問題詳情

Section B 
Although voting rights have steadily expanded in the United States, the numbers of peoplewho vote have been steadily decreasing. Even in presidential elections, half the potentialelectorate stays home. In fact, lower percentages of registered voters now vote in the UnitedStates than in any other industrialized democracy. After the election, some editorialists criticizethe nonvoters for being lazy, while others criticize the candidates for being uninspiring－butthe question of why eligible voters abstain is more complicated than newspaper editorialsusually suggest. 
 Voting is dear. If you are paid by the hour and you take time off in order to vote, you losea portion of your wages. Otherwise, you may have to wait in long lines to be able to vote beforeor after work. If you are a parent who cares for small children, you may need to pay the cost ofa sitter. Even if you are a professional who can leave work early or arrive late, you may do lesswork on Election Day if you take the time to vote. Moreover, not all costs are tangible. Thetime you spend at the voting precinct is time that you may not spend on other activities, someof which may seem more fulfilling. For some people with little information about politics, theentire voting situation can be uncomfortable; staying home enables them to avoid thediscomfort. If you are surprised that such seemingly small considerations could lower turnout,consider that turnout generally falls when the weather is rainy or very hot. 
There also are benefits to voting, of course. The most obvious is likely the least important:the possibility that your vote might swing an election. Your vote affects an electoral outcomeonly if it creates or breaks a tie. 
 Otherwise, you could stay home and the election would come out the same way. Thechance that a single voter will swing a state or national election is very low, even when turnoutfalls to its lowest levels. In the 1996 presidential election, which attracted the lowest turnoutrate of any presidential election in the twentieth century, almost 100 million Americans voted.In the 1998 elections for the U.S. House of Representatives, which featured the lowest midterm  election turnout in half a century, an average of 140,000 citizens voted in each congressionalrace. Given numbers like these, a desire to determine who wins the election cannot be a verypowerful individual motivation for turning out. From a purely practical standpoint, the puzzleis not that turnout is so low in the United States but, rather, that turnout is as high as it is. 
Late in the nineteenth century, when turnout levels were especially high－well over 75percent outside the South－some voters had a compelling reason to show up at the polls: Theywere paid to do so. Historians estimate that the going price of a vote in New York City electionscould soar as high as $25 in today’s dollars when adjusted for inflation. 
 Material rewards are a much rarer benefit of voting today, but sop for voting still existshere and there, mainly in the poorer areas of eastern cities. Citizens also may feel compelled tovote in elections because the outcome can directly affect their material interests. For example,government employees vote at higher rates than people employed in the private sector, otherthings being equal－especially in low-turnout local elections.Today, however, most of the individual motivations for voting are not material butpsychological. For example, some people feel a civic duty to vote. They avoid guilt by showingup at the polls. Americans are highly individualistic, though, so they are not especially prone toplace much emphasis on civic duty. Perhaps the most compelling benefit of voting is thepleasure it can bring. Some Americans take satisfaction in expressing their preference for acandidate or an issue position, much as they might enjoy cheering for an athletic team.Psychological benefits are an important incentive for voting. Whereas your vote makes nodifference unless it affects the outcome, you receive the psychological benefits regardless ofthe closeness of an election. Indeed, voters may take even more satisfaction when they can bepart of a political team that wins big, much as sports teams gain in popularity when they enjoya particularly good season.Another reason people vote goes beyond simple individual motivations. Sometimes peopleparticipate in elections because they have been encouraged to vote by others who have personalincentives to increase turnout. Voter mobilization consists of the efforts of parties, groups, andactivists to canvass for their candidate. Campaign workers provide baby sitters and rides to thepolls, thus reducing the individual costs of voting. They apply social pressure by contactingcitizens who haven’t voted and reminding them to do so. Various groups and social networksto which individuals belong also exert social pressures, encouraging the feeling that one has aresponsibility to vote. Although pressures and benefits like these may seem small, rememberthat the costs of voting are relatively small as well.[!--empirenews.page--]
41. What does the author imply about voting rights in the United States?
(A)Many people have lost their right to vote.
(B) Over time, more people have decided to vote.
(C) People prefer voting in state elections over national elections.
(D)In the past, fewer people had the right to vote.

參考答案

答案：D
難度：適中0.4
統計：A(0),B(2),C(1),D(2),E(0)

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