Early in the age of affluence（富裕）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 Lebow’s 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 world’s two largest economies—Japan and the United States—show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever prevalent.
Overconsumption by the world’s 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 hollow—that, 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 over-consumption—poverty—is no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed（被剥夺得一无所有的）peasants slash-and-burn their way into the rain forests of Latin America, and hungry nomads（游牧民族）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 ______.
2. Why does the author say high consumption is a mixed blessing?
3. According to the passage, consumerist culture ______.
4. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
问题1选项
A.gave birth to a new generation of upper class consumers
B.gave rise to the dominance of the new egoism
C.led to the reform of the retailing system
D.resulted in the worship of consumerism
问题2选项
A.Because poverty still exists in an affluent society.
B.Because moral values are sacrificed in pursuit of material satisfaction.
C.Because overconsumption won’t last long due to unrestricted population growth.
D.Because traditional rituals are often neglected in the process of modernization.
问题3选项
A.cannot thrive on a fragile economy
B.will not aggravate environmental problems
C.cannot satisfy human spiritual needs
D.will not alleviate poverty in wealthy countries
问题4选项
A.human spiritual needs should match material affluence
B.there is never an end to satisfying people’s material needs
C.whether high consumption should be encouraged is still an issue
D.how to keep consumption at a reasonable level remains a problem
第1题:
【选项释义】
The emergence of the affluent society after World War II _____. 第二次世界大战后富裕社会的出现_____。
A. gave birth to a new generation of upper class consumers A. 催生了新一代的上流社会消费者
B. gave rise to the dominance of the new egoism B. 导致了新利己主义的主导地位
C. led to the reform of the retailing system C. 导致了零售体制的改革
D. resulted in the worship of consumerism D. 导致了消费主义的崇拜
【答案】D
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】文章第一段提到：Our enormously productive economy...demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals…（我们巨大的生产力经济……要求我们把消费作为我们的生活方式，把购买和使用商品变成仪式……）以及第二段：Opinion surveys in the world’s two largest economies—Japan and the United States—show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever prevalent.（对世界两大经济体日本和美国的民意调查显示，消费主义对成功的定义越来越普遍。）可知消费被倡导，被推崇，故D选项符合题意。
【干扰项排除】A、B、C在文中没有提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
Why does the author say high consumption is a mixed blessing? 为什么作者说高消费是一件好坏参半的事情？
A. Because poverty still exists in an affluent society. A. 因为富裕的社会仍然存在贫困。
B. Because moral values are sacrificed in pursuit of material satisfaction. B. 因为为了追求物质满足而牺牲了道德价值。
C. Because overconsumption won’t last long due to unrestricted population growth. C. 由于无限制的人口增长，过度消费不会持续太久。
D. Because traditional rituals are often neglected in the process of modernization. D. 因为传统仪式在现代化的过程中经常被忽视。
【答案】B
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】根据关键词mixed blessing定位到文章第五段：The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches.（深受推崇的价值观，如完整的人格、好的工作、友谊、家庭和社区在追求富裕的过程中常常都丧失了。）由此可推断人们虽然富裕了但同时也失去了道德价值。因此B项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、C选项在文中没有提及，属于无中生有；
D选项，文中说的是honored values of integrity of character（推崇正直的品格价值）而不是选项中的traditional rituals（传统仪式），这二者不可以混为一谈，属于偷换概念。
第3题:
【选项释义】
According to the passage, consumerist culture _____. 根据文章，消费主义文化_____。
A. cannot thrive on a fragile economy A. 不可能在脆弱的经济上繁荣
B. will not aggravate environmental problems B. 不会加重环境问题
C. cannot satisfy human spiritual needs C. 不能满足人类的精神需求
D. will not alleviate poverty in wealthy countries D. 不会减轻富裕国家的贫困
【答案】C
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】文章第六段提到：Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world of plenty is somehow hollow—that, misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social, psychological and spiritual needs with material things.（工业国家的很多人感觉到他们物质丰富的世界不知怎地变得空洞了——受消费主义观念的误导，他们一直试图用物质来满足社会、心理和精神上的需求，而这毫无效果。），因此C正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、D选项在文中没有提及，属于无中生有；
B选项文中第四段提到：Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate.（他们对资源的疯狂开采，威胁着耗尽或不可改变地破坏森林、土壤、水、空气和气候。）可知，该项属于反向干扰。
第4题:
【选项释义】
It can be inferred from the passage that _____. 从文章中可以推断出_____。
A. human spiritual needs should match material affluence A. 人类的精神需求应该与物质富裕相匹配
B. there is never an end to satisfying people’s material needs B. 满足人们的物质需求是永无止境的
C. whether high consumption should be encouraged is still an issue C. 是否应该鼓励高消费仍然是一个问题
D. how to keep consumption at a reasonable level remains a problem D. 如何保持消费在合理水平仍然是一个问题
【答案】D
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】文中最后一段提到：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?（如果当人们拥有的太少或太多时，环境就会遭到破坏，我们就会想知道多少才够。地球能承受多大的消费水平？什么时候有更多的停顿可以显著地增加人类的满足感？）可知D选项符合题意
【干扰项排除】A、B、C选项不能通过文章信息推断出来，属于无中生有。
