Reading 7 Democracy in America
Democracy in America 论美国的民主读书报告
A Book Report on Of Democracy in AmericaOf Democracy in America, written by Alexis de Tocqueville, is a magnificent work for us to understand “the most democratic country”in the world. The book purports to compare France and United States, particularly in the realms of democracy and liberty. In this book, he covers nearly every imaginable aspect of American government, politics, society, and culture. By comparing what he had observed in the United States to what he knew of France Tocqueville was able to show the ways in which liberty and democracy had flourished in America. The book has two V ols. which were written in different times. V ol.1 is divided into two parts. The first part tells us the political system in America, and the second part analyses American democracy on the ground of sociology. V ol.2 contains four parts, and he expounds his political philosophy and political sociology under the background of America. The basic idea of this book is the recognition of the inevitable decline of aristocracy and the development of equality and democracy is unstoppable. Here, I want to focus on seven chapters in the V ol.1.To introduce America, Tocqueville begins with the description of the geographical layout of North America in the first chapter: Physical Configuration of North America. He points out the Mississippi River valley, still a largely uninhabited wilderness, “is the most magnificent habitation ever prepared by God for man.”Native tribes settled in everywhere, but actually they did not possess the land for they are hunters. The area around the Mississippi and in the plains is so well-suited for trade and industry that civilized man was destined to build a society there.In the second chapter, Tocqueville talks the origins of America. The chapter is very important because it provides the origin of this country that is to follow. Immigrants to America have a common language and they shared the common sense of local government. Two branches of colonies in the south and the north explored the continent in different purposes, but English government was pleased because theythink the colonists are potential revolutionaries and the colonies enjoyed the great freedom. The laws on the continent is based on the laws of their motherland and it gradually formed some features as public affairs, individual freedom, trial by jury, etc. and local independence flourished and organized as a republic. Religion spirits and liberty spirits were getting well along with each other.The third chapter is where the author focuses on the social state of the Anglo-Americans. The laws of inheritance in American promoted the advance of equality. The colonies are not equality in wealth, but also equality in education. For the sake of equality, people in America surrender freedom as the consequences of the social state of the Anglo-Americans.The fourth chapter focuses on the principle of sovereignty of the people in America. This principle dominates the whole society of American, and Americans have already take possession of the principle before their revolution. As a result of the revolution, it develops the principle of sovereignty. V oting qualifications were progressively eradicated. In America, the people really do rule.In chapter 5, Tocqueville thinks we need to study what happens in the states before discussing the government of the union. Political and administrative activities in each state are fasten to three centers of powers----township, county and state. The township is rooted in nature and in man’s natural sociability. In The American system of Townships, the author talks about townships exist in every nation and it is difficult to maintain and keep the local freedom. He also talks about the significance of keeping the freedom of township freedom and why he chooses the towns in New England as the priority to study. The township is the place where the people most directly exercise power to rule. Selectmen generally act on already established principles agreed upon by majority. To change anything the need summon all the voters by calling a town meeting. The life in the township is based on the principles of sovereignty and equality of the people. The spirit of the township is that citizens are devoted to make contribution to their town, and they are unwilling generally to work for matters that do not affect their private interest. Few are willing to try for high government offices which are hard to get and which are out of direct sphere ofpersonal interests. In “Administration in New England”, Tocqueville points out that the administration is almost invisible in America. Through the division of power, authority is kept in check without diminishing its effectiveness which Europeans cannot understand. He notices that further from New England power of the township is diminished and power of the county is increased. He summarizes his description municipal government by saying: “Election of administrative officers, irrevocability from office, absence of administrative hierarchy, and the use of judicial weapons to control secondary authorities are the chief characteristics of American administration from Maine to the Floridas". Tocqueville speaks only briefly on the states of America because most constitutional governments have used the same items to ruling their own countries. He then tells us the legislative power and executive power of the state and political effects of administrative decentralization in the United States.In chapter 6, the author introduces the judicial power in the United States to us. he summarizes three characteristics and how Americans transferred judicial power into strong political power. Then he answers what is the difference between American judiciary and other countries’, why the judges are able to declared the law unconstitutional and how they use this right. The measures to prevent judges from abusing the right also mentioned in this chapter.Tocqueville holds his opinion on the political jurisdiction in the United States in chapter 7. the political courts in America only have the power to remove form office, not to punish under criminal law for the aim of political jurisdiction in America is to take power form those who abuse it. And political jurisdiction is the measure the government uses often. Though it is mild, and because of that, it becomes the most powerful weapon in governor’s hands.Memorable sentences1. It is evident to all alike that a great democratic revolution is going on amongst us; but there are two opinions as to its nature and consequences. To some it appears to be a novel accident, which as such may still be checked; to others it seems irresistible, because it is the most uniform, the most ancient, and the most permanent tendency which is to be found in history.2. The different relations of men became more complicated and more numerous as society gradually became more stable and more civilized.3. From the time when the exercise of the intellect became the source of strength and of wealth, it is impossible not to consider every addition to science, every fresh truth, and every new idea as a germ of power placed within the reach of the people.4. The whole book which is here offered to the public has been written under the impression of a kind of religious dread produced in the author's mind by the contemplation of so irresistible a revolution, which has advanced for centuries in spite of such amazing obstacles, and which is still proceeding in the midst of the ruins it has made.5. I admit that, in a democratic State thus constituted, society will not be stationary; but the impulses of the social body may be regulated and directed forwards; if there be less splendor than in the halls of an aristocracy, the contrast of misery will be less frequent also; the pleasures of enjoyment may be less excessive, but those of comfort will be more general; the sciences may be less perfectly cultivated, but ignorance will be less common; the impetuosity of the feelings will be repressed, and the habits of the nation softened; there will be more vices and fewer crimes.6. North America presents in its external form certain general features which it is easy to discriminate at the first glance.7. Sometimes, quietly gliding along the argillaceous bed which nature has assigned to it, sometimes swollen by storms, the Mississippi waters 2,500 miles in its course.8. If, in polished countries, the lowest of the people are rude and uncivil, it is notmerely because they are poor and ignorant, but that, being so, they are in daily contact with rich and enlightened men.9. In that land the great experiment was to be made, by civilized man, of the attempt to construct society upon a new basis; and it was there, for the first time, that theories hitherto unknown, or deemed impracticable, were to exhibit a spectacle for which the world had not been prepared by the history of the past.10. When the equal partition of property is established by law, the intimate connection is destroyed between family feeling and the preservation of the paternal estate; the property ceases to represent the family; for as it must inevitably be divided after one or two generations, it has evidently a constant tendency to diminish, and must in the end be completely dispersed.11. The sons of the great landed proprietor, if they are few in number, or if fortune befriends them, may indeed entertain the hope of being as wealthy as their father, but not that of possessing the same property as he did; the riches must necessarily be composed of elements different from his.12. What is called family pride is often founded upon an illusion of self-love. A man wishes to perpetuate and immortalize himself, as it were, in his great-grandchildren.13. It is impossible to believe that equality will not eventually find its way into the political world as it does everywhere else.14. From the same social position, then, nations may derive one or the other of two great political results; these results are extremely different from each other, but they may both proceed from the same cause.15. These two tendencies, apparently so discrepant, are far from conflicting; they advance together, and mutually support each other.16. I do not mean that there is any deficiency of wealthy individuals in the United States; I know of no country, indeed, where the love of money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men, and where the profounder contempt is expressed for the theory of the permanent equality of property.17. This picture, which may perhaps be thought to be overcharged, still gives a very imperfect idea of what is taking place in the new States of the West and South-west18. In America