Between ten and midnight the United States is politically leaderless—there is no center of

Between ten and midnight the United States is politically leaderless—there is no center of information anywhere in the nation except in the New York headquarters of the great broadcasting panies and two wire services. No candidate and no party can afford the investment on election night to match the news-gathering resources of the mass media; and so as every citizen sits in his home watching his TV set or listening to his radio, he is the equal of any other in knowledge. There is nothing that can be done in these hours, for no one can longer direct the great strike for America’s power; the polls have closed. Good or bad, whatever the decision, America will accept the decision—and cut down any man who goes against it, even though for millions the decision runs contrary to their own votes. The general vote is an expression of national will, the only substitute for violence and blood. Its decision is to be defended as one defends civilization itself.
There is nothing like this American expression of will in England or France, India or Russia. Only one other major nation in modern history has tried to elect its leader directly by mass, free, popular vote. This was the Weiman Republic of Germany, which modeled its unitary vote for national leaders on the American practice. Out of its experiment with the system it got Hitler. Americans have had Lincoln, Wilson and two Roosevelts. Nothing can be done when the voting returns are flooding in; the White House and its power will move to one or another of the two candidates, and all will know about it in the morning. But for these hours history stops.
【小题1】Between ten P.M. and midnight the United States is politically leaderless because     .A．the president has been murderedB．the general strike for power has endedC．the government has resignedD．the general vote is being held【小题2】“The great strike for America’s power” in Paragraph 1 refers to     .A．the strike of the government members B．the great voteC．the election campaignD．the strike of the government employees【小题3】The author believes that the decision at the polls will     .A．lead to a civil warB．result in a general strikeC．cause violence and bloodD．be defended by all Americans【小题4】Without the general vote, the author implies     .A．there would be a civil warB．there would be a general strikeC．there would be an election campaignD．there would be a fierce debateD