(完整版)历年6级阅读真题(整理版)

历年英语六级阅读真题

(2012,6---2006,12)

2012

年

12

月英语六级阅读真题

(1) Passage One

Amid

all

the

job

losses

of

the

Great

Recession,

there

is

one

category

of

worker

that

the

economic

disruption

has

been

good

for:

nonhumans.

From

self-service

checkout

lines

at

the

supermarket

to

industrial

robots

armed

with

saws

and

taught

to

carve

up

animal

carcasses

in

slaughter-houses, these ever-more-intelligent machines are now not just

assisting workers but actually kicking them out of their jobs.

Automation

isn’t

just affect

ing

factory

workers,

either.

Some

law

firms

now

use

artificial

intelligence

software

to

scan

and

read

mountains of legal documents, work that previously was performed by

highly paid human lawyers.

“Robots

continue

to

have

an

impact

on

blue

-collar

jobs,

and

white-

collar

jobs

are

under

attack

by

microprocessors,”

says

Edward

Leamer,

an

economics

professor

at

UCLA’s

Anderson

School

of

Management and director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast, a survey of

the

U.S.

and

California

economies.

Leamer

says

the

recession

permanently

wiped

out

2.5

million

jobs.

U.S.

gross

domestic

product

has climbed back to pre-

recession levels, meaning we’re producing as

much as before, only with 6 percent fewer workers. To be sure, robotics

are not the only job killers out there, with outsourcing stealing far more

1

gigs than automation.

Jeff

Burnstein,

president

of

the

Robotics

Industry

Association,

a

trade group in Ann Arbor, Mich., argues that robots actually save U.S.

jobs.

His

logic:

companies

that

embrace

automation

might

use

fewer

workers, but that’s

still better than firing everyone and moving the work

overseas.

It’s not that robots are cheaper than humans, though often they are.

It’s that they are better. “In some cases the quality requirements are so

stringent

that

even

if

you

wanted

to

have

a

human

do

the

job,

you

couldn’t,” Burnstein says.

Same goes for surgeons, who are using robotic systems to perform

an

ever-growing

list

of

operations

—

not

because

the

machines

save

money

but

because,

thanks

to

the

greater

precision

of

robots,

the

patients

recover

in

less

time

and

have

fewer

complications,

says

Dr.

Myriam Curet.

Surgeons may survive the robot invasion, but others at the hospital

might not be so lucky, as iRobot, maker of the Roomba, a robot vacuum

cleaner, has been showing off Ava, a three-foot-tall droid on wheels that

carries a tablet computer. iRobot reckons Ava could be used as a courier

in a hospital. And once you’re home, recovering, Ava could let you talk

to your doctor, so there’s no need to send someone to your house. That

“mobile telepresence” could be useful at the office. If you’re away on a

trip, you can still attend a meeting. Just connect via videoconferencing

software, so your face appears on Ava’s screen.

2

Is any job safe? I was hoping to say “journalist,” but researchers

are already developing algorithms that can gather facts and write a news

story. Which means that a few years from now, a robot could be writing

this

column.

And

who

will

read

it?

Well,

there

might

be

a

lot

of

us

hanging around with lots of free time on our hands.

(2) Passage Two

You've now heard it so many times, you can probably repeat it in

your

sleep.

President

Obama

will

no

doubt

make

the

point

publicly

when he gets to Beijing: the Chinese need to spend more; they need to

consume more; they need

—

believe it or not

—

to become more like

Americans, for the sake of the global economy.

And it's all true. But the other side of that equation is that the U.S.

needs to save more. For the moment, American households actually are

doing

so.

After

the

personal-savings

rate

dipped

to

zero

in

2005,

the

shock

of

the

economic

crisis

last

year

prompted

people

to

snap

shut

their wallets.

In China, the household-savings rate exceeds 20%. It is partly for

policy reasons. As we've seen, wage earners are expected to care for not

only

their

children

but

also

their

aging

parents.

And

there

is,

to

date,

only the flimsiest

（

脆弱的）

of publicly-funded health care and pension

systems, which increases incentives for individuals to save while they

are

working.

But

China

is

a

society

that

has

long

esteemed

personal

financial

prudence

（谨慎）

for centuries.

