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题干:Americanstodaydon'tplaceaveryhighvalueonintellect.Ourheroesareathletes,entertainers,andentrepreneurs,notscholars.Evenourschoolsarewherewesendourchildrentogetapracticaleducation-nottopursueknowledgeforthesakeofknowledge.Symptomsofpervasiveanti-intellectualisminourschoolsaren'tdifficulttofind.“Schoolshavealwaysbeeninasocietywherepracticalismoreimportantthanintellectual,"sayseducationwriterDianeRavitch.“Schoolscouldbeacounterbalance."Ravitch'slatestbook,LeftBack:ACenturyofFailedSchoolReforms,tracestherootsofanti-intellectualisminourschools,concludingtheyareanythingbutacounterbalancetotheAmericandistasteforintellectualpursuits.Buttheycouldandshouldbe.Encouragingkidstorejectthelifeofthemindleavesthemvulnerabletoexploitationandcontrol.Withouttheabilitytothinkcritically,todefendtheirideasandunderstandtheideasofothers,theycannotfullyparticipateinourdemocracy.Continuingalongthispath,sayswriterEarlShorris,”Wewillbecomeasecond-ratecountry.Wewillhavealesscivilsociety.”“Intellectisresentedasaformofpowerorprivilege,”writeshistorianandprofessorRichardHofstadterinAnti-IntellectualisminAmericanlife,aPulitzerPrizewinningbookontherootsofanti-intellectualisminUSpolitics,religion,andeducation.Fromthebeginningofourhistory,saysHofstadter,ourdemocraticandpopulisturgeshavedrivenustorejectanythingthatsmellsofelitism.Practicality,commonsense,andnativeintelligencehavebeenconsideredmorenoblequalitiesthananythingyoucouldlearnfromabook.RalphWaldoEmersonandotherTranscendentalistphilosophersthoughtschoolingandrigorousbooklearningputunnaturalrestraintsonchildren:“Weareshutupinschoolsandcollegerecitationroomsfor10or15yearsandcomeoutatlastwithabellyfulofwordsanddonotknowathing.”MarkTwain'sHuckleberryFinnexemplifiedAmericananti-intellectualism.Itsheroavoidsbeingcivilized-goingtoschoolandlearningtoread-sohecanpreservehisinnategoodness.Intellect,accordingtoHofstadter,isdifferentfromnativeintelligence,aqualitywereluctantlyadmire.Intellectisthecritical,creative,andcontemplativesideofthemind.Intelligenceseekstograsp,manipulate,re-order,andadjust,whileintellectexamines,ponders,wonders,theorizes,criticizesandimagines.Schoolremainsaplacewhereintellectismistrusted.Hofstadtersaysourcountry'seducationalsystemisinthegripsofpeoplewho“joyfullyandmilitantlyproclaimtheirhostilitytointellectandtheireagernesstoidentifywithchildrenwhoshowtheleastintellectualpromise”.
题目:We can learn from the text that Americans have a history of_____.