六级标准阅21-30.doc

第21篇(Unit?6,Passage?1) The?Reader’s?digest?investigation?asked?Americans?which?was?the?biggest?threat?to?the?nation’s?future—big?business,?big?labor?or?big?government.?A?whopping?67?percent?replied?“?big?government” Opinion?researchers?rarely?see?such?a?vast?change?in?public?attitude.?When?put?in?historical?perspective,?from?the?time?of?Franklin?Roosevelt’s?New?Deal?to?the?present,?the?fallen?status?of?government?as?a?protector?and?benefactor?is?extraordinary.?We’ve?returned?to?the?instinctive?American?wariness?of?Washington?so?common?before?the?Great?Depression. In?our?poll,?taken?before?the?November?elections,?the?overwhelming?majority?of?our?respondents?wanted?to?stop?or?roll?back?the?impact?of?government.?In?answer?to?another?question?posed?by?The?Digest,?79?percent?said?they?wanted?either?no?more?than?the?current?level?of?government?services?and?taxes,?or?less?government?and?lower?taxes.“It?seems?to?me?that?we?in?the?middle?class?bear?most?of?the?burden,”?says?Jone?Nell?Norman,?61,?a?nurse?in?Dyersburg,?Tenn.,?who?often?wonders?about?the?government’s?judgement?in?spending?her?money. Of?Americans?in?our?sample,?62?percent?believe?that?politician’s?ethics?and?honesty?have?fallen.?And?what?about?Congress??Is?it?doing?a?good?job??Or?do?members?“?spend?more?time?thinking?about?their?political?futures?than?passing?good?legislation?”?Across?generations,?a?thumping?89?percent?thought?the?latter.?“Congress?always?seems?to?be?screwing?up,”?says?one?young?Xer. However,?Americans?are?satisfied?with?their?own?lives?and?jobs.?Four?of?five?respondents?were?“completely?“?or?“?somewhat?“?satisfied.?The?figures?held?up?across?all?ages?–?including?Xer,?whom?many?pundits?have?claimed?are?pessimistic?about?their?future. Looking?deeper?at?jobs,?we?found?70?percent?of?Americans?believe?they?are?about?where?they?should?be,?given?their?talents?and?effort.?This?is?an?issue?where?age?always?makes?a?difference,?since?older?people,?who?are?more?established?in?their?jobs?tend?to?be?more?sa