There

is

no chance

that

will

3

change

anytime

soon,

even

if

the

government

creates

a

better

social

safety net and successfully encourages greater consumer spending.

Why does the U.S. need to learn a little frugality(

节俭

). Because

healthy

savings

rates

are

one

of

the

surest

indicators

of

a

country's

long-term

financial

health.

High

savings

lead,

over

time,

to

increased

investment, which in turn generates productivity gains, innovation and

job

growth.

In

short,

savings

are

the

seed

corn

of

a

good

economic

harvest.

The

U.S.

government

thus

needs

to

act

as

well.

By

running

constant deficits, it is dis-saving, even as households save more. Peter

Orszag,

Obama's

Budget

Director,

recently

called

the

U.S.

budget

deficits

unsustainable

and

he's

right.

To

date,

the

U.S.

has

seemed

unable

to

have

what

Indiana

Governor

Mitch

Daniels

has

called

an

than is taken in. That needs to change. And though Hu Jintao and the

rest

of

the

Chinese

leadership

aren't

inclined

to

lecture

visiting

Presidents, he might gently hint that Beijing is getting a little nervous

about the value of the dollar

—

which has fallen 15% since March, in

large

part

because

of

increasing

fears

that

America's

debt

load

is

becoming unmanageable.

That's what happens when you're the world's biggest creditor: you

get

to

drop

hints

like

that,

which

would

be

enough

by

themselves

to

create

international

economic

chaos

if

they

were

ever

leaked.

(Every

time

any

official

in

Beijing

deliberately

publicly

about

seeking

an

4

alternative to the U.S. dollar for the $$2.1 trillion China holds in reserve,

currency

traders

have

a

heart

attack.)

If

Americans

saved

more

and

spent less, consistently over time, they wouldn't have to worry about all

that.

2012

年

6

月英语六级阅读真题

(3)

Passage One

As anyone who has tried to lose weight knows, realistic goal-setting

generally produces the best results. That's partially because it appears

people who set realistic goals actually work more efficiently, and exert

more effort, to achieve those goals.

What's far less understood by scientists, however, are the potentially

harmful effects of goal-setting.

Newspapers relay daily accounts of goal-setting prevalent in industries

and businesses up and down both Wall Street and Main Street , yet

there has been surprisingly little research on how the long- trumpeted

practice of setting goals may have contributed to the current economic

crisis , and unethical

（不道德的）

behavior in general.

“Goals are widely used and promoted as having really beneficial effects.

And yet, the same motivation that can push people to exert more effort

5

in a constructive way could also motivate people to be more likely to

engage in unethical behaviors,” says Maurice Schweitzer, an associate

professor at Penn’s WhartonSchool.

“It turns out there’s no economic benefit to just having a goal

---you just

get a psychologic

al benefit” Schweitzer says. “But in many cases, goals

have economic rewards that make them more powerful.”

A prime example Schweitzer and his colleagues cite is the 2004

collapse of energy-trading giant Enron, where managers used financial

incentives to motivate salesmen to meet specific revenue goals. The

problem, Schweitzer says, is the actual trades were not profitable.

Other studies have shown that saddling employees with unrealistic

goals can compel them to lie, cheat or steal. Such was the case in the

early 1990s when Sears imposed a sales quota on its auto repair staff. It

prompted employees to overcharge for work and to complete

unnecessary repairs on a companywide basis.

Schweitzer concedes his research runs counter to a very large body of

literature that commends the many benefits of goal-setting. Advocates

of the practice have taken issue with his team’s use of such evidence as

news accounts to support his conclusion that goal-setting is widely

over-prescribed

6

In a rebuttal (

反驳

) paper, Dr. Edwin L

ocke writes:“Goal

-setting is not

going away. Organizations cannot thrive without being focused on their

desired end results any more than an individual can thrive without goals

to provide a sense of purpose.”

But Schweitzer contends the “mounting causal evidence” linking

goal-setting and harmful behavior should be studied to help spotlight

issues that merit caution and further investigation. “Even a few negative

effects could be so large that they outweigh many positive effects,” he

says.

“Goal

-setting does help coordinate and motivate people. My idea would

be to combine that with careful oversight, a strong organizational

culture, and make sure the goals that you use are going to be

constructive and not significantly harm the organization,” Schweitzer

says.