the principle of the sovereignty of the people is not either barrenor concealed, as it is with some other nations; it is recognized by the customs and proclaimed by the laws; it spreads freely, and arrives without impediment at its most remote consequences.19. When a nation modifies the elective qualification, it may easily be foreseen that sooner or later that qualification will be entirely abolished.20. The great political principles which govern American society at this day undoubtedly took their origin and their growth in the State. It is therefore necessary to become acquainted with the State in order to possess a clue to the remainder.21. A nation is always able to establish great political assemblies, because it habitually contains a certain number of individuals fitted by their talents, if not by their habits, for the direction of affairs.22. A highly civilized community spurns the attempts of a local independence, is disgusted at its numerous blunders, and is apt to despair of success before the experiment is completed.Its sphere is indeed small and limited, but within that sphere its action is unrestrained; and its independence gives to it a real importance which its extent and population may not always ensure.23. The State and the townships possess all the power requisite to conduct public business. The budget of the county is drawn up by its officers, and is voted by the legislature, but there is no assembly which directly or indirectly represents the county.24. Nothing is more striking to an European traveller in the United States than the absence of what we term the Government, or the Administration.25. The revolution of the United States was the result of a mature and dignified taste for freedom, and not of a vague or ill-defined craving for independence.26. It was never assumed in the United States that the citizen of a free country has a right to do whatever he pleases; on the contrary, social obligations were there imposed upon him more various than anywhere else.27. The first difficulty is to procure the obedience of an authority as entirely independent of the general laws of the State as the township is.28. We have seen that in Massachusetts the mainspring of public administration lies in the township. It forms the common centre of the interests and affections ofthe citizens.29. The absence of a central government will not, then, as has often been asserted, prove the destruction of the republics of the New World; far from supposing that the American governments are not sufficiently centralized, I shall prove hereafter that they are too much so.30. The system of local administration produces several different effects in America. The Americans seem to me to have outstepped the limits of sound policy in isolating the administration of the Government; for order, even in second-rate affairs, is a matter of national importance.31. The Americans have retained all the ordinary characteristics of judicial authority, and have carefully restricted its action to the ordinary circle of its functions.32. In the United States the constitution governs the legislator as much as the private citizen; as it is the first of laws it cannot be modified by a law, and it is therefore just that the tribunals should obey the constitution in preference to any law.。
American democracy
American democracyPowering downVoters have chosen change, but America’s political system makes that far too hardNov 8th 2014 | WASHINGTON, DC | From the print editionFOR anyone interested in how a free society governs itself there is nothing quite as spectacular as an American election. The country has just spent nearly $4 billion on a fierce contest that has changed the balance of power in Congress (see article). Add to this the races for governors, statehouses, attorneys general, judges and so on—well over 10,000 offices in total—and it seems that America’s democracy is in fine fettle.Furthermore, optimists believe the mid-term elections will usher in a period of compromise: Republicans, having captured the Senate and increased their majority in the House, will want to prove that they can govern; Barack Obama will have little choice but to work with them. Polls show that, in general, voters increasingly favour politicians who seek consensus over those who do not. Deals on things like trade and tax reform seem possible.The next Congress could hardly accomplish less than its predecessor, which comes to a close in December and is likely to be remembered as one of the least productive in history (see chart 1). It has shut down the government once and flirted with a sovereign default twice. But the low standard by which progress is judged and the limited expectations of even the most cockeyed optimists are signs of deeper trouble in America’s political system. Designed to make legislating difficult, it has recently looked dysfunctional. In a new book, “Political Order and Political Decay”, Francis Fukuyama of Stanford University argues persuasively that America “suffers from the prob lem of political decay in a more acute form than other democratic political systems”, a statement that not long ago would have seemed ludicrous.Sand in the cogsThere is no shortage of explanations for why this might be: the only thing generally agreed upon is that the trouble started at some point between 1787, when the Founding Fathers determined that their new creation would not be pushed around by an overmighty government, and 2010, when the Supreme Court loosened the rules on campaign spending. But two explanations for the sorry state of American politics stand out. The first is that small, increasingly partisan groups wield vetoes over the federal government, blocking it from moving forward or back except in exceptional circumstances, such as economic crisis or war. The second is that much of the federal bureaucracy was created at a point in the middle of the 20th century that was, in political terms, highly unusual. Under more normal conditions it struggles.Begin with the vetoes. For reasons that include the sorting of the electorate into like-minded folks, redistricting and the cultural divide between cities and prairies, only 5% of the House’s 435 districts were truly competitive on November 4th. There were 69 congressional districts where the candidate faced no opponent. This means that the main threat to the jobs of congressmen comes from primary elections, in which fewer than 20% of the electorate vote, about the same proportion who describe themselves as holding consistently conservative or consistently liberalviews. Few congressmen lost to primary challengers in 2014, but results like the defeat of Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, in Virginia’s seventh district remind them that such voters are not wild about anything that smells of compromise with the other side. These voters have the first veto.Getting a bill safely through the House, something that has become harder since Republicans adopted the idea that bills should have the support of a majority of their caucus to pass, is straightforward compared with getting one through the Senate, thanks to the filibuster rule. Since a filibuster requires a bill to gain a 60-vote majority, a group of 41 senators can halt almost any piece of legislation. Even the smallest state has two senators, so those 41 sometimes represent a small chunk of the electorate: Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia has worked out that states that are home to just 11% of Americans can elect the senators needed to block legislation. This potent weapon gives the minority party in the Senate the second veto.Other delaying tactics and procedural quirks enhance the power of small groups, and even individual politicians, to stall congressional action. These were once used sparingly, but the gulf between the parties and their policies has grown so wide that they are now wielded to block minor legislation. The founders feared such a development. “There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties,” wrote John Adams in 1780. “This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our constitution.” In the decades since America’s two great parties were remade by the fight over civil rights in the 1960s, they have steadily become more ideologically consistent. Congressional Republicans and Democrats have withdrawn from each other, to the point where there is now hardly any common ground between them (see chart 2).Voting patterns in Congress suggest that the parties are even further apart now than they were in the mid-1990s, when Republicans tried to impeach Bill Clinton, or the middle of the past decade, when Democrats denounced George W. Bush as a warmonger. Over the past 20 years, the share of Americans who express consistently liberal or consistently conservative opinions has doubled, according to a study by the Pew Research Centre. Most of these people now believe that the other party’s policies “are so misguided that they threaten the nation’s well-being”. The results of the mid-terms, far from repudiating this dynamic, have reflected it. The defeat of John Barrow in Georgia leaves just one white Democratic congressman in the deep South; most of the Senate seats picked up by Republicans were at the expense of moderate Democrats in states that voted for Mitt Romney.This degree of political polarisation is often described as unprecedented, but that is mistaken. The parties were similarly divided at the end of the 19th century, following the civil war. The difference then was that Republicans won most federal elections, so the restraints built into the constitution did not resemble leg-irons, as they do now.When Congress is stuck, presidents often try to get their way by issuing executive orders. Earlier this year Barack Obama announced that 2014 would be “a year of action” during which he would use his pen to get things done if Congress stood in his way. Nine months later, how has thisaction-packed approach to bypassing Congress transformed America? Aside from the designation of a large marine reserve in the Pacific, which costs nothing and offends no one, the president’s biggest solo accomplishment has been to issue an edict raising the pay of minimum-wage employees doing contract work for the federal government. The president can act with more freedom abroad and has done so in Libya, Iraq and Syria; by imposing sanctions on Russia and sending troops to west Africa to help contain the spread of Ebola. At home, though, his power to overcome an obstructionist Congress is limited.For those who favour more limited government, all this might sound like a good thing. But the vetoes that hamper the passage of laws make it just as hard to stop the federal government from doing anything.Birth