2. 考研
  3. Advice to would-be culture warriors in the 21st century: walk softly and carry a big thesaurus—a dictionary of classified synony

Advice to would-be culture warriors in the 21st century: walk softly and carry a big thesaurus—a dictionary of classified synony

admin2015-12-23  52
问题     Advice to would-be culture warriors in the 21st century: walk softly and carry a big thesaurus—a dictionary of classified synonyms. According to the conventional wisdom, the culture wars are over in Washington—or, at the very least, reduced to minor disputes. Buoyed by the support of centrist, socially conservative Christians, the Obama administration has ushered in a new era of conciliation. Ideological opponents—especially those on either side of the abortion issue—are now trying to establish common ground. A first order of business is "abortion reduction," a seemingly non-controversial and praiseworthy goal. By agreeing that abortion is a complex moral issue and that it should be less frequent, former enemies can work together to find ways to reduce abortions.
    Beneath all the optimism though, tensions continue to boil, and it can seem that differences between the old culture wars and the new ones are merely differences in tone and tactics, not in ideology. In previous eras, warriors fought with rhetorical arguments; now they use new semantic weapons so sharp they could split a hair. On both sides, people say they want abortion reduction. But listen carefully to how they say it. On the left, the so-called common ground advocates talk about reducing the need for abortion, while on the right, folks talk about reducing the number of abortions. The way you talk about your desire for common ground, it turns out, signals whose side you’re actually on. The left wants to reduce demand for abortion; the right wants to reduce supply.
    Inside the Beltway, these seemingly invisible semantic differences have big policy implications, for the inevitable question arises: how do folks intend to reduce abortions? Two bills currently in Congress point to the deep, ideological differences that continue to linger. The Pregnant Women Support Act, favored mostly by pro-life groups, provides financial support especially for poor and younger mothers who want to carry their pregnancies to term. The Prevention First Act, favored mostly by pro-choice groups, funds contraception(the practice of preventing a woman from becoming pregnant when she has sex)and comprehensive sex education especially to poor and younger women.
    The conversation about "abortion reduction" then, is not really about abortion but about other hot-button issues: birth control, premarital sex, teen sex and sex education.
    Outside the Beltway, who really cares? According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll from August 2008, 54 percent of Americans support legal abortion in all or most cases—exactly the same percentage as a decade ago. It’s hard to imagine anyone arguing with the basic premise: in an ideal world, fewer American women would seek abortions. How our government achieves that end matters; how activists talk about achieving it matters not at all.
On which of the following statements would pro-choice groups most probably agree?
选项 A、Sex education is an essential part of abortion reduction.
B、Poor mothers are expected to follow contraception practices.
C、Young mothers should protect their rights of pregnancy.
D、Premarital sex must be outlawed to control birth rate.
答案A
解析 观点态度题。根据pro—choice定位到第三段。从pro—choice groups所支持的《预防为主法案》以及主张为性教育提供经费等方面，可推断出他们认为性教育在降低堕胎率过程中起重要作用，故选A项。文中第三段末句提到采用避孕措施的对象是poor and younger women，故B项中的Poor mothers不准确；C项是反堕胎组织所持的观点，这里显然张冠李戴了；D项中的婚前性行为在文中只是作为热点话题被罗列出来．并未具体展开讨论。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/U9sZ777K
0

考研英语一

相关试题推荐
随机试题
最新回复(0)