(4) Passage two

For most of the 20th century, Asia asked itself what it could learn from

the modern, innovating West. Now the question must be reversed. What

can the West’s overly indebted and sluggish (

经济滞长的

) nations learn

from a flourishing Asia?

Just

a few decades ago, Asia’s two giants were stagnating(

停滞不前

)

under faulty economic ideologies. However, once China began

7

embracing free-market reforms in the 1980s, followed by India in the

1990s, both countries achieved rapid growth. Crucially, as they opened

up their markets, they balanced market economy with sensible

government direction. As the Indian economist Amartya Sen has wisely

said, “The invisible hand of the market has often relied heavily on the

visible hand of government.”

Contrast this middle path with America and Europe, which have each

gone ideologically over-board in their own ways. Since the 1980s,

America has been increasingly clinging to the ideology of uncontrolled

free markets and dismissing the role of government--- following Ronald

Reg

an’s idea that “government is not the solution to our problem;

government is the problem. “Of course, when the markets came

crashing down in 2007, it was decisive government intervention that

saved the day. Despite this fact, many Americans are still strongly

opposed to “big government.”

If Americans could only free themselves from their antigovernment

doctrine, they would begin to see that the America’s problems are not

insoluble. A few sensible federal measures could put the country back

on the right path. A simple consumption tax of, say, 5% would

significantly reduce the country’s huge government deficit without

damaging productivity. A small gasoline tax would help free America

from its dependence on oil imports and create incentives for green

energy development. In the same way, a significant reduction of

8

wasteful agricultural subsidies could also lower the deficit. But in order

to take advantage of these common-sense solutions, Americans will

have to put aside their own attachment to the idea of smaller

government and less regulation. American politicians will have to

develop the courage to follow what is taught in all American

public-policy schools: that there are good taxes and bad taxes. Asian

countries have embraced this wisdom, and have built sound long-term

fiscal (

财政的

) policies as a result.

Meanwhile, Europe has fallen prey to a different ideological trap: the

belief that European governments would always have infinite resources

and could continue borrowing as if there were no tomorrow. Unlike the

Americans, who felt that the markets knew best, the Europeans failed to

anticipate how the markets would react to their endless borrowing.

Today, the European Union is creating a $$580 billion fund to ward off

sovereign collapse. This will buy the EU time, but it will not solve the

bloc’s larger problem.

2011

年

12

月英语六级阅读真题

(5) Passage One

Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.

What's the one word of advice a well-meaning professional would

give to a recent college graduate?

China

How

about

trade!

9

When the Commerce Department reported last week that the trade

deficit in June approached $$50 billion, it set off a new round of

economic doomsaying. Imports, which soared to $$200.3 billion in the

month, are subtracted in the calculation of gross domestic product. The

larger the trade deficit, the smaller the GDP. Should such imbalances

continue, pessimists say, they could contribute to slower growth.

But there's another way of looking at the trade data. Over the past

two years, the figures on imports and exports seem not to signal a

double-dip recession

–

a renewed decline in the broad level of economic

activity in the United States

–

but an economic expansion.

The rising volume of trade

–

more goods and services shuttling in

and out of the United States

–

is good news for many sectors.

Companies engaged in shipping, trucking, rail freight,

delivery,

and

logistics

(

物流

) have all been reporting better than expected results.

The rising numbers signify growing vitality in foreign markets

–

when

we import more stuff, it puts more cash in the hands of people around

the world, and U.S. exports are rising because more foreigners have the

ability to buy the things we produce and market. The rising tide of trade

is also good news for people who work in trade-sensitive businesses,

especially those that produce commodities for which global demand

sets the price

–

agricultural goods, mining, metals, oil.

10

And while exports always seem to lag, U.S. companies are becoming

more involved in the global economy with each passing month. General

Motors sells as many cars in China as in America each month. While

that may not do much for imports, it does help GM's balance sheet

–

and hence makes the jobs of U.S.-based executives more stable.

One great challenge for the U.S. economy is slack domestic

consumer demand. Americans are

paying down debt, saving more, and spending more carefully. That's to

be expected, given what we've been through. But there's a bigger

challenge. Can U.S.-based businesses, large and small, figure out how

to get a piece of growing global demand? Unless you want to pick up

and move to India, or Brazil, or China, the best way to do that is

through trade. It may seem obvious, but it's no longer enough simply to

do business with our friends and neighbors here at home.

