演讲比赛启动
孩子们写给大人的爆笑信件[1]
体坛英语资讯:Flick pens contract extension at Bayern
推荐:50位明星最爱的书[1]
体坛英语资讯:Neymar donates $1 million to curb coronavirus
外国网友贡献的另类母亲节礼物[1]
网络新风潮:肌肉男做人体旗[1]
运动反而使人变胖吗?[1]
脱贫攻坚工作取得积极进展 疫情不会改变脱贫攻坚大局
莫迪语录:言语间彰显治国理念
2017年最受游客欢迎的十个城市[1]
Pets--Our Friends or Enemies? 宠物——我们的朋友或敌人?
国内英语资讯:Xi says China opposes disruption of intl anti-epidemic cooperation
研究:废寝忘食并不能有效提高成绩[1]
体坛英语资讯:Dortmund stadium converted into COVID-19 testing center
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |