Concern with money, and then more money, in order to buy the conveniences and luxuries of modern life, has brought great changes to the lives of most Frenchmen. More people are working harder than ever before in France. In the cities the traditional leisurely midday meal is disappearing. Offices, shops, and factories are discovering the great efficiency of a short lunch hour in company lunch rooms. In almost all lines of work emphasis now falls on ever increasing output. Thus the “typical” Frenchman produces more, earns more, and buys more consumer goods than his counterpart of only a generation ago. He gains in creature comfort and ease of life. What he loses to some extent is his sense of personal uniqueness, or individuality.
Some say that France has been Americanized. This is because the United States is a world symbol of the technological society and its consumer products. The so called Americanization of France has its critics. They fear that “assembly line life” will lead to the disappearance of the pleasures of the more graceful and leisurely (but less productive) old French style. What will happen, they ask, to taste, elegance, and the cultivation of the good things in life to joy in the smell of a freshly picked apple, a stroll by the river, or just happy hours of conversation in a local café?
Since the late 1950s life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush, tension, and the pursuit of material gain. Some of the strongest critics of the new way of life are the young, especially university students. They are concerned with the future, and they fear that France is threatened by the triumph of this competitive, goods-oriented culture. Occasionally, they have reacted against the trend with considerable violence.
In spite of the critics, however, countless Frenchmen are committed to keeping France in the forefront of the modern economic world. They find that the present life brings more rewards, conveniences, and pleasures than that of the past. They believe that a modern, industrial France is preferable to the old.
小题1:Which of the following is a feature of the old French way of life?
A．Leisure, elegance, and efficiency
B．Elegance, efficiency, and taste
C．Leisure, elegance, and taste
D．Elegance, efficiency, and leisure小题2:Which of the following is NOT true about Frenchmen?
A．Many of them prefer the modern life style.
B．They actually enjoy working at the assembly line.
C．They are more concerned with money than before.
D．They are more competitive than the old generation.小题3:The passage suggests that _________.
A．in pursuing material gains the French are suffering losses elsewhere
B．it’s now unlikely to see a Frenchman enjoying a stroll by the river
C．the French are fed up with the smell of freshly picked apples
D．great changes have occurred in the life style of all Frenchmen小题4:Which of the following is true about the critics?
A．Critics are greater in number than people enjoying the new way of life.
B．Students critics are greater in number than critics in other fields.
C．Students critics have, on occasion, resorted to violent means against the trend.
D．Critics are concerned solely with the present and not the future.小题5:Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
A．Changes in the French Way of Life
B．Criticism of the New Life Style
C．The Americanization of France
D．Features of the New Way of Life
