When you think of the tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s amazing how little we have developed in other respects. We may speak contemptuously of the poor old Romans because they relished the orgies of slaughter that went on in their arenas. We may despise them because they mistook these goings-on for entertainment. We may forgive them condescendingly because they lived 2000 years ago and obviously knew no better. But are our feelings of superiority really justified. Are we any less bloodthirsty Why do boxing matches, for instance, attract such universal interest Don’t the spectators who attend them hope they will see some violence Human beings remain as bloodthirsty as ever they were. The only difference between ourselves and the Romans is that while they were honest enough to admit that they enjoyed watching hungry lions tearing people apart and eating them alive, we find all sorts of sophisticated arguments to defend sports which should have been banned long ago; sports which are quite as barbarous as, say, public hangings or bearbaiting.
It is really incredible that in this day and age we should still allow hunting or bull-fighting, that we should be prepared to sit back and watch two men batter each other to pulp in a boxing ring, that we should be relatively unmoved by the sight of one or a number of racing cars crashing and bursting into flames. Let us not deceive ourselves. Any talk of "the sporting spirit" is sheer hypocrisy. People take part in violent sports because of the high rewards they bring. Spectators are willing to pay vast sums of money to see violence. A world heavy-weight championship match, for instance, is front-page news. Millions of people are disappointed if a big fight is over in two rounds instead of fifteen. They feel disappointment because they have been deprived of the exquisite pleasure of witnessing prolonged torture and violence.
Why should we ban violent sports if people enjoy them so much You may well ask. The answer is simple, they are uncivilized. For centuries man has been trying to improve himself spiritually and emotionally—admittedly with little success. But at least we no longer tolerate the sight of madmen being cooped up in cages, or public floggings of any of the countless other barbaric practices which were common in the past. Prisons are no longer the grim forbidding places they used to be. Social welfare systems are in operation in many parts of the world. Big efforts are being made to distribute wealth fairly. These changes have come about not because human beings have suddenly and unaccountably improved, but because positive steps were taken to change the law. The law is the biggest instrument of social change that we have and it may exert great civilizing influence. If we banned dangerous and violent sports, we would be moving one step further to improving mankind. We would recognize that violence is degrading and unworthy of human beings.
It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s opinion of nowadays’ human beings is ______.

A:not very high B:high C:contemptuous D:critical

George Williams, one of Scottsdale’s last remaining cowboys, has been raising horses and cattle on his 120 acres for 20 years. The cattle go to the slaughterhouse, the horses to rodeos. But Mr. Williams is stomping mad. His problems began last year when dishonest neighbours started to steal his cattle. Then other neighbours, most of them newcomers, took offence at his horses roaming on their properties.
Such grumbles are common in Arizona. The most recent Department of Agriculture census shows that 1 213 of Arizona’s 8 507 farms closed down between 1997 and 2002. Many cattlemen are moving out to remoter parts of the state.
Doc Lane is an executive at the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association, a trade group. He says Arizona’s larger ranch owners are making decent profits from selling. It is the smaller players who are the victims of rising land values, higher mortgages and stiffer city council rules. What happens all too often is that people move in next to a farm because they think the land pretty. But soon they start complaining to the council. In Mr. Williams’s case it was the horses that annoyed them. Other newcomers don’t like the noise, the pesticides and the smell of manure.
Locals worry about the precious, dwindling cowboy culture. Arizona’s tourism boards like to promote a steady interest in all things about cowboy and western. Last year more British and German tourists came than usual, and many of them were looking precisely for that. Arizona’s Dude Ranch Association fills its $ 350-a-night luxury ranches most of the year; roughly a third of the guests are European.
Many of the ranchers themselves see all this tourism as a cheeky attempt to commercialise a real and vanishing culture. In Prescott, estate agents promote "American Ranch-style" homes with posters of horse riders. On the other side of the street is Whiskey Row, a famous strip of historic cowboy bars. But in Matt’s Saloon on Saturday night, real cattlemen could not be found.
Farm folk like Mr. Knox and Mr. Williams are weighing up their options. Many will migrate to remoter places where land is cheaper and not crowded with city people. Younger ones take on side-jobs as contractors and are cattle-hands part-time. Older cowboys aren’t sure what to do.
What is the author’s attitude towards cattlemen

A:Combative. B:Contemptuous. C:Compassionate. D:Compromising.