of the kludgeocracyThe growth of entitlements is a good example. Spending on public pensions (Social Security) and federal health-care programmes (such as Medicare and Medicaid) increases automatically every year with no need for a vote. Without changes this bit of the budget will account for 14% of GDP by 2039, double the average level of the past 40 years, sending public debt to over 100% of GDP. Many countries face similar problems, but in America the preponderance of vetoes makes the mix of spending cuts and revenue increases needed to deal with it impossible. Maintaining some budgetary discipline while entitlement spending grows and revenues do not requires hacking back everything else, from scientific research to road building. Discretionary spending, the kind Congress does vote on every year, has shrunk to just 15% of the budget once military expenditure is taken out. Thus neither Congress nor the White House imposes much meaningful control over most of what the federal government spends each year.The accusation, generally made by conservatives, that the federal bureaucracy is out of control is, in this sense, true. The federal government imagined by the founders was mainly responsible for running post offices, custom houses and giving away land, rather than the regulation of health care or the administration of the National Security Agency. One way to think about the federal bureaucracies now, and to understand their frequent failings, is as a collection of institutions put together when there was a lot of co-operation between parties, trying to function when there is very little. The New Deal and Great Society programmes of the mid-20th century were created by legislators with shared memories of two big national traumas, the Depression and the second world war, when party divisions were blurred. Lyndon Johnson may have been extremely cunning, but the kind of dealmaking he was able to practise was the product of a moment that, in political terms, was an anomaly compared with what went before or came after.These mid-century institutions have subsequently been asked to run a plethora of new programmes, each layered on top of the next because Congress finds it so hard to undo legislation. The House budget committee reckons there are at least 92 separate federal anti-poverty programmes, which overlap in ways that are baffling. This patchwork approach to problem solving leads to what Steven Teles of Johns Hopkins University cal ls “kludgeocracy”. Mr Teles compares the government’s veto points to toll booths, with the toll-takers extracting promises of pork-barrel spending and the protection of favoured programmes in exchange forpassage. Needing the approval of so many, often ideologically opposed actors makes it almost impossible to craft coherent policy. Inaction is often the result, but also the creation over time of confusing systems for education, health care, taxes, welfare, etc.This complexity obscures the beneficiaries of federal policies—businesses, for example, gain more from abstruse regulations that favour them than from more obvious hand-outs—and makes it difficult for voters to pinpoint who is to blame for failures. The anger directed at the system is therefore diffuse, says Mr Teles, leading to a broad loss of trust in the public sector. From inside the machine that lack of trust feels oppressive. Each year the federal government’s employees are asked for their opinion on the agencies where they work. Only 56% say they are encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things; 36% report that creativity and innovation are rewarded where they work. The Pentagon, which has to produce more than one report a day for Congress, is frequently forced to buy kit it does not want and keep bases open that it would rather close. The urge to bind the bureaucracies, born of frustration at their inefficiency and waste, often makes them even worse.Wasting time, tooFaced with a malfunctioning government, voters have concluded that the politicians in Washington are scoundrels. Trust in Congress has tumbled to 7%. This is unfair: compared with past occupants of Capitol Hill the current lot are strikingly uncorrupt and hardworking. But much of their effort is aimed at raising money for their next campaign, which for House members is just two years away. A presentation to incoming freshmen in 2012 by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recommended that they spend four hours each day making fundraising calls. Republicans in tight House races this year were given similar instructions. There is a lot of misplaced anxiety about the corrosive effect of fundraising on politics—sacks of cash are rarely traded for votes; donors and their political beneficiaries tend already to be aligned—but what is unarguable is that the amount of time it takes up prevents congressmen from doing their jobs properly.The shortage of time further increases politicians’ reliance on lobbyists, who thrive in part because congressmen are usually too pressed to think for themselves. In a city marked by a deep partisan divide, the one place in Washington where political foes will happily work together is in the city’s lobbying firms, many of which employ a senior Democrat and a senior Republican to maintain ties with both sides.Even when government is stuck, lobbyists are able to prosper by heading off threats to incumbent firms. Comcast, the biggest provider of cable TV and broadband internet services, which is in talks to buy another media firm, Time Warner, employs 126 different lobbyists, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics, a watchdog. All but a handful of these people are former congressmen, congressional staffers or members of the executive branch. Lobbyists in turn donate to or organise donations for congressmen. Mr Fukuyama likens this reciprocal gift-giving to the kind of patrimonial politics seen in 18th-century France. No lobbyists are to be guillotined for their part in it, but there is something rococo about the business. A few months after the Treasury announced sanctions against Russian banks in July, Gazprombank hired twoformer senators, one from each party, to represent it in Washington.One of the best things about democracies is that voters in each one seem to believe that their system is uniquely flawed. This is a helpful sort of paranoia, which usually prevents bad things from happening. America’s federal institutions have shown an ability to correct themselves before. The partisan warfare of the 1890s turned out to be a prelude to a triumphant century. This may take a long time, though, and there are no signs of it beginning yet. America has so many things working in its favour—new sources of energy, a tolerant society, the world’s most innovative companies—that progress will not be halted by the federal government. Yet no country can hand a fifth of its economy over to an authority that works only intermittently and not expect to suffer for it.。
考研英语阅读英文原刊《经济学人》：美国中期选举
考研英语阅读英文原刊《经济学人》：美国中期选举America's mid-term elections美国中期选举The silent centre沉寂的中间地带If moderates don't vote next week, extremists willthrive如果中立人士于下周不进行选举，极端主义者将会茁壮发展ALL political campaigns involve a certain amount oflooking voters straight in the eye and lying to them. But America's mid-term electioncampaign has involved more flim-flam than most. The Republicans, if you believe Democraticattack ads, oppose equal pay for women, want to ban contraception and just love it when bigcorporations ship American jobs overseas. The Democrats, according to Republicans, havestood idly by as Islamic State terrorists—possibly carrying Ebola—prepare to cross the southernborder. And they, too, are delighted to see American jobs shipped overseas.所有的政治活动都包含了一定数量的撒谎现象，但是美国中期的选举活动已经包含了比大多情况下更多的欺骗。
如果你相信民主党发出的具有攻击性的广告所说的:共和党们反对妇女同工同酬，想要废止避孕法，并且大企业将美国的工作机会扩展到海外。
个人主义与集体主义的不同
Differences
• Individualism takes the interests of every individual as the most important. It stresses that everyone was born equal and has its unique value. • Collectivism puts its emphasis on the strength of the collective. It holds that the interests of every individual depends on that of the collective.
Part B: Individualism VS Collectivism
Hale Waihona Puke Definition of Individualism and Collectivism
• Individualism : Individualism refers to the doctrine （教条，教义，声明） that the rights of the individual are the most important ones in a society . • Collectivism : Collectivism is a term used to describe any moral , political , or social outlook , that stresses human interdependence and the importance of a collective , rather than the importance of separate individuals
米歇尔奥巴马在美国民主党全国代表大会上的演讲词(中英文)(1)
非常感谢，伊莲我们非常感谢来自你家庭的服务和牺牲，我们永远支持你。
过去的几年来，借由作为第一夫人的非凡殊荣，我几乎游遍了整个美国。
而无论我去到哪里，从我所见到的人们，所听到的故事中，我都看到了最真切的美国精神。
在人们对我和我的家庭，特别是我的女儿们那难以置信的友善和热情中，我看到了它。
在一个濒临破产的学区的教师们不收分文、坚持执教的誓言中，我看到了它。
在人们在突如其来的紧急召唤下化身英雄，纵身扑向灾害去拯救他人飞过整个国家去扑灭大火驱车数小时去援助被淹没的城镇时，我看到了它。
在我们身着军装的男女军人和自豪的军属身上在受伤的战士们告诉我他们不仅会再次站立行走，而是会奔跑，甚至参加马拉松时在一位于阿富汗因炸弹而失明的年轻人“为了我所做的和我还将要做的，我宁愿失去我的眼睛一百次。
”这样轻描淡写的话语中，我看到了它。
每一天，我所见到的人们都鼓舞着我每一天，他们都令我骄傲每一天，他们都在提醒我，能够生活在这地球上最伟大的国度中是多么的幸福。
成为诸位的第一夫人，是我的荣耀和幸运但当我们四年前首次聚在一起的时候，我仍对我们即将展开的旅程心怀疑虑。
对我丈夫心中的祖国愿景，我满怀信心对他将成为一位出色的总统，我也深信不疑但是就像所有的母亲一样，我也曾担心如果他当选，这对我们的女儿们意味着什么。
身处万众瞩目的聚光灯下，我们要如何让他们保持脚踏实地？当他们被迫离开从小熟悉的家、学校、和朋友时，会有什么感受？在搬到华盛顿之前，我们的生活充满简单的快乐周六参加足球赛，周日则在祖母家还有巴拉克和我的约会之夜，我们要么出去晚餐，要么去看场电影，因为作为一个筋疲力尽的老妈，我实在没法同时去晚餐和电影还不打瞌睡。
说真话，我爱我们为女儿们所创造的生活我深爱和我一起创造这生活的男人而且我不愿意让这一切因为他当了总统而发生变化。
我爱的就是巴拉克原来的样子。
你们瞧，即便当时巴拉克已经是一名参议员兼总统候选人了对我而言，他仍是那个开着辆锈迹斑斑的破车来接我去约会的男子，我几乎都能透过乘客这侧车门上的破洞看到飞逝而过的路面他仍是那个把一张从垃圾箱里翻出来的咖啡桌当做自己最了不起的财产的男子，那个仅有的一双体面的鞋子比自己的脚还小了半号的男子。
Unit 7 The American Dream
Unit 7 The American Dream
Lisa
Lead-in
• Quotation: • If you love him, send him to New York f or it’s heaven. If you hate him, send him to New York for it’s hell！ • 如果你爱他，就送他去纽约，因为那里是 天堂。如果你很他，也送他去纽约，因为 那里是地狱。
• The fear of death obsessed her throughout her old age.
• be obsessing about/over sth/sb informal to think about something or someone much more than is necessary or sensible • e.g.: Stop obsessing about your hair. It's fine.
Questions for discussion
• 1. What special duty does an immigrant to America have to take? • 2. What social status of immigrants is implied in paragraph 1 and 2?
Intensive Reading
1.
•
• •
“America,” in contrast, exists as a myth of democracy and equal op portunity to live by, or as an ideal goal to reach. Myth: 1) an idea or story that many people believe, but which is not true = fallacy myth of e.g.: the myth of male superiority explode/dispel a myth (=show that it is not true) e.g.: It was important to dispel the myth that Aids was a gay disease. 2) an ancient story, especially one invented in order to explain natur al or historical events myth of e.g.: the Creation myth 创世的神话 ancient Greek myths 古希腊神话.