Companies and individuals who don't have a strategy to export more,

or to get more involved in foreign markets, or to play a role in global

trade, are shutting themselves out of the lion's share of economic

opportunity in our world.

(6) Passage Two

A recurring criticism of the UK's university sector is its perceived

weakness in translating new knowledge into new products and services.

11

Recently, the UK National Stem Cell Network warned the UK could

lose its place among the world leaders in stem cell research unless

adequate funding and legislation could be assured. We should take this

concern seriously as universities are key in the national innovation

system.

However, we do have to challenge the unthinking complaint that the

sector does not do enough in taking ideas to market. The most recent

comparative data on the performance of universities and research

institutions in Australia, Canada, USA and UK shows that, from a

relatively weak starting position, the UK now leads on many indicators of

commercialisation activity.

When viewed at the national level, the policy interventions of the past

decade have helped trans form the performance of UK universities.

Evidence suggests the UK's position is much stronger than in the recent

past and is still showing improvement. But national data masks the very

large variation in the performance of individual universities. The evidence

shows that a large number of universities have fallen off the back of the

pack, a few perform strongly and the rest chase the leaders.

This type of uneven distribution is not peculiar to the UK and is mirrored

across other economies. In the UK, research is concentrated: less than

25% of universities receive 75% of the research funding. These same

universities are also the institutions producing the greatest share of

PhD graduates, science citations, patents and licence income. The effect

12

of policies generating long-term resource concentration has also created a

distinctive set of universities which are research-led and commercially

active. It seems clear that the concentration of research and

commercialisation work creates differences between universities.

The core objective for universities which are research-led must be to

maximise the impact oftheir research efforts. These universities should be

generating the widest range of social, economic and environmental

benefits. In return for the scale of investment, they should share their

expertise in order to build greater confidence in the sector.

Part of the economic recovery of the UK will be driven by the next

generation of research commercialisation spilling out of our universities.

There are three dozen universities in the UKwhich are actively engaged

in advanced research training and commercialisation work.

If there was a greater coordination of technology transfer offices within

regions and a simultaneous investment in the scale and functions of our

graduate schools, universities could, and should, play a key role in

positioning the UK for the next growth cycle.

2011

年

6

月英语六级阅读真题

(7) Passage One

Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.

13

At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration lies one key question:

are immigrants good or bad for the economy? The American public

overwhelmingly thinks they're bad. Yet the consensus among most

economists is that immigration, both legal and illegal, provides a small

net boost to the economy. Immigrants provide cheap labor, lower the

prices of everything from farm produce to new homes, and leave

consumers with a little more money in their pockets. So why is there

such a discrepancy between the perception of immigrants' impact on the

economy and the reality?

There are a number of familiar theories. Some argue that people are

anxious and feel threatened by an inflow of new workers. Others

highlight the strain that undocumented immigrants place on public

services, like schools, hospitals, and jails. Still others emphasize the

role of race, arguing that foreigners add to the nation's fears and

insecurities. There's some truth to all these explanations, but they aren't

quite sufficient.

To get a better understanding of what's going on, consider the way

immigration's impact is felt. Though its overall effect may be positive,

its costs and benefits are distributed unevenly. David Card, an

economist at UC Berkeley, notes that the ones who profit most directly

from immigrants' low-cost labor are businesses and employers

–

meatpacking plants in Nebraska, for instance, or agricultural businesses

in California. Granted, these producers' savings probably translate into

14

lower prices at the grocery store, but how many consumers make that

mental connection at the checkout counter? As for the drawbacks of

illegal immigration, these, too, are concentrated. Native low-skilled

workers suffer most from the competition of foreign labor. According to

a study by George Borjas, a Harvard economist, immigration reduced

the wages of American high-school dropouts by 9% between

1980-2000.

Among high-skilled, better-educated employees, however, opposition

was strongest in states with both high numbers of immigrants and

relatively generous social services. What worried them most, in other

words, was the

fiscal

(

财政的

)burden of immigration. That conclusion

was reinforced by another finding: that their opposition appeared to

soften when that fiscal burden decreased, as occurred with welfare

reform in the 1990s, which curbed immigrants' access to certain

benefits.