All Americans are at least vaguely (1) with the (2) of the American Indian. Cutbacks in federal programs for Indians have made their problems (3) more severe in recent years. Josephy reports," (4) 1981 it was estimated that cut, backs in federal programs for Indians totaled about $ 500 million" (5) mole than ten times the cuts affecting their (6) fellow Americans. This reduced funding is affecting almost all aspects of reservation life, (7) education. If the Indians could solve their (8) problems, solutions to many of their other problems might not be far behind. In, this paper the current status of Indian education will be described and (9) and some ways of improving this education will be proposed.
Whether to (10) with the dominant American culture or to (11) Indian culture has been a longstanding issue in Indian education. The next fifty years became a period of (12) assimilation in all areas of Indian culture, but especially in religion and education (Jacoby 83r84).
John Collier, a reformer who agitated . (13) Indians and their culture from the early 1920s until his death in 1968, had a different i dea. He believed that instead of effacing native culture, Indian schools (14) encourage and (15) it ( Dippie’276, 325 ).
Pressure to assimilate remains a potent force today, (16) . More and more Indians are graduating from high school and college and becoming (17) for jobs in the non - Indian society." When Indians obtain the requisite skills, many of them enter the broader American society and succeed." (18) approximately 90 percent of all Indian children are educated in state public school systems (Taylor 136, 155). (19) these children compete with the members of the dominant society, however, is another (20) .

A:enforced B:overall C:contemptuous D:unbelievable

All Americans are at least vaguely (1) with the (2) of the American Indian. Cutbacks in federal programs for Indians have made their problems (3) more severe in recent years. Josephy reports," (4) 1981 it was estimated that cut, backs in federal programs for Indians totaled about $ 500 million" (5) mole than ten times the cuts affecting their (6) fellow Americans. This reduced funding is affecting almost all aspects of reservation life, (7) education. If the Indians could solve their (8) problems, solutions to many of their other problems might not be far behind. In, this paper the current status of Indian education will be described and (9) and some ways of improving this education will be proposed.
Whether to (10) with the dominant American culture or to (11) Indian culture has been a longstanding issue in Indian education. The next fifty years became a period of (12) assimilation in all areas of Indian culture, but especially in religion and education (Jacoby 83r84).
John Collier, a reformer who agitated . (13) Indians and their culture from the early 1920s until his death in 1968, had a different i dea. He believed that instead of effacing native culture, Indian schools (14) encourage and (15) it ( Dippie’276, 325 ).
Pressure to assimilate remains a potent force today, (16) . More and more Indians are graduating from high school and college and becoming (17) for jobs in the non - Indian society." When Indians obtain the requisite skills, many of them enter the broader American society and succeed." (18) approximately 90 percent of all Indian children are educated in state public school systems (Taylor 136, 155). (19) these children compete with the members of the dominant society, however, is another (20) .

A:enforced B:overall C:contemptuous D:unbelievable

A:enforced B:overall C:contemptuous D:unbelievable

George Williams, one of Scottsdale’s last remaining cowboys, has been raising horses and cattle on his 120 acres for 20 years. The cattle go to the slaughterhouse, the horses to rodeos. But Mr. Williams is stomping mad. His problems began last year when dishonest neighbours started to steal his cattle. Then other neighbours, most of them newcomers, took offence at his horses roaming on their properties.
Such grumbles are common in Arizona. The most recent Department of Agriculture census shows that 1 213 of Arizona’s 8 507 farms closed down between 1997 and 2002. Many cattlemen are moving out to remoter parts of the state.
Doc Lane is an executive at the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association, a trade group. He says Arizona’s larger ranch owners are making decent profits from selling. It is the smaller players who are the victims of rising land values, higher mortgages and stiffer city council rules. What happens all too often is that people move in next to a farm because they think the land pretty. But soon they start complaining to the council. In Mr. Williams’s case it was the horses that annoyed them. Other newcomers don’t like the noise, the pesticides and the smell of manure.
Locals worry about the precious, dwindling cowboy culture. Arizona’s tourism boards like to promote a steady interest in all things about cowboy and western. Last year more British and German tourists came than usual, and many of them were looking precisely for that. Arizona’s Dude Ranch Association fills its $ 350-a-night luxury ranches most of the year; roughly a third of the guests are European.
Many of the ranchers themselves see all this tourism as a cheeky attempt to commercialise a real and vanishing culture. In Prescott, estate agents promote "American Ranch-style" homes with posters of horse riders. On the other side of the street is Whiskey Row, a famous strip of historic cowboy bars. But in Matt’s Saloon on Saturday night, real cattlemen could not be found.
Farm folk like Mr. Knox and Mr. Williams are weighing up their options. Many will migrate to remoter places where land is cheaper and not crowded with city people. Younger ones take on side-jobs as contractors and are cattle-hands part-time. Older cowboys aren’t sure what to do.

