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"She was America’s princess as much as she was Britain’s princess, "wrote the foreign editor of the normally sharp Chicago Tribune a week after the death in Paris of Diana, Princess of Wales. He was not far off the mark. For Americans have indeed taken posthumous possession of Britain’s "People’s Princess".What was happening How was it that a nation whose school children are taught in history class to look down on the "tyranny" of the English monarchy, suddenly appeared so supportive of a member of the British royal family Why was it that numerous American commentators sought to expand into touch the rumour that Diana had planned to move to the United States to livePart of the answer lies in America’s status as the celebrity culture par excellence. It is from their celebrities that many Americans derive their sense of nationhood. Their presidents must be celebrities in order to be elected. Writer and commentator Norman Mailer made the point after the last presidential election that Bill Clinton won because he projected the image of a Hollywood star, while Bob Dole lost because he came across as a supporting actor.What seems to have happened is that the inhabitants of the nation that produced Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley have found it almost impossible to accept that Princess Diana, the world’s biggest, classiest contemporary celebrity by far, should have come from another country. Even that, many seemed to say to themselves, was merely an accident of birth; because in many ways she was so American. Her New Age preferences--the astrologers, the psychics, the aromatherapy--were closer to the style of former US First Lady Nancy Reagan than the House of Windsor. Her dieting and her visits to the gym were lifestyle options that were typically American. Her famous TV confession of adultery and her (purportedly unauthorized) tell-all biography were also hallmarks of the American celebrity approach. Like another former First Lady, Jackie Kennedy, she auctioned her dress-not in London or Pads, but New York. She visited America frequently and felt right at home there, reveling in the generous attentions of the rich and famous and delighting in the unreserved responsiveness of the public to her charms. For she seemed to have adapted brilliantly to another American invention: image manipulation, which all aspirants to political office in the US struggle to learn but which she appeared to have absorbed and refined naturally. She was, in short, a thoroughly modern woman and, like it or not, most of what is modern originates in the united States.But many Americans felt she also had more enduring qualities. Many viewed her as the incarnation of their country’s dominant myth. As an editorial in the Miami Herald put it.. "She was an American dream, a superstar Cinderella with the polish of a natural-born socialite .... In a way she fulfilled the American dream~ to emerge from insignificance and overcome hardship and make something of herself. "Elaine Showalter, a student of American popular culture who teaches English at Princeton University, noted the difference between the dullness of Prince Charles and Diana’s "very American sensibility". "We have a sense here in America that anything is possible, that you are not a predetermined person; that if you are a woman from whom nothing is expected but you want to make your life count, you can do it. She shared that spirit and that’s why she appealed so much to Americans.\ The author suggests that whether one can win the presidential election depends on his().

A. political ambition
B. fame and charm
C. political achievements
D. family influence

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American families throw out 8% - 19% of edible food.

A. 对
B. 错

"Opinion" is a word that is often used carelessly today, It is used to refer to matters of taste, belief, anti judgment. This casual use would probably cause little confusion if people didn’t attach too much importance to opinion. Unfortunately, most do attach great importance to it. "I have as much right to my opinion as you to yours," and "Everyone’s entitled lo his opinion," are common expressions. In fact, anyone who would challenge another’s opinion is likely to be branded intolerant.Is that label accurate Is it intolerant to challenge another’s opinion It depends on what definition of opinion you have in mind. For example, you may ask a friend "What do you think of the new Buicks "And he may reply, "In my opinion, they’re ugly. "In this case, it would not only be intolerant to challenge his statement, but foolish. For it’s obvious that by opinion he means his personal preference a matter of taste. And as the old saying goes, "It’s pointless to argue about matters of taste. "But consider this very different use of the term. A newspaper reports that the Supreme Court has delivered its opinion in a controversial case. Obviously the justices did not stale their personal preferences, their mere likes and dislikes. They stated their considered judgment, painstakingly arrived at after thorough inquiry and deliberation.Most of what is referred to as opinion falls somewhere between these two extremes. It is not an expression of taste. Nor is it careful judgment. Yet it may contain elements of both. It is a view or belief more or less casually arrived at, with or without examining the evidence.Is everyone entitled to his opinion Of course. In a free country this is not only permitted, but guaranteed. In Great Britain, for example, there is still a Flat Earth Society. As the name implies, the members of this organization believe that the earth is not spherical, but flat. In this country, too, each of us is free to take as creative a position as we please about any matter we choose. When the telephone operator announces That 11 be 95 ¢ for the first three minutes, you may respond "No, it won’t—it’ll be 28 ¢. "When the service station attendant notifies you "Your oil is down a quart, " you may reply " Wrong—it’s up three.Being free to hold an opinion anti express it does not, of course, guarantee you favorable consequences. The operator may hang up on you. The service station attendant may threaten you with violence.Acting on our opinions carries even less assurance. Some time ago in California a couple took their eleven-year-old diabetic son to a faith healer. Secure in their opinion that the man had cured the boy, they threw away his insulin. Three days later the boy died. They remained unshaken in their belief, expressing the opinion that God would raise the boy from the dead. The police arrested them, charging them with manslaughter. The law in such matters is both clear and reasonable. We are free to act on our opinions only so long as, in doing so we do not harm others. The example the writer gives us in the last paragraph shows that ().

A. eveyone is entitled to whatever opinion he has even if it is harmful to others
B. being free to hold an opinion and express it usually annoys others
C. we are not free to do anything by following our opinions
D. opinion referred to matters of taste is clearer and more reasonable than that of belief

The changes in the U. S. A. in the 1960s began with the ______ Right Movement.

During the Christmas shopping rush in London, the intriguing story was reported of a tramp who, apparently through no fault of his own, found himself locked in a well-known chain store late on Christmas Eve. No doubt the store was filled with last-minute Christmas shoppers and the staff were dead beating and longing to get home. Presumably all the proper security checks were made before the store was locked and they left to enjoy the three-day holiday untroubled by customers desperate to get last-minute Christmas presents.However that may be, our tramp found himself alone in the store and decided to make the best of it. There was food, drink, bedding and camping equipment, of which he made good use. There must also have been television sets and radios. Though it was not reported if he took advantage of these facilities, when the shop re-opened, he was discovered in bed with a large number of empty bottles beside him. He seems to have been a man of good humour and philosophic temperament—as indeed vagrants very commonly are. Everyone else was enjoying Christmas, so he saw no good reason why he should not do the same. He submitted, cheerfully enough, to being taken away by the police. Perhaps he had had a better Christmas than usual. He was put into prison for seven days. The judge awarded no compensation to the chain store for the food and drink our tramp had consumed. They had, in his opinion, already received valuable free publicity from the coverage the story received in the newspapers and on television. Perhaps the judge had a good Christmas too. When the tramp was arrested, he ().

A. laughed at the police
B. looked forward to going to prison
C. took his bottles with him
D. didn’t make any fuss

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