Faced with rapid change and the fear and uncertainty that go with it, individuals as well as nations sometimes seek to return to the ways of the past as a solution. In the early 1980s the idea of returning to the ways of the past had a strong appeal to many Americans who increasingly viewed their past as being better than their future . Two famous experts have observed that until the 1970 s Americans generally believed that the present was a better time for their country than the past and that the future would be better than the present; by 1978, however, public opinion polls showed that many Americans had come to believe that just the opposite was true: the past had been better for the country than the present, and the present was better than the future would be.

　　The popular appeal of returning to the ways of the past as a solution to the problems of the 1980s was demonstrated when Ronald Reagan5 was elected President of the United States in 1980 . Time magazine chose President Reagan as its“man of the year”and said of him,“intellectually, emotionally, Reagan lives in the past.”

　　One of President Reagan’s basic beliefs is that the United States should return as much as possible to its pre-19307 ways. In those times business institutions were strong and government institutions were weak. Reagan believes that the American values of individual freedom and competition are strengthened by business and weakened by government. Therefore, his programs as President have been designed to greatly strengthen business and reduce the size and power of the national government. By moving in this way toward the practices of the past, President Reagan believed that the standard of living of Americans would begin to improve once more in the 1980s as it had done throughout most of the nation’s history.

　　閱讀自測

　　Ⅰ. Ad d the correct prefix to the following words:

　　plan———

　　bearable———

　　expected———

　　pay———

　　certain———

　　war———

　　known———

　　common———

　　decided———

　　Ⅱ. Fill in the blanks with the words o r phrases in the p ass age :

　　1. Happiness doesn’t necessarily ________( 伴隨) money.

　　2. Traveling has a strong ________ ( 吸引力) to many young people nowadays.

　　3. Bill Clinton has ever been chosen as ________ ( 年度風云人物) in the 1990s.

　　4. We all want to learn ________ ( 盡可能) to get a better future. 5. We are confident that the ________ ( 生活水平) of China has been greatly improved since the open-up.

　　參考答案

　　Ⅰ. preplan / unbearable / unexpected prepay / uncertain / prewar unknown / uncommon / undecided

　　Ⅱ. 1. go with 2 . appeal 3 . man of the year 4. as much as possible 5. standard of living

　　參考譯文

　　回歸

　　面 對社會的急速變化及隨之而來的讓人擔憂而又難以預料的狀況, 國家和個人時常試 圖按老辦法來解決問題。20 世紀80 年代初期, 那些老辦法對許多美國人都有著強大的吸 引力。他們總是越看越覺得昔日的生活比未來要美好。兩位著名的專家曾經說道, 直到 20 世紀70 年代, 美國人還普遍認為他們的國家是“ 現在比過去好, 將來會比現在好”。然 而, 到了1978 年, 民意測驗則顯示, 許多美國人已經清醒地認識到事實剛好相反: 過去的社 會狀況比現在更有利于國家發展, 而未來可能還不如現在。

　　1980 年, 在羅納德· 里根當選為美國總統時, 這種用老辦法來解決20 世紀80 年代出現 的問題的流行思潮得到了很好的展示。《時代》周刊評選里根總統為當年的“ 年度風云 人物”, 并評價道,“ 無論在思想上還是感情上, 里根都生活在過去。”

　　里根總統的基本信條之一就是美國應盡量回到20 世紀30 年代前期的狀態。在那個 年代, 商業機構十分強大而政府則沒什么權威。里根相信, 商業的發展可以增強美國人的 個人自由和競爭的價值觀, 而政府機構的干預則會削弱這種價值觀。因此, 作為總統, 他提 出的計劃旨在極大地強化商業發展的同時, 削弱國民政府的規模和權力。通過求助于老方 法, 里根總統當時相信: 正如美國歷史上大多數時候出現的情況那樣, 美國人民的生活水平 將在20 世紀80 年代再次得到改善。