A:Combative. B:Contemptuous. C:Compassionate. D:Compromising.

All Americans are at least vaguely (1) with the (2) of the American Indian. Cutbacks in federal programs for Indians have made their problems (3) more severe in recent years. Josephy reports," (4) 1981 it was estimated that cut, backs in federal programs for Indians totaled about $ 500 million" (5) mole than ten times the cuts affecting their (6) fellow Americans. This reduced funding is affecting almost all aspects of reservation life, (7) education. If the Indians could solve their (8) problems, solutions to many of their other problems might not be far behind. In, this paper the current status of Indian education will be described and (9) and some ways of improving this education will be proposed.
Whether to (10) with the dominant American culture or to (11) Indian culture has been a longstanding issue in Indian education. The next fifty years became a period of (12) assimilation in all areas of Indian culture, but especially in religion and education (Jacoby 83r84).
John Collier, a reformer who agitated . (13) Indians and their culture from the early 1920s until his death in 1968, had a different i dea. He believed that instead of effacing native culture, Indian schools (14) encourage and (15) it ( Dippie’276, 325 ).
Pressure to assimilate remains a potent force today, (16) . More and more Indians are graduating from high school and college and becoming (17) for jobs in the non - Indian society." When Indians obtain the requisite skills, many of them enter the broader American society and succeed." (18) approximately 90 percent of all Indian children are educated in state public school systems (Taylor 136, 155). (19) these children compete with the members of the dominant society, however, is another (20) .

A:enforced B:overall C:contemptuous D:unbelievable

Text 4 “The Heart of the Matter,” the just-released report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), deserves praise for affirming the importance of the humanities and social sciences to the prosperity and security of liberal democracy in America. Regrettably, however, the report’s failure to address the true nature of the crisis facing liberal education may cause more harm than good. 　　In 2010, leading congressional Democrats and Republicans sent letters to the AAAS asking that it identify actions that could be taken by "federal, state and local governments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors and others" to "maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education."In response, the American Academy formed the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. Among the commission’s 51 members are top-tier-university presidents, scholars, lawyers, judges, and business executives, as well as prominent figures from diplomacy, filmmaking, music and journalism. The goals identified in the report are generally admirable. Because representative government presupposes an informed citizenry, the report supports full literacy; stresses the study of history and government, particularly American history and American government; and encourages the use of new digital technologies. To encourage innovation and competition, the report calls for increased investment in research, the crafting of coherent curricula that improve students’ ability to solve problems and communicate effectively in the 21st century, increased funding for teachers and the encouragement of scholars to bring their learning to bear on the great challenges of the day. The report also advocates greater study of foreign languages, international affairs and the expansion of study abroad programs. 　　Unfortunately, despite 2 years in the making, "The Heart of the Matter" never gets to the heart of the matter: the illiberal nature of liberal education at our leading colleges and universities. The commission ignores that for several decades America’s colleges and universities have produced graduates who don’t know the content and character of liberal education and are thus deprived of its benefits. Sadly, the spirit of inquiry once at home on campus has been replaced by the use of the humanities and social sciences as vehicles for publicizing "progressive," or left-liberal propaganda. 　　Today, professors routinely treat the progressive interpretation of history and progressive public policy as the proper subject of study while portraying conservative or classical liberal ideas—such as free markets or self-reliance —as falling outside the boundaries of routine, and sometimes legitimate, intellectual investigation. 　　The AAAS displays great enthusiasm for liberal education. Yet its report may well set back reform by obscuring the depth and breadth of the challenge that Congress asked it to illuminate.According to Paragraph 1, what is the author’s attitude toward the AAAS’s report

A:Critical B:Appreciative C:Contemptuous D:Tolerant