1996年6月英语四级考试阅读真题(附答案)B篇
The picnics, speeches, and parades of today’s Labor Day were all part of the first celebration, held in New York City in 1882. Its promoter was an Irish-American labor leader named peter J. McGuire. A carpenter by trade, McGuire had worked since the age of eleven, and in 1882 was president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (UBCJ). Approaching the City’s Central Labor Union that summer, he proposed a holiday that would applaud (赞许)"the industrial spirit-the great vital force of every nation,” On September 5 his suggestion bore fruit, as an estimated 10,000 workers, many of them ignoring their bosses’ warnings, left work to march from Union square up Fifth Avenue to 42nd Street. The event gained national attention, and by 1893 thirty states had made Labor Day an annual holiday.
The quick adoption of the scheme may have indicated less about the state lawmakers’ respect for working people than about a fear of risking their anger. In the 1880s the United States was a land sharply divided between the immensely wealthy and the very poor. Henry George was accurate in describing the era as one of “progress and poverty.” In a society in which factory, owners rode in private Pullmans while ten-year-olds slaved in the mines, strong anti-capitalist feeling ran high. Demands for fundamental change were common throughout the labor press. With socialists demanding an end to “wage slavery” and anarchists (无政府主义) singing the praises of the virtues of dynamite (炸药), middle-of-the-roaders like Samuel Gompers and McGuire seemed attractively mild by comparison. One can imagine practical capitalists seeing Labor Day as a bargain: A one-day party certainly cost them less than paying their workers decent wages.
56. Judging from the passage, McGuire was ________.
A) a moderate labor leader
B) an extreme-anarchist in the labor movement
C) a devoted socialist fighting against exploitation of man by man
D) a firm anti-capitalist demanding the elimination of wage slavery(A)
57. We can see from the first paragraph that the first Labor Day march ________.
A) immediately won nationwide support
B) involved workers from 30 states
C) was opposed by many factory owners
D) was organized by the UBCJ(C)
58. Which of the following is the key factor in the immediate approval of Labor Day as a national holiday?
A) The lawmakers’ respect for the workers.
B) The worker’s determination to have a holiday of their own.
C) The socialists’ demands for thorough reform.
D) The politicians’ fear of the workers’ anger.(D)
59. We lean from the passage that the establishment of Labor Day ________.
A) was accepted by most bosses as a compromise
B) marked a turning point in the workers’ struggle for more rights
C) indicated the improvement of the workers’ welfare
D) signaled the end of “wage slavery”(A)
60. McGuire proposed Labor Day in order to ________.
A) draw people’s attention to the striking contrast between the rich and the poor
B) make prominent the important role of the working class in society
C) win for the workers the right to shorter working hours
D) expose the exploitation of the workers by their bosses(B)
猜你喜欢
-
- 03-082018会计专硕英语全方位备考干货资源
- 03-08速来领取最靠谱的2018考研英语全年复习规划
- 03-082018考研英语一与英语二翻译有什么区别怎么提高
- 03-082018考研英语单词需掌握5个反义否定前缀
- 03-082018年考研英语翻译必备词组100条
- 03-082018考研英语阅读顶级攻略:阅读40分是如何做到的
- 03-082018考研英语阅读掌握三步基本解题思路
- 03-082018考研英语阅读常存在的三个解题误区
- 03-082018年考研英语词汇8个轻松记忆法
- 03-082018考研英语作文提分新途径巧用插入语