单项选择题
| Concern with money, and then 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 great 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 uniqueness, 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 disappearancg of the pleasures of the more graceful and leisurely (bout less proiuctive) old French style. What will happen, they ask, to taste, elegance, and the cultivation of the 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 1950’s life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush, tension, and the pursuit of material gain. 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 isthreatened by the 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. |