Woodrow Wilson was
referring to the liberal idea of the economic market when he said that the free
enterprise system is the most efficient economic system. Maximum freedom means
maximum productiveness; our “openness” is to be the measure of our stability.
Fascination with this ideal has made Americans defy the “Old World” categories
of settled possessiveness versus
unsettling deprivation, the cupidity of retention versus the cupidity of seizure, a “status quo” defended or attacked. The United States, it was
believed, had no status quo ante. Our
only “station” was the turning of a stationary wheel, spinning faster and
faster. We did not base our system on property but opportunity—which meant we
based it not on stability but on mobility. The more things changed, that is,
the more rapidly the wheel turned, the steadier we would be. The conventional
picture of class politics is composed of the Haves, who want a stability to
keep what they have, and the Have-Nots, who want a
touch of
instability and change in which to scramble for the
things they have not. But Americans imagined a condition in which speculators,
self-makers, runners are always using the new opportunities given by our
land. These economic leaders (front-runners) would thus be mainly agents
of change. The nonstarters were considered the ones who wanted
stability, a strong referee to give them some position in the
race, a regulative hand to calm manic speculation; an authority that can call
things to a halt, begin things again from compensatorily staggered “starting
lines.”
“Reform” in America has been sterile because it can imagine no
change except through the extension of this metaphor of a race, wider inclusion
of competitors, “a piece of the action,” as it were, for the
disenfranchised. There is no attempt to call off the race. Since our only
stability is change, America seems not to honor the quiet work that achieves
social interdependence and stability. There is, in our legends, no heroism of
the office clerk, no stable industrial work
force of the people who actually make the system work. There
is no pride in being an employee (Wilson asked for a return to the time when
everyone was an employer). There has been no boasting about our social
workers—they are merely signs of the system’s failure, of opportunity denied or
not taken, of things to be eliminated. We have no pride in our growing
interdependence, in the fact that our system can serve others, that we are able
to help those in need; empty boasts from the past make us ashamed of our
present achievements, make us try to forget or deny them, move away from them.
There is no honor but in the Wonderland race we must all run, all trying
to win, none winning in the end (for there is no end).
Question:
1. The
primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) criticize
the inflexibility of American economic mythology
(B) contrast
“Old World” and “New World” economic ideologies
(C) challenge
the integrity of traditional political leaders
(D) champion
those Americans whom the author deems to be neglected
(E) suggest a
substitute for the traditional metaphor of a race
2. According
to the passage, “Old World” values were based on
(A) ability
(B) property
(C) family
connections
(D) guild
hierarchies
(E) education
3. In
the context of the author’s discussion of regulating change, which of the
following could be most probably regarded as a “strong referee” (line
30) in the United States?
(A) A school
principal
(B) A political
theorist
(C) A federal
court judge
(D) A social
worker
(E) A
government inspector
4. The
author sets off the
word “Reform” (line 35) with quotation marks in order to
(A) emphasize
its departure from the concept of settled possessiveness
(B) show his
support for a systematic program of change
(C) underscore
the flexibility and even amorphousness of United States society
(D) indicate
that the term was one of Wilson’s favorites
(E) assert that
reform in the United States has not been fundamental
5. It
can be inferred from the passage that the author most probably thinks that
giving the disenfranchised “a piece of the action” (line 38)
is
(A) a compassionate,
if misdirected, legislative measure
(B) an example
of Americans’ resistance to profound social change
(C) an
innovative program for genuine social reform
(D) a monument
to the efforts of industrial reformers
(E) a
surprisingly “Old World” remedy for social ills
6. Which
of the following metaphors could the author most appropriately use to summarize
his own assessment of the American economic system (lines 35-60)?
(A) A windmill
(B) A waterfall
(C) A treadmill
(D) A gyroscope
(E) A bellows
7. It
can be inferred from the passage that Woodrow Wilson’s ideas about the economic
market
(A) encouraged
those who “make the system work” (lines
45-46)
(B) perpetuated
traditional legends about America
(C) revealed
the prejudices of a man born wealthy
(D)
foreshadowed the stock market crash of 1929
(E) began a
tradition of presidential proclamations on economics
8. The
passage contains information that would answer which of the following
questions?
I. What
techniques have industrialists used to manipulate a free market?
II. In
what ways are “New World” and “Old World” economic policies similar?
III. Has
economic policy in the United States tended to reward independent action?
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) III only
(D) I and II
only
(E) II and III
only
9. Which
of the following best expresses the author’s main point?
(A) Americans’
pride in their jobs continues to give them stamina today.
(B) The absence of a status quo ante has undermined United
States economic structure.
(C) The free
enterprise system has been only a useless concept in the United States.
(D) The myth of
the American free enterprise system is seriously flawed.
(E) Fascination
with the ideal of “openness” has made Americans a progressive people.
Answers:
1.
A
|
2.
B
|
3.
C
|
4.
E
|
5.
B
|
6.
C
|
7.
B
|
8.
C
|
9.
D
|
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