the other great frustration is that it has not eliminated insecurity. people regard job stability as part of their standard of living. as corporate layoffs increased, that part has eroded. more workers fear they’ve become “the disposable american,” as louis uchitelle puts it in his book by the same name.
because so much previous suffering and social conflict stemmed from poverty, the arrival of widespread affluence suggested utopian (烏托邦式的) possibilities. up to a point, affluence succeeds. there is much les physical misery than before. people are better off. unfortunately, affluence also creates new complaints and contradictions.
advanced societies need economic growth to satisfy the multiplying wants of their citizens. but the quest for growth lets loose new anxieties and economic conflicts that disturb the social order. affluence liberates the individual, promising that everyone can choose a unique way to self-fulfillment. but the promise is so extravagant that it predestines many disappointments and sometimes inspires choices that have anti-social consequences, including family breakdown and obesity (肥胖症). statistical indicators of happiness have not risen with incomes.
should we be surprised? not really. we’ve simply reaffirmed an old truth: the pursuit of affluence does not always end with happiness.
注意：此部分試題請在答題卡2上作答。
52.what question does john kenneth galbraith raise in his book the affluent society?
a) why statistics don’t tell the truth about the economy.
b) why affluence doesn’t guarantee happiness.
c) how happiness can be promoted today.
d) what lies behind an economic boom.（b）
53.according to galbraith, people feel discontented because ________.
a) public spending hasn’t been cut down as expected
b) the government has proved to be a necessary evil
c) they are in fear of another great depression
d) materialism has run wild in modern society（d）
54.why do people feel squeezed when their average income rises considerably?
a) their material pursuits have gone far ahead of their earnings.
b) their purchasing power has dropped markedly with inflation.
c) the distribution of wealth is uneven between the r5ich and the poor.
d) health care and educational cost have somehow gone out of control.（a）
55.what does louis uchitelle mean by “the disposable american” (line 3, para. 5)?
a) those who see job stability as part of their living standard.
b) people full of utopian ideas resulting from affluence.
c) people who have little say in american politics.
d) workers who no longer have secure jobs.（d）
56.what has affluence brought to american society?
a) renewed economic security.
b) a sense of self-fulfillment.
c) new conflicts and complaints.
d) misery and anti-social behavior.（c）
passage two
questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
the use of deferential (敬重的) language is symbolic of the confucian ideal of the woman, which dominates conservative gender norms in japan. this ideal presents a woman who withdraws quietly to the background, subordinating her life and needs to those of her family and its male head. she is a dutiful daughter, wife, and mother, master of the domestic arts. the typical refined japanese woman excels in modesty and delicacy; she “treads softly (謹言慎行)in the world,” elevating feminine beauty and grace to an art form.
nowadays, it is commonly observed that young women are not conforming to the feminine linguistic (語言的) ideal. they are using fewer of the very deferential “women’s” forms, and even using the few strong forms that are know as “men’s.” this, of course, attracts considerable attention and has led to an outcry in the japanese media against the defeminization of women’s language. indeed, we didn’t hear about “men’s language” until people began to respond to girls’ appropriation of forms normally reserved for boys and men. there is considerable sentiment about the “corruption” of women’s language—which of course is viewed as part of the loss of feminine ideals and morality—and this sentiment is crystallized by nationwide opinion polls that are regularly carried out by the media.