The irony is that for all the overexcited debate, the net effect of

immigration is minimal. Even for those most acutely affected

–

say,

low-skilled workers, or California residents

–

the impact isn't all that

dramatic.

perceptions,

University of Oregon.

the economists calculate the numbers, it ends up being a net positive,

but a small one.

15

(8) Passage Two

Picture a typical MBA lecture theatre twenty years ago. In it the

majority of students will have conformed to the standard model of the

time: male, middle class and Western. Walk into a class today, however,

and you'll get a completely different impression. For a start, you will

now see plenty more women

–

the University of Pennsylvania's

Wharton School, for example, boasts that 40% of its new enrolment is

female. You will also see a wide range of ethnic groups and nationals of

practically every country.

It might be tempting, therefore, to think that the old barriers have been

broken down and equal opportunity achieved. But, increasingly, this

apparent diversity is becoming a mask for a new type of conformity.

Behind the differences in sex, skin tones and mother tongues, there are

common attitudes, expectations and ambitions which risk creating a set

of clones among the business leaders of the future.

Diversity, it seems, has not helped to address fundamental weaknesses

in business leadership. So what can be done to create more effective

managers of the commercial world? According to Valerie Gauthier,

associate dean at HEC Paris, the key lies in the process by which MBA

programmes recruit their students. At the moment candidates are

selected on a fairly narrow set of criteria such as prior academic and

career performance, and analytical and problem solving abilities. This is

16

then coupled to a school's picture of what a diverse class should look

like, with the result that passport, ethnic origin and sex can all become

influencing factors. But schools rarely dig down to find out what really

makes an applicant succeed, to create a class which also contains

diversity of attitude and approach

–

arguably the only diversity that, in a

business context, really matters.

Professor Gauthier believes schools should not just be selecting

candidates from traditional sectors such as banking, consultancy and

industry. They should also be seeking individuals who have

backgrounds in areas such as political science, the creative arts, history

or philosophy, which will allow them to put business decisions into a

wider context.

Indeed, there does seem to be a demand for the more rounded leaders

such diversity might create. A study by Mannaz, a leadership

development company, suggests that, while the bully-boy chief

executive of old may not have been eradicated completely, there is a

definite shift in emphasis towards less tough styles of management

–

at

least in America and Europe. Perhaps most significant, according to

Mannaz, is the increasing interest large companies have in more

collaborative management models, such as those prevalent in

Scandinavia, which seek to integrate the hard and soft aspects of

leadership and encourage delegated responsibility and accountability.

17

2010

年

12

月英语六级阅读真题

(9) Passage One

In the early 20th century, few things were more appealing than the

promise of scientific knowledge. In a world struggling with rapid

industrialization, science and technology seemed to offer solutions

to

almost

every

problem.

Newly

created

state

colleges

and

universities

devoted

themselves

almost

entirely

to

scientific,

technological,

and

engineering

fields.

Many

Americans

came

to

believe

that

scientific

certainty

could

not

only

solve

scientific

problems, but also reform politics, government, and business. Two

world wars and a Great Depression rocked the confidence of many

people that scientific expertise alone could create a prosperous and

ordered

world.

After

World

War

Ⅱ

,

the

academic

world

turned

with new enthusiasm to humanistic studies, which seemed to many

scholars

the

best

way

to

ensure

the

survival

of

democracy.

American

scholars

fanned

out

across

much

of

the

world

—

with

support from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright program, etc.

—

to

promote the teaching of literature and the arts in an effort to make

the case for democratic freedoms.

In

the

America

of

our

own

time,

the

great

educational

challenge

has

become

an

effort

to

strengthen

the

teaching

of

what

is

now

18

known as the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering,

and

math).

There

is

considerable

and

justified

concern

that

the

United States is falling behind much of the rest of the developed

world in these essential disciplines. India, China, Japan, and other

regions seem to be seizing technological leadership.

At

the

same

time,

perhaps

inevitably,

the

humanities

—

while

still

popular

in

elite

colleges

and

universities

—

have

experienced

a

significant

decline.