西方经典书目汇总
西方经典：伦理学：1．《尼各马可伦理学（The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle）》作者：亚里士多德(Aristotle)分类号：2．《道德情操论（The Theory of Moral Sentiments）》作者：亚当·斯密（Adam Smith）分类号：B82-02/S6423．《论人类不平等的起源和基础（A Discourse on Inequality）》作者：卢梭（）分类号：D081/R8644．《实践理性批判（Critique of Practical Reason）》作者：康德（Kant）分类号：K16 5．《道德形而上学基础（Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals）》作者：康德（Kant）分类号：K166．《功利主义（Utilitarianism）》作者：穆勒（Mill）分类号：D081/R8647．《伦理学原理（Principia Ethica）》作者：摩尔（）分类号：M8228．《正义论（A Theory of Justice）》作者：罗尔斯（John Rawls）分类号：9．《无政府、国家与乌托邦（Anarchy, State and Utopia）》作者：诺齐克（Robert Nozick）分类号：B82-069/N96110．《追寻美德（After Virtue）》作者：麦金太尔（Alasdair MacIntyre）哲学：1．《理想国（Republic）》作者：柏拉图（Plato）分类号：P7182．《形而上学（Metaphysics）》作者：亚里士多德 (Aristotle)分类号：A7163．《诗学（On the Art of Poetry）》作者：亚里士多德 (Aristotle)分类号：A716 4．《诗艺（On the Art of Poetry）》作者：贺拉斯（Horace）分类号：A7165．《论崇高（On the Sublime Longinus）》作者：朗吉奴斯（Longinus）分类号：A716 6．《第一哲学沉思录（Meditations on First Philosophy）》作者：笛卡尔（Rene Descartes）分类号：D4457．《思想录（Pascal’s Penssees）》作者：帕斯卡尔（Blaise Pascal）分类号： D445 8．《人性论（A Treatise of Human Nature）》作者：休谟（David Hume）分类号：H921 9．《纯粹理性批判（Critique of Pure Reason）》作者：康德（Kant）分类号：K16 10．《判断力批判（Critique of Judgment）》作者：康德（Kant）分类号：K1611．《精神现象学（The Phenomenology of Mind）》, 作者：黑格尔（Hegel）分类号：H462 12．《小逻辑（The Logic of Hegel）》作者：黑格尔（Hegel）分类号：H46213．《作为意志和表象的世界（The World as Will and Representation）》, 作者：叔本华（Schopenhauer）分类号：S37314．《查拉图斯特拉如是说（Thus Spake Zarathustra）》作者：尼采（Friedrich Nietzsche）分类号：N67715．《非此即彼（Either/Or）》, 作者：克尔凯郭尔（Kierkegaard）分类号：B534/K47 16．《普通语言学教程（Course in General Linguistics）》作者：索绪尔（ Saussure）分类号：H0/S25517．《纯粹现象学导论（Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology）》作者：胡塞尔（Edmund Husserl）分类号：H97218．《逻辑哲学论（Tractatus Logico Philosophicus）》作者：维特根斯坦（）分类号：B521/W83119．《哲学研究（Philosophical Investigations）》作者：维特根斯坦（）分类号：B521/W831 20．《存在与时间（Being and Time）》作者：海德格尔（Martin Heidegger）分类号：H46521．《诗·语言·思（Poetry, Language, Thought）》作者：海德格尔（Martin Heidegger）分类号：H46522．《存在与虚无（Being and Nothingness）》作者：萨特（Jean-Paul Sartre）分类号：S24923．《真理与方法（Truth and Method）》作者：伽达默尔（Hans-Georg Gadamer）分类号：G12324．《科学革命的结构（The Structure of Scientific Revolutions）》作者：库恩（）分类号：K9625．《性经验史（The History of Sexuality）》作者：福柯（）分类号：K96宗教学：1．《忏悔录（Confessions）》作者：圣·奥古斯丁（）分类号：《托马斯·阿奎那要籍选（Basic Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas）》, 作者：阿奎那（ Aquinas）分类号：A6473．《迷途指津（The Guide for the Perplexed）》作者：马蒙尼德（Maimonides）分类号：B985/M2234．《路德基本着作选（Basic Theological Writings）》作者：马丁·路德（Martin Luther）分类号：L9735．《论宗教（On Religion）》作者：施莱尔马赫（）分类号：B972/S3416．《我与你（I and Thou）》作者：马丁·布伯（Martin Buber）分类号：B972/S341 7．《人的本性及其命运（The Nature and Destiny of Man）》作者：尼布尔（）分类号：B972/N6658．《神圣者的观念（The Idea of the Holy）》作者：奥托（Rudolf Otto）分类号：B972/O89 9．《存在的勇气（The Courage to Be）》作者：梯利希（Paul Tillich）分类号：B972/O89 10．《教会教义学（Church Dogmatics）》作者：卡尔·巴特（Karl Barth）分类号：B921/B284政治学：1．《政治学（The Politics of Aristotle）》作者：亚里士多德 (Aristotle)分类号：A7162．《君主论（The Prince）》作者：马基雅维里（Niccolo Machiavelli）分类号：D033/M149 3．《社会契约论（The Social Contract）》作者：卢梭（）分类号：D033/M1494．《利维坦（Leviathan）》作者：霍布斯（Thomas Hobbes）分类号：D033/H682 5．《政府论（Two Treatises of Government）作者：洛克（John Locke）分类号：L814 6．《论法的精神（The Spirit of the Laws）》, 作者：孟德斯鸠（Montesquieu）分类号：M7797．《论美国民主（Democracy in America）》, 作者：托克维尔（Alexis de Tocqueville）分类号：T6328．《代议制政府（Considerations on RepresentativeGovernment）》作者：穆勒（Mill）分类号：D033/M6459．《联邦党人文集（The Federalist Papers）》作者：汉密尔顿（Alexander Hamilton）分类号：H21710．《自由秩序原理（The Constitution of Liberty）》作者：哈耶克（）分类号：D089/H417经济学：1．《国民财富的性质和原因的研究（An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations）》, 作者：亚当·斯密（Adam Smith）分类号：S6422．《经济学原理（Principles of Economics）》, 作者：马歇尔（Alfred Marshall）分类号：M3673．《福利经济学（The Economics of Welfare）》, 作者：庇古（）分类号：P633 4．《就业、利息与货币的一般理论（The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money）》作者：凯恩斯（）分类号：K445．《经济发展理论（The Theory of Economic Development）》作者：熊彼特（Schumpeter）分类号：K446．《人类行为（Human Action: A Treatise on Economics）》, 作者：米塞斯（Mises）分类号：M6787．《经济分析的基础（Foundations of Economic Analysis）》作者：萨缪尔森（Samuelson）分类号：《货币数量理论研究（Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money）》作者：弗里德曼（Friedman）分类号：F8999．《集体选择与社会福利（Collective Choice and Social Welfare）》作者：阿玛蒂亚·森（）分类号：F89910．《资本主义经济制度（The Economic Institutions of Capitalism）》作者：威廉姆森（Williamson）分类号：W729社会学：1．《论自杀（Suicide: A Study in Sociology）》作者：杜克海姆（Emilc Durkheim）分类号：D9472．《新教伦理与资本主义精神（The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism）》作者：韦伯（Max Weber）分类号：B920/W3753．《货币哲学（The Philosophy of Money）》作者：席美尔（Georg Simmel）分类号：C91-03/S5924．《一般社会学论集（A Treatise on General Sociology）》, 作者：帕累托（Vilfredo Pareto）分类号：C91-06/P2275．《意识形态与乌托邦（Ideology and Utopia）》作者：曼海姆（）分类号： M281人类学：1．《金枝（The Golden Bough）》作者：弗雷泽（James ）分类号：B1/F8482．《西太平洋上的航海者（Argonauts of the Western Pacific）》作者：马林诺夫斯基（）分类号：M2153．《原始思维（The Savage Mind）》作者：列维-斯特劳斯（Claude Levi-Strauss）分类号：B80/L6644．《原始社会的结构和功能（Structure and Function in Primitive Society）》作者：拉迪克里夫-布郎（Brown）分类号：B80/L6645．《种族、语言、文化（Race, Language and Culture）》作者：鲍斯（Franz Boas）分类号：C95/B662心理学：1．《心理学原理（The Principles of Psychology）》, 作者：威廉·詹姆士（William James）分类号：B84/J272．《生理心理学原理（Principles of Physiological Psychology）》作者：冯特（）分类号：B845/W9653．