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The decline in moral standards—which has long-concerned social analysts—has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation"s moral climate, says this ethics professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in America society are the biggest obstacles. "The thought that "I"m in it for me" has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness." Ms. Elshtain says.Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today"s greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.In a 1996 poll of-Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the U.S. And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with-problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament for some nonexistent "golden age", Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. "Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can"t be bought." According to Elshtain, the current moral decline may be reversed ______.

A. if people can return to the "golden age"
B. when women and men enjoy equal rights
C. when people rid themselves of prejudice
D. if less emphasis is laid on material things

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The decline in moral standards—which has long-concerned social analysts—has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation"s moral climate, says this ethics professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in America society are the biggest obstacles. "The thought that "I"m in it for me" has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness." Ms. Elshtain says.Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today"s greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.In a 1996 poll of-Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the U.S. And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with-problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament for some nonexistent "golden age", Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. "Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can"t be bought." In the 1950s, classroom violence ______.

A. was something unheard of
B. was by no means a rare occurrence
C. attracted a lot of public attention
D. began to appear in analysts" data

The decline in moral standards—which has long-concerned social analysts—has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation"s moral climate, says this ethics professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in America society are the biggest obstacles. "The thought that "I"m in it for me" has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness." Ms. Elshtain says.Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today"s greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.In a 1996 poll of-Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the U.S. And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with-problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament for some nonexistent "golden age", Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. "Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can"t be bought." The moral decline of American society is caused mainly by ______.

A. its growing wealth
B. the self-centeredness of individuals
C. underestimating the impact of social changes
D. the prejudice against women and minorities

To fight against computer crimes, a computer system needs a sure way of identifying its right users and rejecting those who are not entitled to use it. The identification system should be quick, simple, and convenient.At present, signatures are widely used to identify credit card holders, but it takes an expert to detect a good forgery. Sometimes even a human expert is fooled, and there is no reason to believe that a computer could do any better.Photographs are also sometimes used for identification. But, people find it inconvenient to stop by a credit card company aid to be photographed. Companies might lose business if they made the pictures under absolute requirement. Also, photographs are less useful these days, when people frequently change their appearance by changing the way they wear their hair. Finally, computer programs for analyzing photographs are still highly experimental.Cash-drawing systems often use two identification numbers: One is recorded on a magnetic stripe on the identification cards, and the other is given to the CRS holder. When the user inserts his card into the cash-drawing terminal, he keys in the identification number he has been given. The computer checks to see that the number recorded on the card and the other keyed in by the user refer to the, same person.For a long time, fingerprints have provided a method of positive identification. But they suffer from two problems. One is that there is no simple system for comparing fingerprints electronically, the other is that because most people associate being fingerprinted with being arrested; they almost surely would resist being fingerprinted for routine identification.Voiceprints have been suggested. With these, the user has only to speak a few words for the computer to analyze his voice. There are no psychological problems here. And technically it"s easier to take and analyze voiceprints than fingerprints. However, it has yet to be proved that the computer cannot be fooled by imitation. Also, the voice is subjected to the noise and distortion of a telephone line.Even lipprints have been suggested. But it"s doubtful that kissing computers will ever catch on. The most reliable and convenient identification method in present use is ______.

A. signatures
B. photographs
C. fingerprints
D. magnetic stripes

Only two countries in the advanced world provide no guarantee for paid leave from work to care for a newborn child. Last spring one of the two, Australia, gave up that dubious distinction by establishing paid family leave starting in 2011. I wasn"t surprised when this didn"t make the news here in the United States—we"re now the only wealthy country without such a policy.The United States does have one explicit family policy,the Family and Medical Leave Act, passed in 1993. It entitles workers to as much as 12 weeks" unpaid leave for care of a newborn or dealing with a family medical problem. Despite the modesty of the benefit, the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups fought it bitterly, describing it as "government-run personnel management" and a "dangerous precedent". In fact, every step of the way, as (usually) Democratic, leaders have tried to introduce work-family balance measures into the law, business groups have been strongly opposed.As Yale law professor Anne Alston argues, justifying parental support depends on defining the family as a social good that, in some sense, society must pay for. In her bookNo Exit What Parents Owe Their Children and What Society Owes Parents, she argues that parents are burdened in many ways in their lives: there is "no exit" when it comes to children. "Society expects—and needs—parents to provide their children with continuity of care meaning the intensive, intimate care that human beings need to develop their intellectual, emotional, and moral capabilities. And society expects-and needs-parents to persist in their role for 18 years, or longer needed."While most parents do this out of love, there are public penalties for not providing care. What parents do, in other words, is of deep concern to the state, for the obvious reason that caring for children is not only morally urgent but essential for the future of society. The state recognizes this in the large body of family laws that govern children"s welfare, yet parents receive little help in meeting the life-changing obligations society imposes. To classify parenting as a personal choice for which there is no collective responsibility is not merely to ignore the social benefits of good parenting; really, it is to steal those benefits because they accrue to the whole of society as today"s children become tomorrow"s productive citizenry. In fact, by some estimates, the value of parental investments in children, investments of time and money (including lost wages), is equal to 20%—30% of gross domestic product. If these investments generate huge social benefits—as they clearly do—the benefits of providing more social support for the family should be that much clearer. What is Professor Anne Alston"s argument for parental support

A. The cost of raising children in the U
B. Good parenting benefits society
C. The U
D. Children need continuous care

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