Humanistic

disciplines

are

seriously

underfunded, not just by the government and the foundations but

by academic institutions themselves. Humanists are usually among

the lowest-paid faculty members at most institutions and are often

lightly

regarded

because

they

do

not

generate

grant

income

and

because

they

provide

no

obvious

credentials

(

资质

)

for

most

nonacademic careers.

Undoubtedly American education should train more scientists and

engineers. Much of the concern among politicians about the state

of American universities today is focused on the absence of “real

world”

education—

which

means

preparation

for

professional

and

scientific

careers.

But

the

idea

that

institutions

or

their

students

must decide between humanities and science is false. Our society

could not survive without scientific and technological knowledge.

But

we

would

be

equally

impoverished

(

贫

困

的

)

without

humanistic

knowledge

as

well.

Science

and

technology

teach

us

19

what we can do. Humanistic thinking helps us understand what we

should do.

It is almost impossible to imagine our society without thinking of

the

extraordinary

achievements

of

scientists

and

engineers

in

building

our

complicated

world.

But

try

to

imagine

our

world

as

well

without

the

remarkable

works

that

have

defined

our

culture

and values. We have always needed, and we still need, both.

(10) Passage Two

Will

there

ever

be

another

Einstein?

This

is

the

undercurrent

of

conversation at Einstein memorial meetings throughout the year. A

new

Einstein

will

emerge,

scientists

say.

But

it

may

take

a

long

time.

After

all,

more

than

200

years

separated

Einstein

from

his

nearest rival, Isaac Newton.

Many physicists say the next Einstein hasn’t been born yet, or is a

baby now. That’s because the quest for a unified theory that would

account for all the forces of nature has pushed current mathematics

to its limits. New math must be created before the problem can be

solved.

But

researchers

say there are

many

other

factors

working against

another Einstein emerging anytime soon.

20

For one thing, physics is a much different field today. In Einstein’s

day, there were only a few thousand physicists worldwide, and the

theoreticians

who

could

intellectually

rival

Einstein

probably

would fit into a streetcar with seats to spare.

Education is different, too. One crucial aspect of Einstein’s training

that

is

overlooked

is

the

years

of

philosophy

he

read

as

a

teenager

—

Kant,

Schopenhauer

and

Spinoza,

among

others.

It

taught him how to think independently and abstractly about space

and

time,

and

it

wasn’t

long

before

he

became

a

philosopher

himself.

“The

independence

created

by

philosophical

insight

is—

in

my

opinion

—

the mark of distinction between a mere artisan (

工匠

) or

specialist and a real seeker after truth,” Einstein wrote in 1944.

And

he

was

an

accomplished

musician.

The

interplay

between

music and math is well known. Einstein would furiously play his

violin as a way to think through a knotty physics problem.

Today,

universities

have

produced

millions

of

physicists.

There

aren’t many jobs in science for them, so they go to Wall Street and

Silicon

Valley

to

apply

their

analytical

skills

to

more

practical

—

and rewarding

—

efforts.

“Maybe

there

is

an

Einstein

out

there

today,”

said

Columbia

21

University physicist Brian Greene, “but it would be a lot harder for

him to be heard.”

Especially considering what Einstein was proposing.

“The

actual

fabric

of

space

a

nd

time

curving?

My

God,

what

an

idea!” Greene said at a recent gathering at the Aspen Institute. “It

takes a certain type of person who will bang his head against the

wall because you believe you’ll find the solution.”

Perhaps

the

best

examples

are

the

five

scientific

papers

Einstein

wrote in his “miracle year” of 1905. These “thought experiments”

were pages of calculations signed and submitted to the prestigious

journal Annalen der Physik by a virtual unknown. There were no

footnotes or citations.

What might happen to such a submission today?

“We

all

get

papers

like

those

in

the

mail,”

Greene

said.

“We

put

them in the junk file.”

2010

年

6

月英语六级阅读真题

(11) Passage One

Only two countries in the advanced world provide no guarantee for

paid leave from work to care for a newborn child. Last spring one of the

two,

Australia,

gave

up

the

dubious

distinction

by

establishing

paid

22

family leave starting in 2011. I wasn't surprised when this didn't make

the news here in the United States

—

we're now the only wealthy country

without such a policy.