《梦的解析（The Interpretation of Dreams）》作者：弗洛伊德（Sigmund Freud）分类号：B84-065/F8894．《儿童智慧的起源（The Origin of Intelligence in the Child）》作者：皮亚杰（Jean Piaget）分类号：P5795．《科学与人类行为（Science and Human behavior）》作者：斯金纳（）分类号：B84-063/S628 6．《原型与集体无意识（The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious）》作者：荣格（）分类号：B84-065/J957．《动机与人格（Motivation and Personality）》作者：马斯洛（）分类号：B84-067/M394法学：1．《古代法（Ancient Law）》作者：梅因（）分类号：M2252．《英国法与文艺复兴（English Law and the Renaissance）》作者：梅特兰（）分类号：M2253．《法理学讲演录（Lectures on Jurisprudence）》, 作者：奥斯丁（）分类号：D90/A936 4．《法律的社会学理论（A Sociological Theory of Law）》作者：卢曼（）分类号：D90-052/L9265．《法律社会学之基本原理（Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law）》作者：埃利希（）分类号：D90-052/E336．《法律、宪法与自由（Law, Legislation and Liberty）》作者：哈耶克（）分类号：7．《纯粹法学理论（Pure Theory of Law）》作者：凯尔森（）分类号：D90/K298．《法律之概念（The Concept of Law）》作者：哈特（）分类号：D90/K299．《法律之帝国（Law’s Empire）》作者：德沃金（）分类号：D90/D98910．《法律的经济学分析（Economic Analysis of Law）》作者：波斯纳（Richard ）分类号：D90-059/P855历史学：1．《历史（The Histories）》作者：希罗多德（Herodotus）分类号：K125/H5592．《伯罗奔尼撒战争史（The Peloponnesian War）》作者：修昔底德（Thucydides）分类号：K125/T5323．《编年史（The Annals of Imperial Rome）》作者：塔西陀（Tacitus）分类号：K126/T118 4．《上帝之城（The City of God）》, 作者：圣·奥古斯丁（）分类号：B972/A923 5．《历史学：理论和实践（History: its Theory and Practice）》作者：克罗齐（BenedettoCroce）分类号：K01/C9376．《历史的观念（The Idea of History）》作者：柯林伍德（）分类号：K01/C937 7．《腓力普二世时代的地中海与地中海世界（The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II）》, 作者：布罗代尔（）分类号：K503/B8258．《历史研究（A Study of History）》, 作者：汤因比（）分类号：K01/T756商业经典书目：In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies《追求卓越》：美国优秀企业的成功秘诀Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies《基业长青》/《公司长寿秘诀》：高瞻远瞩公司长生不老的秘诀Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution《公司再造》/《企业重组》：企业管理革命的宣言Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco《大收购》/《门口的野蛮人》：华尔街股市兼并风潮Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance《竞争优势》：寻找成功的支点The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference《引爆流行》：改变思维的佳作Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Customers《跨越鸿沟》：高科技创新成功之道The House of Morgan《摩根财团》：美国一代银行王朝和现代金融业的崛起The Six Sigma Way《6σ管理法》：追求卓越的阶梯Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change 《强人的七种习性》：让你成为新强人Liar's Poker《说谎者的牌术》/《骗子游戏》：一幅扭曲的罪恶图景The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail《创新者的窘境》：大公司面对突破性技术时引发的失败Japan Inc.《Japan Inc.》：漫画日本经济Den of Thieves《股市大盗》/《贼巢》：华尔街最大内幕交易案始末The Essential Drucker《德鲁克精华》：大师中的大师精华中的精华Competing for the Future《竞争大未来》The Buffett Way: Investment Strategies of the World's Greatest Investor《沃伦?巴菲特之路》/《快餐式投资》：投资之王的理念与策略Jack: Straight from the Gut《杰克?韦尔奇自传》：一部CEO的圣经Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't《从优秀到卓越》：迈向成功的巅峰The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story《新新事物：硅谷的故事》经济学经典书目：第1部《经济表》弗朗斯瓦·魁奈(法国1694—1774)第2部《国富论》亚当·斯密(英国1723—1790)第3部《人口原理》托马斯·罗伯特·马尔萨斯(英国1766—1834)第4部《政治经济学概论》让·巴蒂斯特·萨伊(法国1767—1832)第5部《政治经济学及赋税原理》大卫·李嘉图(英国1772—1823)第6部《政治经济学新原理》西蒙·德·西斯蒙第(法国1773—1842)第7部《政治经济学的国民体系》弗里德利希·李斯特(德国1789—1846)第8部《政治经济学原理》约翰·斯图亚特·穆勒(英国1806—1873)第9部《资本论》卡尔·马克思(德国1818—1883)第10部《政治经济学理论》威廉·斯坦利·杰文斯(英国1835—1882)第11部《国民经济学原理》卡尔·门格尔(奥地利1840—1921)第12部《纯粹政治经济学纲要》里昂·瓦尔拉斯(法国1834—1910)第13部《资本与利息》欧根·冯·庞巴维克(奥地利185l一1914)第14部《经济学原理》阿弗里德·马歇尔(英国1842—1924)第15部《利息与价格》克努特·维克塞尔(瑞典1851—1926)第16部《财富的分配》约翰·贝茨·克拉克(美国1847—1938)第17部《有闲阶级论》托尔斯坦·本德·凡勃伦(美国1857—1929)第18部《经济发展理论》约瑟夫·阿罗斯·熊彼特(奥地利1883—1950)第19部《福利经济学》阿瑟·赛西尔·庇古(英国1877—1959)第20部《不完全竞争经济学》琼·罗宾逊(英国1903—1983)第21部《就业、利息和货币通论》约翰·梅纳德·凯恩斯(英国1883—1946)第22部《价值与资本》约翰·理查德·希克斯(英国1904—1989)第23部《通往奴役之路》哈耶克(奥地利1899—1992)第24部《经济学》保罗·萨缪尔森(美国1915一)第25部《丰裕社会》约翰·肯尼斯·加尔布雷斯(美国1908—)第26部《经济成长的阶段》沃尔特·罗斯托(美国1916—)第27部《人力资本投资》西奥多·威廉·舒尔茨(美国1902—1998)第28部《资本上义与自由》米尔顿·弗里德曼(美国1912—)第29部《经济学》约瑟夫·斯蒂格利茨(美国1943—)第30部《经济学原理》格里高利·曼昆(美国1958—)第31部《商道》谋略经典：第1部《道德经》第2部《鬼谷子》第3部《管子》第4部《论语》第5部《孙子兵法》第6部《荀子》第7部《韩非子》第8部《战国策》第9部《人物志》第10部《贞观政要》第11部《反经》第12部《资治通鉴》第13部《三国演义》第14部《菜根谭》第15部《智囊》第16部《三十六计》第17部《曾国藩家书》第18部《厚黑学》第19部《君主论》第20部《战争论》管理类经典：第1部《科学管理原理》弗雷德里克·温斯洛·泰罗(美国1856—1915) 第2部《社会组织和经济组织理论》马克思·韦伯(德国1864—1920) 第3部《经理人员的职能》切斯特·巴纳德(美国1886—1961) 第4部《工业管理和一般管理》亨利·法约尔(法国1841-1925) 第5部《工业文明的社会问题》埃尔顿·梅奥(美国1880—1949) 第6部《企业中人的方面》道格拉斯·麦格雷戈(美国1906—1964) 第7部《个性与组织》克里斯·阿吉里斯(美国1923—) 第8部《如何选样领导模式》罗伯特·坦南鲍姆(美国1915—2003) 第9部《管理决策新科学》赫伯特·西蒙(美国1916—2001) 第10部《伟大的组织者》欧内斯特·戴尔(美国1914—) 第11部《管理的新模式》伦西斯·利克特(美国1903—1981) 第12部《营销管理》菲利普·科特勒(美国1931—) 第13部《让工作适合管理者》弗雷德·菲德勒(美国1922—) 第14部《组织效能评价标准》斯坦利·E·西肖尔(美国1915—1999) 第15部《再论如何激励员工》弗雷德里克·赫茨伯格(美国1923—2000) 第16部《组织与管理系统方法与权变方法》弗里蒙特·卡斯特(美国1924—) 第17部《经理工作的性质》亨利·明茨伯格(加拿大1939—) 第18部《管理任务、责任、实践》彼得·杜拉克(美国1909—) 第19部《再论管理理论的丛林》哈罗德·孔茨(美国1908—1984) 第20部《杰克·韦尔奇自传》杰克·韦尔奇(美国1935—) 第21部《竞争战略》迈克尔·波特(美国1947—) 第22部《Z理论》威廉·大内(美国1943—) 第23部《转危为安》爱德华兹·戴明(美国1900—1993) 第24部《总经理》约翰·科特(美国1947—) 第25部《追求卓越》托马斯·彼得斯(美国1942—) 第26部《领导者成功谋略》沃伦·本尼斯(美国1925—) 第27部《巨人学舞》罗莎贝丝·摩丝·坎特(美国1943—) 第28部《第五项修炼》彼得·圣吉(美国1947—) 第29部《企业再造》迈克尔·汉默(美国1948—) 第30部《基业长青》詹姆斯·柯林斯(美国1958—) 第31部《杜拉克论管理》第32部《高效能人士的七个习惯》。
Unit 7 The American Dream
Author Background
• A South Asian-American writer • Or • An American Writer? • “I feel very American...I knew the moment I landed as a student in 1961...that this is where I belonged. It was an instant kind of love.”
