《当代美国》P1-P51重点.doc

英语复习 罗斯福新政水门丑闻对美国人影响里根为什么能被选为第40届总统克林顿在政期间对同性恋事件为什么不问不说新边疆政策西进运动对美国的影响 What is the “frontier thesis”put forth by historian Frederick Jackson about?历史学家弗雷德里克·杰克逊提出的“前沿”是什么呢？ In 1893, historian Frederick Jackson Turner put forth his “frontier thesis” that the experience of isolation and the availability of free land had shaped American democracy and institutions. Turner inscribed the frontier as the crucible where the American traits of individualism and acquisitiveness originated and he described the central place frontiers occupy in the American imagination. The rhetoric of the frontier continues in contemporary America as leaders speak of foreign policy or business challenges as new frontiers to be explored, conquered, and made safe. 1893年,历史学家弗雷德里克·杰克逊·特纳提出了他的包含孤立的经验和可供使用的自由土地的”边界理论”已经塑造了美国民主和机构。特纳将边界镌刻成了一种带有着美国人个人主义和利益欲望起源特征的严酷的考验,同时他描述的中心位置的边界占据了美国人的想象力。在当代美国的领导人在谈及外交政策或是商业挑战时说的外交政策或业务挑战之时,边界理论的夸大其词的修辞仍旧作为探索、征服和保证新领域安全被继续使用。 Why did writer Mark Twain call the period The Gilded age? 为什么作家马克·吐温说此时期是镀金时代？ The first transcontinental railroad connecting San Francisco with New York City was completed in 1869. By 1900, the United States had 258,000 miles of track, one-third of all the railroad mileage in the world. Railroad companies merged with investment banking firms and large corporate law firms to help create modern managerial capitalism. John D. Rockefeller’s oil company and Andrew Carnegie’s steel factories led the way by integrating production processes to control all aspects of the production of a single product(vertical integration)or to gain a monopoly over a single step in production(horizontal integration). In fact, developments sped along so fast that the industrialists and bankers, who saw themselves as “industrial statesmen,” seemed to be “robber barons” to the general public. Writer Mark Twain called the period The Gilded Age because the rise of huge industry, big cities, and commerce looked golden; but to scratch off the gold revealed only the ugline