The United States does have one explicit family policy, the Family

and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993. It entitles workers to as much

as

12

weeks'

unpaid

leave

for

care

of

a

newborn

or

dealing

with

a

family

medical

problem.

Despite

the

modesty

of

the

benefit,

the

Chamber

of

Commerce

and

other

business

groups

fought

it

bitterly,

describing

it

as

personnel

management

and

a

precedent

In

fact,

every

step

of

the

way,

as

(usually)

Democratic

leaders

have

tried

to

introduce

work-family

balance

measures into the law, business groups have been strongly opposed.

As

Yale

law

professor

Anne

Alstott

argues,

justifying

parental

support depends on defining the family as a social good that, in some

sense,

society

must

pay

for.

In

her

book

No

Exit:

What

Parents

Owe

Their Children and What Society Owes Parents, she argues that parents

are

burdened

in

many

ways

in

their

lives:

there

is

exit

when

it

comes

to

children.

expects

—

and

needs

—

parents

to

provide

their

children

with

continuity

of

care,

meaning

the

intensive,

intimate

care that human beings need to develop their intellectual, emotional and

moral capabilities. And society expects

—

and needs

—

parents to persist

in their roles for 18 years, or longer if needed.

While most parents do this out of love, there are public penalties

for

not

providing

care.

What

parents

do,

in

other

words,

is

of

deep

23

concern

to

the

state,

for

the

obvious

reason

that

caring

for

children

is

not only morally urgent but essential for the future of society. The state

recognizes

this

in

the

large

body

of

family

laws

that

govern

children'

welfare,

yet

parents

receive

little

help

in

meeting

the

life- changing

obligations society imposes. To classify parenting as a personal choice

for which there is no collective responsibility is not merely to ignore the

social

benefits

of

good

parenting;

really,

it

is

to

steal

those

benefits

because

they

accrue

(

不断积累

)

to

the

whole

of

society

as

today's

children

become

tomorrow's

productive

citizenry

(

公民

).

In

fact,

by

some

estimates,

the

value

of

parental

investments

in

children,

investments

of

time

and

money

(including

lost

wages),

is

equal

to

20-30% of gross domestic product. If these investments generate huge

social

benefits

—

as

they

clearly

do

—

the

benefits

of

providing

more

social support for the family should be that much clearer.

(12) Passage Two

A new study from the Center for Information and Research on

Civic

Learning

and

Engagement

(CIRCLE)

at

Tufts

University

shows

that today's youth vote in larger numbers than previous generations, and

a

2008

study

from

the

Center

for

American

Progress

adds

that

increasing

numbers

of

young

voters

and

activists

support

traditionally

liberal causes. But there's no easy way to see what those figures mean in

real life. During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama assembled a

racially

and

ideologically

diverse

coalition

with

his

message

of

hope

24

and change; as the reality of life under a new administration settles in,

some

of

those

supporters

might

become

disillusioned.

As

the

nation

moves

further

into

the

Obama

presidency,

will

politically

engaged

young people continue to support the president and his agenda, or will

they gradually drift away?

The writers of Generation O (short for Obama), a new Newsweek

blog

that

seeks

to

chronicle

the

lives

of

a

group

of

young

Obama

supporters,

want

to

answer

that

question.

For

the

next

three

months,

Michelle

Kremer

and

11

other

Obama

supporters,

ages

19

to

34,

will

blog about life across mainstream America, with one twist: by tying all

of

their

ideas

and

experiences

to

the

new

president

and

his

administration, the bloggers will try to start a conversation about what it

means

to

be

young

and

politically

active

in

America

today.

Malena

Amusa, a 24-year-old writer and dancer from St. Louis sees the project

as a way to preserve history as it happens. Amusa, who is traveling to

India this spring to finish a book, then to Senegal to teach English, has

ongoing

conversations

with

her

friends

about

how

the

Obama

presidency has changed their daily lives and hopes to put some of those

ideas,

along

with

her

global

perspective,

into

her

posts.

She's

excited

because,

as

she

puts

it,

don't

have

to

wait

[until]

15

years

from

now

Henry Flores, a political-science professor at St. Mary's University,

credits

this

younger

generation's

political

strength

to

their

embrace

of

technology.

Internet]

exposes

them

to

more

thinking,

he

says,

25