•
3) Urban myth: a story about an unusual event which happened rec ently that a lot of people believe although it is probably not true
Intensive Reading
Intensive Reading
• 5. One’s identity was fixed, derived from religion, caste, patrimony, and mother tongue. • derive v ~ sth from sth (formal) obtain sth from sth; get sth from sth 得到; 获取 derive pleasure/enjoyment etc • Example: derive great pleasure from one's studies • ~ from sth have sth as a starting-point, source or origin; originate from sth 源自; 源於: • Example: Thousands of English words (are) derive (d) from Latin. • ~ sth from sth trace sth from (a source) 对某事物追本穷源
marktwainmirrorofamerica课文主旨
marktwainmirrorofamerica课文主旨
马克·吐温是美国最受人喜爱的作家之一，他的作品涵盖了多个社会阶层和人物形象，深刻反映了当时美国社会的现实和问题。
在《马克·吐温：美国社会的镜子》这篇课文中，主要探讨了马克·吐温如何通过其作品反映和描绘了美国社会和文化的发展和变化。
马克·吐温的作品具有深刻的讽刺意味和批判精神，他以幽默的笔调和机智的对话表现了当时美国社会的各种弊端和问题。
他描绘了当时社会上的种种不公和罪恶，同时也揭示了人性的弱点和丑陋。
在课文中，通过对马克·吐温作品的介绍和分析，展示了他的作品如何反映了美国社会的历史背景、文化传统、价值观念等方面的变化。
同时，也探讨了马克·吐温如何通过自己的创作实践，推动了美国文学的发展和变革。
总之，这篇课文主要探讨了马克·吐温如何通过其作品成为美国社会的镜子，帮助人们更好地理解和认识美国社会的历史和文化。
The advantages and disadvantages of the democracy in America
The advantages and disadvantages of the democracy in AmericaT he advantages of the American democracy:America is a federalism country. It advocated “checks and balances”which is in order to avoid the harmfulness of the over centralization of power. The government consists of three equal and separate branches: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. It guards against the possibility that one person or group, including the majority, might become too powerful or be able to seize control of the country and create a tyranny. Each branch has powers that the others do not have and each branch has a way of counteracting and limiting any wrongful action by other branches. All the states were allowed to run their own government as they wished. The president has enormous power, but every dollar of his administration spends is limited by the congress. The congress and the president are checked by each other. The enormous power enables the president take actions to emergency directly like the 911 tragedy and the Pearl Harbor incident at once. It promoted the efficiency. The people in America have the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of peaceful assembly.The disadvantages of the American democracy: what is democracy? Democracy is governing the country with the principle of equal and the minority should submit to the majority. It is a performance of freedom. It is in the interest of the whole people. One of the bad effects of theAmerican democracy is caused by the election. The election is held every four year. To win the presidential election, the candidate has to spend many millions of dollars. The expenditure in the presidential election is supersizingly huge. Although this money comes from their party or patronizes by others, if this huge amount of money can be putted to improve the society’s charity, lots of people may lead a more wealthier life. Big corporations patronized the candidates. They pay for the candidates’ propagation advertisements, speech. It is regard as political contribution, but actually, it is the same as bribery. The present has to reward them.The second disadvantage is that America cannot impel the control of the firearms. In America’s supermarkets, you can buy the gun easily. There are also various guns like rifle, semiautomatic pistols, automatic pistols, and so on. This phenomenon raises the crime rate in American society. There are a series of crimes are caused by firearms. For example, recently two Chinese students in University of Southern California were shooting to die; a famous member of the congress was shot on her head when she was having a speech. Every year there are lots of shooting in American society. Shooting happened everywhere, like school shooting, bank shooting, and company shooting. Even though there are many shooting, the American government still does not control the firearms. This is ridiculous and unreasonable. This will cost lot of police force and resource to maintain the society’s stability. It increases the government’s financial burden. Why does the congress still not control firearms? For the arms merchants have used billions dollars to bribe the congress.The third disadvantage is that when at the period of election the country is nearly ata state of split. This state may lead to a serious result. The people in the two different partyhave a strong feeling of partisanship. They all want to gain their own party’s profit. This will lead to riot’s happening.The fourth disadvantage is that the American likes to start wars.When the president has a successful election, he has to reward the arms merchants, so they start wars. In the wars large amounts of munitions needed, the arms merchants get many profits from the wars. However, the war needs lots of money; the money comes from the people’s revenue, always starting the war make the American people life become much worse than before. There are some evidence show that the assassination of Kennedy maybe have something to do with his not wanting to start a war. He was struck down by an assassin's bullet. The Iraq War left the American people a heavy financial burden. Many American people lost their job, including some teachers, policemen, firemen.The fifth disadvantage is that big corporations charge the whole country. The congress do things have to consider the big corporations profit, for their profit, the congress can sacrifice the American people’s profit. So there comes out lots of protest march. For example, the Occupy Wall Street.。
大学英语六级(听力)模拟试卷9(题后含答案及解析)
大学英语六级（听力）模拟试卷9(题后含答案及解析)题型有：1. Which is the woman’s point?22. Why won’t the woman confront the professor on the issue?12．A．She loved it.B．She disagreed with too much of it to enjoy.C．She thought it was just so so.D．She liked the class but disagreed with the Professor.正确答案：D解析：选项中的She，loved it，thought it was just so so等表明，本题可能考查女士对it的评价。
对话中女士用转折表达自己的真实想法：她很喜欢这门课，但却不赞同教授的某些观点，故答案为[D]。
知识模块：听力13．A．Early America was undemocratic.B．There has never been democracy in America.C．Early leaders of America had no desire for democracy.D．Democracy took time to develop in America.正确答案：C解析：选项中的Early America，undemocratic，took time to develop等表明，本题可能考查民主在美国的发展情况。
[B]中的never语气太过绝对，可排除。
根据对话中男士提到的his view that the early formers of the Constitution really didn’t want democracy as we know it today推断，教授的观点是美国早期的宪法制定者并不想要我们今天所知的民主，故答案为[C]。
2.Colonial America(殖民时期的美国文学)
救赎，只有被上帝选中的人才能得到上帝的拯救)
Puritans’ clothing
II. American Puritanism
Features of American Puritan
idealist dream
• The first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of the settlement.
Colonial America
I. Historical Background II. American Puritanism III. General Features IV. Literature of
William Bradford
• Of Plymouth Plantation Records 《普利茅斯种植园史》
• A masterful account of the separatist colony, the second permanent English settlement in Plymouth.
Puritans
advocated religious & moral principles
a group of religious people
I. Historical Background
Calvinists
a code of values a philosophy of life a point of view
Jamestown Colony
John Smith
I. Historical Background
2. People: native inhabitants: Indians Immigrants mostly from Europe: Spanish; Dutch;
Democracy in America：Circumstances, Laws, Manners英译汉
Democracy in America：Circumstances, Laws, Manners All the nations of America have a democratic state of society. Yet democratic institutions only subsist amongst the Anglo-Americans. The Spaniards of South America, equally favored by physical causes as the Anglo-Americans, were unable to maintain a democratic republic; Mexico, which has adopted the Constitution of the United States, was in the same predicament.I have remarked that the maintenance of democratic institutions in the United States is attributable to the circumstances, the laws, and the manners of that country. I remind the reader of the general signification which I give to the word "manners," namely, the moral and intellectual characteristics of social man taken collectively. Most Europeans are only acquainted with the first of these three causes, and they are apt to give it a preponderating importance which it does not really possess. Nevertheless, Physical causes do not, therefore, affect the destiny of nations so much as has been supposed. The laws and manners of the Anglo-Americans are therefore that efficient cause of their greatness which is the object of my inquiry.It is in the Eastern States that the Anglo-Americans have been longest accustomed to the government of democracy, and that they have adopted the habits and conceived the notions most favorable to its maintenance. Democracy has gradually penetrated into their customs, their opinions, and the forms of social intercourse; it is to be found in all the details of daily life equally as in the laws. In the Eastern States the instruction and practical education of the people have been most perfected, and religion has been most thoroughly amalgamated with liberty. Now these habits, opinions, customs, and convictions are precisely the constituent elements of that which I have denominated manners. The manners of the Americans of the United States are, then, the real cause which renders that people the only one of the American nations that is able to support a democratic government.译文鉴赏之美国的民情美洲的所有人民都有民主的社会情况，但民主制度只能得到英裔美国人的支持。
关于美国的故事的作文英文
关于美国的故事的作文英文Title: The American Story: A Journey of Hope and Opportunity。
Introduction:The United States of America, known as the land of opportunity, has a rich and diverse history. From its humble beginnings as a colony to becoming a global superpower, the American story is a testament to the triumph of hope and the pursuit of dreams. In this essay, we will explore the key events and ideals that have shaped the American story.Body:1. Colonial Era:The American story begins with the arrival of European settlers in the 17th century. Seeking religious freedom andeconomic opportunities, these colonists established settlements along the eastern coast. The Mayflower Compact, signed in 1620, laid the foundation for self-governance and the spirit of democracy in America.2. Revolution and Independence:The American Revolution, which began in 1775, was a turning point in the nation's history. The colonists fought against British rule, inspired by the ideals of liberty, equality, and justice. The Declaration of Independence, penned by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, proclaimed these principles and laid the groundwork for the formation of the United States.3. Westward Expansion:In the 19th century, the concept of Manifest Destiny fueled the westward expansion of the United States.Settlers moved across the continent, establishing new territories and states. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the California Gold Rush in 1848 were pivotal events thatshaped the American story and contributed to the nation's rapid growth.4. Civil War and Emancipation:The American story is also marked by internal conflicts. The Civil War, fought between the northern Union states and the southern Confederacy from 1861 to 1865, was a defining moment. It centered on the issue of slavery and the preservation of the Union. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, declared the freedom of enslaved African Americans, paving the way for equality and civil rights.5. Industrialization and Innovation:The late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed unparalleled industrial growth and technological advancements. Innovators like Thomas Edison and Henry Ford revolutionized industries and transformed the American wayof life. The rise of cities, the expansion of railroads,and the development of mass production propelled the UnitedStates into a global economic powerhouse.6. World Wars and Global Influence:The American story took on a global dimension during the two World Wars. The United States played a significant role in both conflicts, emerging as a superpower and championing democracy and freedom. The post-war era saw the United States leading the world in economic, political, and cultural spheres.7. Civil Rights Movement:The struggle for civil rights in the mid-20th century is another important chapter in the American story. Led by figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X, the movement aimed to end racial segregation and discrimination. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were landmark legislations that advanced equality and justice.Conclusion:The American story is a tapestry woven with the threads of hope, opportunity, and resilience. From the colonial era to the present day, the United States has faced challenges, embraced diversity, and strived for progress. It is a story of immigrants seeking a better life, of freedom fighters fighting for justice, and of innovators shaping the world. The American story continues to evolve, driven by the shared values of democracy, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.。
