TEXT A Concern with money, and
then with more money, in order to buy the conveniences and luxuries of modern
life, has brought great changes to the lives of most Frenchmen. More people are
working than ever before in France. In the cities the traditional leisurely
midday meal is disappearing. Offices, shops, and factories are discovering the
greater efficiency of a short lunch hour in company lunchrooms. In almost all
lines of work, emphasis now falls on ever-increasing output. Thus the "typical"
Frenchman produces more, earns more, and buys more consumer goods than his
counterpart of only a generation ago. He gains in creature comforts and ease of
life. What he loses to some extent is his sense of personal unique- ness, or
individuality. Some say that France has been Americanized. This
is because the United States is a world symbol of the technological society and
its consumer products. The so-called Americanization of France has its critics.
They fear that "assembly-line life" will lead to the disappearance of the
pleasures of the more graceful and leisurely (but less productive) old French
style. What would happen, they ask, to taste, elegance, and the cultivation of
good things in life--to joy in the smell of a freshly picked apple, a stroll by
the river, or just happy hours of conversation in a local cafe
Since the late 1950s life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush,
tension, and pursuit of material gains. Some of the strongest critics of the new
way of life are the young, especially university students. They are concerned
with the future, and they fear that France is threatened by triumph of this
competitive, goods-oriented culture. Occasionally, they have reacted against the
trend with considerable violence. In spite of the critics,
however, countless Frenchmen are committed to keeping France in the forefront of
the modern economic world. They find that the present life brings more rewards,
conveniences, and pleasures than that of the past. They believe that a modern,
industrial France is preferable to the old. Which of the following is NOT true about Frenchmen
A．Many of them prefer the modern life style. B．They actually enjoy working at the assembly line. C．They are more concerned with money than before. D．They are more competitive than the older generation.