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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(垄断) 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 (贵族) idea of inherited privilege.

本文是一篇议论文，论述了商业之所以在美国社会具有声誉、威望，其原因在于竞争这样一种观点。

1. 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

[答案与分析]:[A]根据文章最后一段的内容不难得出A项的结论。

2. 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 American

C) The business institutions in America are concerned with commerce

D) Business problems are of great importance to the American government

[答案与分析]:[B]正确回答本题的关键在于理解句中的两个business含义不同。business作为名词其意思除“商业，营业(commerce,industry,trade)”外，还指“事务，职责(affair,duty)”。本句中前一个business可理解为“主要事务，头等大事”，后一个business则意为“商业，生意”。

3. Americans believe that they can realize their personal values only ________.

A) by protecting their individual freedom C) by way of competition

B) when given equality of opportunity D) through doing business

[答案与分析]:[C]文章第2段第2句、第3句是回答本题的依据。A、B都是竞争的优越性，而非实现个人价值的手段、原因。

4. 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.

[答案与分析]:[D]文章第3段的中心思想恰好就是D项。

5. 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

[答案与分析]:[B]文章第4段明确指出：“business is competitive,and government is monopoly.”，故而B正确。其实，从第3段也可得出B项正确的结构。该段有这样的内容：“竞争保护了个人自由，因为它没有垄断。与具有无限权力的政府相比，众多的商业机构为了利润而彼此竞争。”

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