《一本书读懂美国文化(英汉对照)》读书笔记模板
可以作为在美国日常生活指导，如果只是想从表面了解可以快速浏览本书，避免与美国人沟通中踩雷。
英汉对照好评后面列了很多不常见单词的意思以专题介绍美国的不同方面逻辑清晰。
有很多句子很奇怪。
连校对都没有，如果真的想了解美国文化，完全就是学了错误的东西，这就是误人子弟。
文从美国的历史政治、价值观念、宗教建筑，文化渊源、风俗习惯、休闲时尚、社交礼仪等多层面介绍美国社会
和文化的不同层面，有助于读者在学习英语的同时，获得对美国社会全景式的认知，从而更好地了解美国这个文
化多元的国家。
读书笔记
花了5小时读完一本书，速读的感觉真好！看完一本书，尝试用思维导图简单记读书笔记，若坚持一个礼拜读
5
第11章美国特
有的礼仪
3
第12章美国节
假日
1
4
第13章美国的
文学与教育
第14章美国著
名的总统
第15章世界知
名企业
2
5
第16章注释
作者介绍
这是《一本书读懂美国文化（英汉对照）》的读书笔记模板，暂无该书作者的介绍。
谢谢观看
一本书读懂美国文化（英汉对照）
读书笔记模板
目录
01
思维导图
02
内容摘要03读书笔记 Nhomakorabea04
精彩摘录
05
目录分析
06
作者介绍
思维导图
本书关键字分析思维导图
文化
书
美国
文化
宗教
美国
社会
美国人
层面
宗教建筑
精神
美国
第章
book report on democray in AmericaWord文档
Democracy in AmericaTo analyze the book, I deem it inevitable to deal with the concept of democracy first, which refers to a political system endowing the national power with the people. Before I took up politics-related courses, I had taken it for granted that democracy is necessarily good. As a matter of fact, democracy is a political system prevalent in contemporary powers, which then seek to replicate it elsewhere on the pretext of manifest destiny. Just as autocracy or aristocracy, what political philosophy does is to justify the political system instead of finding the truth. For instance, Plato argues that if a patient allows the majority of people to decide which doctor to fetch for him, he will demise before the doctor’s arrival. Therefore, democracy is not flawless and no nobler than autocracy or other regimes. America is a nation founded upon the spirits of freedom, democracy, equality, among which democracy is a defining feature.After Since the author Alexis de Tocqueville is a French historian and politician, the comparison between France and America runs through the whole book. The author examines democracy from many aspects, such as judicial, political, freedom of publishing and so on. I will start with judicial structure for it is the most intriguing and also exert great impact on political and other aspects.My first glimpse of American laws comes from the TV series The Good Wife. Sometimes audiences become confused at the legal system, such as the jury, and frequent compromise between state prosecutors and criminals. This is confirmed by the author. According to the Tocqueville, judicial organization in America is difficult to understand and its impact is subtle. Compared with that of French and English ones, American judicial system has three characteristics distinguishing itself from others: the duty of arbitration(the act need to be brought to the judge), pronouncing on specific cases(not on general principles) and passiveness(devoid of action-- refrain from pursuing criminals, hunt out wrongs , to name only a few). Besides, American judges are invested with political power and have the right of declaring a law constitutional. To illustrate that, the author again makes a contrast between French , English judges and American judges. He then comes to the conclusion that American judges can decide which laws to obey in preference to the constitution. To gain insight into the system, I also read other materials concerning US judicial system. Besides the three features mentioned above, there are many other features, such as the jury, the plea bargain, contempt of court, sitting-on and relative independence.After going through the book, I find the US an unprecedented great nation. It has imperfections, yet that doesn’t diminish the fact that the founding fathers of the US have created a dreamland rising above the world. Those people, after crossing the ocean, have left their prejudice and other shackles behind and cultivate the virtues of tolerance, pragmatism, egalitarianism and so on. The westward movement, check and balance, the election of a black president all are magnificent feats.友情提示：本资料代表个人观点，如有帮助请下载，谢谢您的浏览！。
考研英语阅读题源-纽约时报文章解析(1)
考研英语阅读题源: 纽约时报文章解析(1)Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee vented their fury over high gasoline prices at executives of the nation’s five largest oil companies on Wednesday, grilling the oilmen over their multimillion-dollar pay packages and warning them that Congress was intent on taking action that could include a new tax on so-called windfall profits. Such showdowns between lawmakers and oil titans have become a familiar routine on Capitol Hill. But with gas prices nearing $4 a gallon, and lawmakers headed home for a weeklong Memorial Day recess where they expect to get an earful from angry constituents, there is added urgency for Congress to appear active. But while momentum is building for several measures, including a bill that would allow the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to be sued in American courts under antitrust laws, there is little sign that any of the proposals would do much, if anything, to lower prices quickly. And the oil executives warned that government intervention might only make things worse.Instead, they called on Congress to allow more drilling and exploration for domestic oil.The increasing urgency to seem aggressive about gasoline prices was apparent on Tuesday when the House voted by an overwhelming 324 to 84 to approve the bill, commonly referred to as NOPEC, which classifies OPEC as a monopoly in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.Senate Democrats have included that measure as part of a package of legislation intended to address the high price of gasoline, along with the tax on windfall profits and a measure to tamp down speculation in the oil futures market that many lawmakers think is contributing to the run-up in prices.At the Judiciary Committee hearing, Democratic senators struggled to have the executives explain how oil prices had risen so high.The senators expressed doubt that basic laws of supply and demand were at work and suggested instead a more sinister combination of monopolistic behavior by oil-producing countries, speculation in the futures markets and sheer corporate greed.On Monday, President Bush signed a bill temporarily suspending the purchaseof crude oil for the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Mr. Bush had initially opposed such action but relented after the House and Senate approved the bill by wide margins. Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and a strong supporter of Senator BarackObama’s presidential bid, made a particularly pointed attack, in which he seemed to warn the oil executives that they would soon no longer have such a good friend in the White House. He also suggested that Mr. Bush should be doing more to press the oil companies to help lower prices at the pump, while acknowledging that it would be difficult to pass a windfall profits tax while Mr. Bush was still in office.核心词与超纲词1.windfall n.横财A sudden, unexpected piece of good fortune or personal gain.2.showdown*n.摊牌An event, especially a confrontation, that forces an issue to aconclusion3.recess n.休假A temporary cessation of the customary activities of anengagement, occupation, or pursuit4.constituent*n.选民A resident of a district or member of a group represented by anelected official.5.momentum*n.势头Impetus of a nonphysical process, such as an idea or a course ofevents:6.antitrust a.反托拉斯的, 反垄断的; 反对资本兼并的Opposing or intended toregulate business monopolies, such as trusts or cartels7.speculation n.投机生意Engagement in risky business transactions on the chanceof quick or considerable profit. 此外，该词汇常考以下两个含义：〔1〕推测：Reasoning based on inconclusive evidence; conjecture orsupposition〔2〕思索：Contemplation or consideration of a subject;meditation8.hearing n.听证会A session, as of an investigatory committee or a grand jury,at which testimony is taken from witnesses9.monopolistic a.垄断的，专卖的, 独占主义(者)的10.suspend v.〔1〕延缓，停止To cause to stop for a period; interrupt 〔2〕暂缓To render temporarily ineffective11.bid n.投标，竞选An earnest effort to win or attain something注意：加*的词汇为超纲词长难句分析1. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee vented their fury over high gasoline pricesat executives of the nation’s five largest oil companies on Wednesday, grilling the oilmen over their multimillion-dollar pay packages and warning them that Congress was intent on takingaction that could include a new tax on so-called windfall profits.[解析]这是一个复合句。
Democracy in America 论美国的民主读书报告-推荐下载
A Book Report on Of Democracy in AmericaOf Democracy in America, written by Alexis de Tocqueville, is a magnificent work for us to understand “the most democratic country” in the world. The book purports to compare France and United States, particularly in the realms of democracy and liberty. In this book, he covers nearly every imaginable aspect of American government, politics, society, and culture. By comparing what he had observed in the United States to what he knew of France Tocqueville was able to show the ways in which liberty and democracy had flourished in America. The book has two Vols. which were written in different times. Vol.1 is divided into two parts. The first part tells us the political system in America, and the second part analyses American democracy on the ground of sociology. Vol.2 contains four parts, and he expounds his political philosophy and political sociology under the background of America. The basic idea of this book is the recognition of the inevitable decline of aristocracy and the development of equality and democracy is unstoppable. Here, I want to focus on seven chapters in the Vol.1.To introduce America, Tocqueville begins with the description of the geographical layout of North America in the first chapter: Physical Configuration of North America. He points out the Mississippi River valley, still a largely uninhabited wilderness, “is the most magnificent habitation ever prepared by God for man.” Native tribes settled in everywhere, but actually they did not possess the land for they are hunters. The area around the Mississippi and in the plains is so well-suited for trade and industry that civilized man was destined to build a society there.In the second chapter, Tocqueville talks the origins of America. The chapter is very important because it provides the origin of this country that is to follow. Immigrants to America have a common language and they shared the common sense of local government. Two branches of colonies in the south and the north explored the continent in different purposes, but English government was pleased because theythink the colonists are potential revolutionaries and the colonies enjoyed the great freedom. The laws on the continent is based on the laws of their motherland and it gradually formed some features as public affairs, individual freedom, trial by jury, etc. and local independence flourished and organized as a republic. Religion spirits and liberty spirits were getting well along with each other.The third chapter is where the author focuses on the social state of the Anglo-Americans. The laws of inheritance in American promoted the advance of equality. The colonies are not equality in wealth, but also equality in education. For the sake of equality, people in America surrender freedom as the consequences of the social state of the Anglo-Americans.The fourth chapter focuses on the principle of sovereignty of the people in America. This principle dominates the whole society of American, and Americans have already take possession of the principle before their revolution. As a result of the revolution, it develops the principle of sovereignty. Voting qualifications were progressively eradicated. In America, the people really do rule.In chapter 5, Tocqueville thinks we need to study what happens in the states before discussing the government of the union. Political and administrative activities in each state are fasten to three centers of powers----township, county and state. The township is rooted in nature and in man’s natural sociability. In The American system of Townships, the author talks about townships exist in every nation and it is difficult to maintain and keep the local freedom. He also talks about the significance of keeping the freedom of township freedom and why he chooses the towns in New England as the priority to study. The township is the place where the people most directly exercise power to rule. Selectmen generally act on already established principles agreed upon by majority. To change anything the need summon all the voters