亚当斯密2017年6月大学英语六级阅读理解精炼50篇40个人主义的典范—美国人(含答案)

2021年1月24日发(作者：commercially)
2017
年
6
月大学英语六级阅读理解精炼
50
篇
40
个人主义的典范—美国人
(
含答案
)




英语六级阅读理解精炼第
40
篇，练习个人主义的典范——
—美国 人，含有六级阅读练习题，参考译文，答案等内容。供正
在准备英语六级考试的学习者参考学习。

0
40. the amer ican character
1

what do americans believe in2? what is the american character? these questions are
hard to answer, because there are so many americans and they believe in so many
different things. however, the history of the united states does provide some
understanding of certain basic characteristics that many americans share .
one of the main reasons why the early settlers came to america was to escape the
controls they had experienced in europe. 3 there , small groups of wealthy people
prevented them from moving into a higher social position or becoming wealthy,
and governmentsupported churches controlled their religious practices and beliefs.
because these early settlers wanted to be free from such controls, they brought to
america the view that the individual was supremely important. the settlers were
against the efforts of the church, the society, and particularly the government, to
control their actions. these controls came to be viewed as
“

un-american
”
4 .
this strong american belief in individualism has both positive and negative sides5 .
on the positive side, it has strengthened americans
’
inventiveness and their belief in
hard work. on the negative side, the belief in individualism has sometimes
prevented americans from using their government to solve their common
problems. americans prefer not to have government solutions to social problems.
the belief in individualism is a basic part of the american character. this belief has at
least two separate parts
—

idealism and materialism6. although these two beliefs
are quite different, most americans try to live with them both at the same time, and
idealism and materialism are both very much a part of the american character.
american idealism comes largely from the nation
’
s protestant7 religious heritage .
early americans did not have to belong to any particular church to have this belief.
it influenced all americans so strongly that idealism came to mean that each
individual should possess a high moral character, and should live by his or her own
beliefs. this is what american idealism means today.
americans also have a strong belief in materialism, that is, that each individual
should gain as much wealth as possible. the american belief in materialism is partly
a result of the nation
’
s great material abundance. the early settlers found a
continent with great forests, rivers, and fertile farmland in abundance. it is not
surprising that many viewed america as the land of opportunity. 8
as the united states grew and developed, the supply of natural resources seemed
endless, and so did the opportunities for personal economic advancement. each
generation had a chance to become wealthier than their parents had been.
generation after generation of new immigrants had the same opportunity.
americans eventually developed the belief that it was almost a duty to get rich.
阅读自测

Ⅰ
. here a re some new sports words that people often use in daily life . guess their
chinese meanings:
all- star game
———

most valuable player ( mvp)
———

rookie of the year
———

x-games / extreme sports
———

bungee jumping
———

rock-climbing / freeclimbing
———

bicycle motocross ( bmx)
———

treadmill
———

aerobics
———

Ⅱ
. when is a h ouse n ot just a house ? guess the meanings of various houses:

playhouse
———

wendy house / dollhouse
———

fun house
———

lodging house
———

opera house
———

tea house
———

full house
———

meeting house
———

upper house and lower house
———

参考答案

Ⅰ
.
全明星赛最有价值球员年度最佳新秀极限运动蹦极跳

攀岩自行车越野跑步机有氧运动

Ⅱ
.
戏院、
儿童游戏室儿童玩具房游乐场宿舍歌剧院茶馆

客满
,
座无虚席礼拜堂、
教堂上议
院与下议院

参考译文

个人主义的典范———美国人

国人的信念是什么
?
美国人什么性格
?
这些问题都难以回答
,
因为美国人太多了
,
他

们有太
多不同的信条。即便如此
,
美国的历史的确有助于我们理解许多美国人所拥有的

一些基本
特征。

早期定居者来美国的主要原因之一是为了逃避在欧洲所受的管制。在欧洲
,
由富人组

成的
各种小圈子阻止他们步入上层社会或过富裕生活
,
政府扶持的教会约束他们的宗教活

动和
信仰。
这些早期定居者力图摆脱控制
,
所以他们就带着这样一种信念来到了美国
,
即

个人至
关 重要。
那些居民反对教会、
社会、
特别是政府约束他们的行为。
这些约束都被 认

为是
“

不
合美国原则的”。

美国人这种强烈的个人主义信仰
,
既有积极影响也有消极一面。
积极影响是
,
它强化

了美国
人的创新意识和努力工作的信念。消极一面就是
,
个人主义精神时常妨碍美国人利

用政府
力量去解决公共问题。美国人不愿请政府解决社会问题。