President Coolidge’s statement, “The business of America is business,” still points to an

President Coolidge’s statement, “The business of America is business,” still points to an important truth today — that business institutions have more prestige (威望) in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government. Why do business institutions possess this great prestige?
One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the ideal of petition than other institutions in society. Since petition is seen as the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans, petitive business institutions are respected. Competition is not only good in itself, it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected.
Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly (垄断) of power. In contrast to one all-powerful government, many businesses pete against each other for profits. Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to peting business which treats its customers more fairly. Where many businesses pete for the customers’ dollar, they cannot afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves.
A contrast is often made between business, which is petitive, and government, which is a monopoly. Because business is petitive, many Americans believe that it is more supportive of freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people and business leaders are not. Many Americans believe, then, that petition is as important, or even more important, than democracy in preserving freedom.
Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity. Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his or her social class background. Competitive success is monly seen as the American alternative to social rank based on family background. Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity rather than the aristocratic (贵族的) idea of inherited privilege.
1. The statement “The business of America is business” probably means    .
A. America is a great power in world business
B. Business is of primary concern to Americans
C. The business institutions in America are concerned with merce
D. Business problems are of great importance to the American government
2. Americans believe that they can realize their personal values only     .
A. by protecting their individual freedom                        
B. when given equality of opportunity
C. by way of petition                                               
D. through doing business
3. Who can benefit from business petition?
A. People with ideals of equality and freedom.   
B. Both business institutions and government.
C. Honest businessmen.                             
D. Both businessmen and their customers.
4. Government is believed to differ strikingly from business in that government is characterized by     .
A. its role in protecting basic American values                  
B. its absolute control of power
C. its democratic way of exercising leadership
D. its function in preserving personal freedom
5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes     .
A. in many countries success often depends on one’s social status
B. businesses in other countries are not as petitive as those in America
C. American businesses are more democratic than those in other countries
D. Americans are more ambitious than people in other countriesB