The decline in moral standards—which has long concerned social analysts—has at last captured the attention of average Americans, And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.
The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation’s moral climate, says this ethics (伦理学) professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.
But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and Individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. “The thought that I’m in it for me has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness,” Ms Elshtain says.
Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today’s greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.
In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the U. S. And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.
The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament（挽歌）for some nonexistent “golden age,” Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful（一厢情愿的）longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.
Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. “Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can’t be bought.”
1.Professor Elshtain is pleased to see that Americans（ ）.
2.The moral decline of American society is caused mainly by（ ）.
3.Which of the following characterizes the traditional communities?
4.In the 1950s, classroom violence（ ）.
5.According to Elshtain, the current moral decline may be reversed（ ）.
问题1选项
A.have adapted to a new set of moral standards
B.are longing for the return of the good old days
C.have realized the importance of material things
D.are awakening to the lowering of their moral standards
问题2选项
A.its growing wealth
B.the self-centeredness of individuals
C.underestimating the impact of social changes
D.the prejudice against women and minorities
问题3选项
A.Great mobility
B.Emphasis on individual effort
C.Concern for one’s neighbors
D.Ever-weakening social bonds
问题4选项
A.as something unheard of
B.attracted a lot of public attention
C.was by no means a rare occurrence
D.began to appear in analysts’ data
问题5选项
A.if people can return to the “golden age”
B.when women and men enjoy equal rights
C.when people rid themselves of prejudice
D.if less emphasis is laid on material things
第1题:D
第2题:B
第3题:C
第4题:A
第5题:D
1.事实细节题。由题干关键词定位到第一段的第一二句话The decline in moral standards—which has long concerned social analysts—has at last captured the attention of average Americans（道德标准的下降——长期以来一直困扰着社会分析人士——终于引起了普通美国人的注意。）后文说Jean Bethke Elshtain对于这个很开心，由此可知D选项“意识到他们道德标准的降低”正确。A、B、C在原文都没有提到，因此排除。
2.推理判断题。由题干关键词定位到文章第三段第二句话Materialism and Individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles.（美国社会的物质主义和个人主义是最大的障碍。）从这句可以看出物质主义和个人主义这两点是美国社会最大的障碍，也是引发道德衰落的原因，由此可知B选项“个人的自我中心”正确。而对物质财富的崇尚，和财富本身的增长没有直接联系，因此A选项错误；C选项出现在第三段的第一句the challenge is not to be underestimated（挑战不应被低估），这里的挑战就是指的Materialism和individualism，但是选项把challenge换成了change，因此属于偷换概念，C选项错误；D选项出现在倒数第二段，根据篇章分析对这一段的说明，这种歧视现象是过去那个道德水平较高时代的现象，因此绝不会是它引起了现今道德水平的下降，因此D选项也错误。
3.推理判断题。由题干关键词定位到第四段Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says.（她说，这在一定程度上可以归因于传统社区的解体，在传统社区中，邻居们互相照顾。）由此可见，对邻居的关照是传统社区的特点，因此C选项“对邻居的关心”正确。A选项体现在With today’s greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.（随着当今社会流动性的增强，以及如此多的夫妻都在工作，这种纽带已经被削弱，取而代之的是对自我的更加强调。）这里提到了高流动性，高流动性实际应该是指人口居住地不断变化，邻居之间相处时间不会很长，也就无法培养良好关系，当然也不会互相关心互相照料。可以说A 是造成B和D的原因之一（另一原因是双职工——夫妻二人都去上班，也就很少有机会和邻居交往），而B和D都是现今社会的特点，不是传统社区的特点，因此A、B、D不对。
4.事实细节题。由题干关键词定位到第五段Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers（数据显示，美国人正艰难应对问题闻所未闻的1950年代，如课堂暴力和高速率的未婚母亲。）开头是“数据表明”，后面是数据所显示的内容。Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s，美国人正在同许多问题做斗争，这些问题在五十年代闻所未闻（unheard of），such as表示例举，说明classroom violence是problems的一个例子，由此可得A选项“是闻所未闻的”正确。C的说法与A正好相反，by no means，绝非；rare，极少，双重否定等于肯定，也就是说班级暴力在五十年代经常发生，是错误的；B的说法与A相互矛盾，既然闻所未闻，也就不可能投入关注；D有一定迷惑性，按照句意，班级暴力肯定存在于分析家的数据中，因为句头就有data show。但要注意，题目的开头有一句In the 1950s，也就是说班级暴力进入分析家的数据是在50年代。班级暴力在那时尚且闻所未闻，当然是不可能进入分析数据的。
5.事实细节题。由题干关键词可以直接定位到最后一段，Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society（除非人们找到对抗社会上物质主义的方法，否则道德滑坡是不会逆转的。）因此D选项“如果不太重视物质的东西”正确。A和C都是没有提到的，B选项不是它的条件。