by calling a town meeting. The life in the township is based on the principles of sovereignty and equality of the people. The spirit of the township is that citizens are devoted to make contribution to their town, and they are unwilling generally to work for matters that do not affect their private interest. Few are willing to try for high government offices which are hard to get and which are out of direct sphere ofpersonal interests. In “Administration in New England”, Tocqueville points out that the administration is almost invisible in America. Through the division of power, authority is kept in check without diminishing its effectiveness which Europeans cannot understand. He notices that further from New England power of the township is diminished and power of the county is increased. He summarizes his description municipal government by saying: “Election of administrative officers, irrevocability from office, absence of administrative hierarchy, and the use of judicial weapons to control secondary authorities are the chief characteristics of American administration from Maine to the Floridas". Tocqueville speaks only briefly on the states of America because most constitutional governments have used the same items to ruling their own countries. He then tells us the legislative power and executive power of the state and political effects of administrative decentralization in the United States.In chapter 6, the author introduces the judicial power in the United States to us. he summarizes three characteristics and how Americans transferred judicial power into strong political power. Then he answers what is the difference between American judiciary and other countries’, why the judges are able to declared the law unconstitutional and how they use this right. The measures to prevent judges from abusing the right also mentioned in this chapter.Tocqueville holds his opinion on the political jurisdiction in the United States in chapter 7. the political courts in America only have the power to remove form office, not to punish under criminal law for the aim of political jurisdiction in America is to take power form those who abuse it. And political jurisdiction is the measure the government uses often. Though it is mild, and because of that, it becomes the most powerful weapon in governor’s hands.Memorable sentences1. It is evident to all alike that a great democratic revolution is going on amongst us; but there are two opinions as to its nature and consequences. To some it appears to be a novel accident, which as such may still be checked; to others it seems irresistible, because it is the most uniform, the most ancient, and the most permanent tendency which is to be found in history.2. The different relations of men became more complicated and more numerous as society gradually became more stable and more civilized.3. From the time when the exercise of the intellect became the source of strength and of wealth, it is impossible not to consider every addition to science, every fresh truth, and every new idea as a germ of power placed within the reach of the people.4. The whole book which is here offered to the public has been written under the impression of a kind of religious dread produced in the author's mind by the contemplation of so irresistible a revolution, which has advanced for centuries in spite of such amazing obstacles, and which is still proceeding in the midst of the ruins it has made.5. I admit that, in a democratic State thus constituted, society will not be stationary; but the impulses of the social body may be regulated and directed forwards; if there be less splendor than in the halls of an aristocracy, the contrast of misery will be less frequent also; the pleasures of enjoyment may be less excessive, but those of comfort will be more general; the sciences may be less perfectly cultivated, but ignorance will be less common; the impetuosity of the feelings will be repressed, and the habits of the nation softened; there will be more vices and fewer crimes.6. North America presents in its external form certain general features which it is easy to discriminate at the first glance.7. Sometimes, quietly gliding along the argillaceous bed which nature has assigned to it, sometimes swollen by storms, the Mississippi waters 2,500 miles in its course.8. If, in polished countries, the lowest of the people are rude and uncivil, it is notmerely because they are poor and ignorant, but that, being so, they are in daily contact with rich and enlightened men.9. In that land the great experiment was to be made, by civilized man, of the attempt to construct society upon a new basis; and it was there, for the first time, that theories hitherto unknown, or deemed impracticable, were to exhibit a spectacle for which the world had not been prepared by the history of the past.10. When the equal partition of property is established by law, the intimate connection is destroyed between family feeling and the preservation of the paternal estate; the property ceases to represent the family; for as it must inevitably be divided after one or two generations, it has evidently a constant tendency to diminish, and must in the end be completely dispersed.11. The sons of the great landed proprietor, if they are few in number, or if fortune befriends them, may indeed entertain the hope of being as wealthy as their father, but not that of possessing the same property as he did; the riches must necessarily be composed of elements different from his.12. What is called family pride is often founded upon an illusion of self-love.A man wishes to perpetuate and immortalize himself, as it were, in his great-grandchildren.13. It is impossible to believe that equality will not eventually find its way into the political world as it does everywhere else.14. From the same social position, then, nations may derive one or the other of two great political results; these results are extremely different from each other, but they may both proceed from the same cause.15. These two tendencies, apparently so discrepant, are far from conflicting; they advance together, and mutually support each other.16. I do not mean that there is any deficiency of wealthy individuals in the United States; I know of no country, indeed, where the love of money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men, and where the profounder contempt is expressed for the theory of the permanent equality of property.17. This picture, which may perhaps be thought to be overcharged, still gives a very imperfect idea of what is taking place in the new States of the West and South-west18. In America the principle of the sovereignty of the people is not either barrenor concealed, as it is with some other nations; it is recognized by the customs and proclaimed by the laws; it spreads freely, and arrives without impediment at its most remote consequences.19. When a nation modifies the elective qualification, it may easily be foreseen that sooner or later that qualification will be entirely abolished.20. The great political principles which govern American society at this day undoubtedly took their origin and their growth in the State. It is therefore necessary to become acquainted with the State in order to possess a clue to the remainder.21. A nation is always able to establish great political assemblies, because it habitually contains a certain number of individuals fitted by their talents, if not by their habits, for the direction of affairs.22. A highly civilized community spurns the attempts of a local independence, is disgusted at its numerous blunders, and is apt to despair of success before the experiment is completed.Its sphere is indeed small and limited, but within that sphere its action is unrestrained; and its independence gives to it a real importance which its extent and population may not always ensure.23. The State and the townships possess all the power requisite to conduct public business. The budget of the county is drawn up by its officers, and is voted by the legislature, but there is no assembly which directly or indirectly represents the county.24. Nothing is more striking to an European traveller in the United States than the absence of what we term the Government, or the Administration.25. The revolution of the United States was the result of a mature and dignified taste for freedom, and not of a vague or ill-defined craving for independence.26. It was never assumed in the United States that the citizen of a free country has a right to do whatever he pleases; on the contrary, social obligations were there imposed upon him more various than anywhere else.27. The first difficulty is to procure the obedience of an authority as entirely independent of the general laws of the State as the township is.28. We have seen that in Massachusetts the mainspring of public administration lies in the township. It forms the common centre of the interests and affections ofthe citizens.29. The absence of a central government will not, then, as has often been asserted, prove the destruction of the republics of the New World; far from supposing that the American governments are not sufficiently centralized, I shall prove hereafter that they are too much so.30. The system of local administration produces several different effects in America. The Americans seem to me to have outstepped the limits of sound policy in isolating the administration of the Government; for order, even in second-rate affairs, is a matter of national importance.31. The Americans have retained all the ordinary characteristics of judicial authority, and have carefully restricted its action to the ordinary circle of its functions.32. In the United States the constitution governs the legislator as much as the private citizen; as it is the first of laws it cannot be modified by a law, and it is therefore just that the tribunals should obey the constitution in preference to any law.。
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Democracy in America
American politics
Earth, to Rubio Nov 20th 2012, 7:03 by R.M. | WASHINGTON, DC
WE ARE now about 1,400 days out from the next presidential election, so it's time for the potential candidates to start jockeying for position. Hence Marco Rubio's fabulously elusive (now viral) answer to the rather simple, if seemingly insignificant question about the age of the Earth.
I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think
parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.
As others have pointed out, it's actually not a great mystery. Scientists are agreed that the age of the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. Mr Rubio may not be a scientist himself, but the science is readily accessible, much like the economics he uses to opine on the economy, despite not being an economist (only the science is a bit more reliable). He sits on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; surely one of his aides can demystify the situation with a simple Google search.
I can find the age of the earth by accessing Google on my iPhone via the cellular network provided by Verizon. I can do this because smart people used science to create these things. I can access Mr Rubio's inane answer via the internet on my tablet because many science-believing innovators are interested in making money. When they create things, using science, they increase America's output and contribute to the country's economic growth.
So while the age of the Earth is not directly relevant to America's economy, it's useful as an indicator of the country's belief in and study of science, which is germane to any discussion of GDP and growth rates. It also says something about our economic policymakers. As Paul Krugman points out, "the attitude that discounts any amount of evidence—and boy, do we have lots of evidence on the age of the planet!—if it conflicts with prejudices is not an attitude consistent with effective policy."
More broadly, there are those who would like to call a truce between science and religion, and based on his attempt to dodge the question, perhaps Mr Rubio is one of them. But the senator's comments are the reason why there can be no truce. If the status quo allows a leader like Mr Rubio to benefit from claiming that accepted science is in fact mystery, then science is losing. When divine explanations and scientific truths are given equal footing, no armistice can be accepted. Rather, science must continue to forcefully rebut religion's unsubstantiated claims in public battles like this. And smart politicians must be made to feel profound discomfort when dealing in the absurdities that appeal to some faithful voters.。