2．What Is Today's American Dream
They may not have called it the American Dream，but for centuries people have gone to America in search of freer，happier，and richer lives．But is today's American Dream a mythical concept or still a reality？
Isabel Belarsky's tiny Brooklyn apartment fills with the sound of her father's voice．Sidor Belarsky sings an Aria in Russian and 90-year-old Isabel，her lips painted an elegant red，sways gently to the song coming from her stereo．
Isabel speaks with pride about her father's talent and his success as an opera singer：Albert Einstein was such a fan she says that he invited Sidor to accompany him on his speaking engagements and would ask him to sing to the audience．
How the Belarskys came to be in America is an extraordinary tale that Isabel loves to tell．It was the offer of a six-month job by a Mormon college president，who had seen Sidor singing in Leningrad，that enabled the Belarskys to escape from Stalin's Russia in 1930．"Our dream was being in America，"Isabel says．"They loved it．My mother could never think of Russia，it was her enemy and my father，he made such a wonderful career here．"
Like generations of immigrants before them，the Belarskys came to America in search of freedom-to them the American Dream meant liberty．But Isabel says it promised even more．"The dream is to work，to have a home and to get ahead．You can start as a janitor and become the owner of the building．"
The American Dream is not written into the constitution but it is so ingrained in the national psyche that it might as well be．Many point to the second sentence in the Declaration of Independence-the"certain unalienable rights"that include"life，liberty and the pursuit of happiness"as the"official"version of the phrase．But it was actually in 1931that the term was popularized，when historian James Truslow Adams wrote in The Epic of America that the Dream means"a better，richer，and happier life for all our citizens of every rank"．
The concept of the American Dream has not stayed static．For European immigrants，like Isabel，fleeing persecution in the first half of the last century，the Dream was about a life without persecution．
But somewhere in the middle of the last century the dream changed．As America's post war economy boomed，the new arrivals wanted more than freedom-they wanted a share of the prosperity as well．
In the 1950s，TV commercials featured housewives proudly showing off kitchens filled with gleaming appliances．The quest for liberation became a quest for Coca Cola．As the century wore on，the materialistic slant of the dream overtook the political side．Dallas and Dynasty suggested this was a country where it was possible to become not just rich，but filthily rich．
Cheyanne Smith was shocked at the deprivation that greeted her in America．She arrived in New York from the Caribbean seven years ago．Having watched endless American TV shows as a child，she thought she knew what to expect when her family moved to Brooklyn．Instead，the deprivation of one of New York's poorest neighbourhoods shocked her．
"I thought this is not America because this is not what I see on television，"she says．Like Cheyanne，18-year-old Franscisco Curiel is also ambitious．He came from Mexico City three years ago to go to college here but he's worried that Brooklyn's schools aren't going to give him a good enough education．"The system is broken； we can't get the superior education that they supposedly want to give us，"he says．
Through the centuries America's immigrants have endured terrible hardship and sacrifice so that they and their children can get ahead．Perhaps it's not surprising to hear the members of the Bushwick youth group lament the multiple，low paid jobs that their parents must do simply to get the rent paid and put food on the table．What is startling is that these bright，ambitious youngsters just don't believe that talent and hard work are enough to ensure they will ever have a shot at that mythical American Dream．
66．Why did the Belarskys come to the US according to the passage？A
A．To seek freedom．
B．To seek wealth．
C．To seek good education．
D．To seek a good job．
67．What is the meaning of"the materialistic slant of the dream overtook the political side"in Paragraph 9？C
A．The American Dream means both material success and political freedom．
B．The American Dream means material success rather than political freedom．
C．The American Dream means more material success than political freedom．
D．The American Dream means more political freedom than material success．
68．What is Cheyanne Smith and Franscisco Curiel's attitude toward American Dream？B
A．Hopeful． B．Disappointed． C．Optimistic． D．Neutral．
69．What can we know about the Bushwick youth group according to the last paragraph？B
A．They feel grateful that their parents did low paid jobs to raise the family．
B．They doubt that talent and hard work will make them realize their American Dream．
C．They have endured great hardship and sacrifice．
D．They are willing to do the low paid jobs to help pay their education．
70．What can be inferred from the passage？B
A．The American Dream is deeply-rooted in the national psyche．
B．The concept of the American Dream has gone through changes throughout the time．
C．American Dream is still firmly believed by the majority of the immigrants．
D．The concept of American Dream will remain unchanged in the next two decades．
分析 本文主要向大家介绍了美国梦这一理念．文章通过一些美国公民的例子展开，来解释美国梦的概念．但美国梦也不是一成不变的，它也会受美国经济等的影响而改变，从而会有一些美国公民对这个美国梦感到失望和担心．
解答 66．A．细节理解题．根据文章"the Belarskys came to America in search of freedom-to them the American Dream meant liberty"可知．Belarskys来到美国是为了寻找自由．故选A．
67．C．推理预测题．此句前文"TV commercials featured housewives proudly showing off kitchens filled with gleaming appliances．The quest for liberation became a quest for Coca Cola"，可了解到，随着时间迁移，家庭主妇用上了华丽的厨具，人们也开始追求可口可乐．可见，此时的美国梦，在物质上已经超过政治，故选C．
68．B．细节理解题．根据文章"Cheyanne Smith was shocked at the deprivation that greeted her in America"和""I thought this is not America because this is not what I see on television，"she says"以及"He came from Mexico City three years ago to go to college here but he's worried that Brooklyn's schools aren't going to give him a good enough education"可知，Cheyanne Smith and Franscisco Curie对美国是担心，震惊，不敢相信的．故选B．
69．B．细节理解题．根据文章"What is startling is that these bright，ambitious youngsters just don't believe that talent and hard work are enough to ensure they will ever have a shot at that mythical American Dream．"可知，这些年轻人不相信天赋和努力都足以保证实现那个神秘的美国梦．故选B．
70．B．推理预测题．根据文章"The concept of the American Dream has not stayed static"可知，美国梦的层面不是一成不变的，根据后文"fleeing persecution in the first half of the last century，the Dream was about a life without persecution．But somewhere in the middle of the last century the dream changed"可知，美国梦是随着美国经济状况，和平状况随之改变的．故选B．
点评 本文是考察学生历史文化类阅读理解文章．这类文章常涉及历史、文化、法制、宗教等方面的文学艺术、发明创造、文化遗产保护、宗教与文化、风俗与习惯、道德与法制、中外文学名著节选、等等．这类材料的命题点往往落在主旨大意题、事实细节题上
