President Coolidge’s statement, “The business of America is business,” still points to an important truth today — that business institutions have more prestige (威望) in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government. Why do business institutions possess this great prestige?
One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the ideal of competition than other institutions in society. Since competition is seen as the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans, competitive business institutions are respected. Competition is not only good in itself, it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected.
Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly (壟斷) of power. In contrast to one all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for profits. Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to competing business which treats its customers more fairly. Where many businesses compete for the customers’ dollar, they cannot afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves.
A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it is more supportive of freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people and business leaders are not. Many Americans believe, then, that competition is as important, or even more important, than democracy in preserving freedom.
Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity. Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his or her social class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the American alternative to social rank based on family background. Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity rather than the aristocratic (貴族的) idea of inherited privilege.
1. The statement “The business of America is business” probably means______.
A. America is a great power in world business
B. Business is of primary concern to Americans
C. The business institutions in America are concerned with commerce
D. Business problems are of great importance to the American government
2. Americans believe that they can realize their personal values only ______.
A. by protecting their individual freedom                        
B. when given equality of opportunity
C. by way of competition                                               
D. through doing business
3. Who can benefit from business competition?
A. People with ideals of equality and freedom.   
B. Both business institutions and government.
C. Honest businessmen.                             
D. Both businessmen and their customers.
4. Government is believed to differ strikingly from business in that government is characterized by ______.
A. its role in protecting basic American values                  
B. its absolute control of power
C. its democratic way of exercising leadership
D. its function in preserving personal freedom
5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes ______.
A. in many countries success often depends on one’s social status
B. businesses in other countries are not as competitive as those in America
C. American businesses are more democratic than those in other countries
D. Americans are more ambitious than people in other countries

小題1:B
小題2:C
小題3:D
小題4:B
小題5:A
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：完形填空


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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：完形填空

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閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從36—55各題所給的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項。
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                                     A
TUTORING,
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                                      B
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                                       E
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第二節(jié)：信息匹配（共5小題；每小題2分，滿分10分）
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A
Dear Sir/Madame:
I suppose robots could be used as dust people during night time, as they don’t need to sleep and they are comparatively safe in polluted environment. …
B
Dear Sir/Madame:
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C
Dear Sir/Madame:
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D
Dear Sir/Madame:
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E
Dear Sir/Madame:
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F
Dear Sir/Madame:
I suppose robots could be used as car assembly workers, in parts of a car building line. Assembly (裝配) lines make the process move faster, get more work done and cost less.  But the job is so mechanical and boring.
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Josh is an administrator of the National Spaceflight Bureau, which is short of qualified pilots at the moment.
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答卷人                      在調(diào)查問卷中的作答
56. Jaime                          
A．Skyscraper builders
57. Bradley		B．Sea rescuing workers
58.Carrie		C．Dust people
59.Josh		D．Chemical researchers
60.Alan                             E. Astronauts
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