Early in the age of affluence that followed World War II, an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, Our enormously productive economy...demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption... .We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate.
Americans have responded to Lebows call, and much of the world has followed.
Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in social values. Opinion surveys in the worlds two largest economiesJapan and the United Statesshow consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent.
Overconsumption by the worlds fortunate is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anything but perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate.
Ironically, high consumption may be a mixed blessing in human terms, too. The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches.
Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world of plenty is somehow hollowthat, misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social, psychological and spiritual needs with material things.
Of course, the opposite of overconsumptionpovertyis no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin America, and hungry nomads turn their herds out onto fragile African grassland, reducing it to desert.
If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we
are left to wonder how much is enough. What level of consumption can the earth support?
When does having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction?
1. The emergence of the affluent society after World War II .
A. led to the reform of the retailing system
B. resulted in the worship of consumerism
C. gave rise to the dominance of the new egoism
D. gave birth to a new generation of upper class consumers
2. Apart from enormous productivity, another important impetus to high consumption
is______.
A. the peoples desire for a rise in their living standards
B. the concept that ones success is measured by how much they consume
C. the imbalance that has existed between production and consumption
D. the conversion of the sale of goods into rituals
3. Why does the author say high consumption is a mixed blessing?
A. Because poverty still exists in an affluent society.
B. Because overconsumption wont last long due to unrestricted population growth.
C. Because traditional rituals are often neglected in the process of modernization.
D. Because moral values are sacrificed in pursuit of material satisfaction.
4. According to the passage, consumerist culture .
A. will not alleviate poverty in wealthy countries
B. will not aggravate environmental problems
C. cannot thrive on a fragile economy
D. cannot satisfy human spiritual needs
5. It can be inferred from the passage that .
A. human spiritual needs should match material affluence
B. whether high consumption should be encouraged is still an issue
C. how to keep consumption at a reasonable level remains a problem
D. there is never an end to satisfying peoples material needs
美国习惯用语-第66讲:baloney
美国习惯用语-第46讲:ants in your pants
美国习惯用语-第38期:pain in the neck
美国习惯用语-第75讲:favorite son
美国习惯用语-第39期:to have a heart
美国习惯用语-第72讲:girl jock
美国习惯用语-第52讲:no holds barred
美国习惯用语-第56讲:peaches and cream
美国习惯用语-第67讲:to get a kick out&nb
美国习惯用语-第64讲:to keep one´s eye&nbs
美国习惯用语-第68讲:to kick up one´s 
美国习惯用语-第50讲:to be swept off one&
美国习惯用语-第81讲:on the fence
美国习惯用语-第62讲:eyes pop out
美国习惯用语-第84讲:to throw to the wolv
美国习惯用语-第61讲:to feast your eyes o
美国习惯用语-第54讲:bomb
美国习惯用语-第73讲:wimp
美国习惯用语-第40期:My heart stood still
美国习惯用语-第32期:Singing the blues
美国习惯用语-第33期:as American as apple 
美国习惯用语-第49讲:to stand on one´s&nbs
美国习惯用语-第87讲:rain or shine
美国习惯用语-第80讲:lame duck
美国习惯用语-第35期:monkey business
美国习惯用语-第90讲:to let sleeping dogs 
美国习惯用语-第69讲:at the drop of a&nbs
美国习惯用语-第36期:hot seat
美国习惯用语-第85讲:to throw a wet blank
美国习惯用语-第88讲:buddy
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |