| Leistungskurs Englisch 12.1 |
Klausur Nr 1 |
28. Oktober 2005 |
1. Text: An Advertisement
Enterprise, A Neglected Freedom
by Continental Oil Company
The very large profits that multinational oil companies
earned as a result of price increases of crude oil caused many Americans
to call for increased regulation or control of these firms. In response to
this pressure, the oil industry mounted a public relations campaign to prevent
public interference in their undertakings.
This advertisement by the Continental Oil Company
(Conoco) is one example of this effort and draws upon themes of the American
Dream.
(in TIME, special 1776 issue, 1975)
2. Tasks:
1. This advertisement does not mainly want to sell a product ‑ what, instead, is its intention? Give an outline of its argumentation and analyse what role free enterprise is said to have in US history and society. (250)
2. What function do the quotations in facsimile ‑ including the portraits of famous men and women ‑ have here, how are they related to the text and to the context of the American Dream? (150)
3. Write a letter to the makers of this advertisement, either agreeing or disagreeing with their views; use information from the texts we read to support your arguments (300)
3. Annotations:
Text:
to spur ‑ to urge on, make
go faster. interwoven ‑ connected. woven into the same cloth
‑ here: interwoven Adam Smith (1723‑1790)
social philosopher (not John Smith (1580‑1631) explorer, founder of Jamestown
(1607)
The quotations:
Thomas Jefferson (1743‑1826)
James Madison (1751‑1836): fourth
president of the USA
abridgment ‑ here: limitation.
encroachment ‑ gradual taking over. usurpation ‑ unlawful seizing
of power
Patrick Henry (1736‑1799): brilliant
orator and leading figure in the American revolution ("... give me liberty
or give me death")
vigor (see: vigour)
Thomas Paine (1737‑1809): political
journalist, author of "Common Sense" (1776)
to be apt to ‑ to tend to
Abigail Adams (1744‑1818): wife of
John Adams (2nd president), mother of John Quincy Adams (6th
president)
Alexander Hamilton (1755‑1804): First secretary
of the treasury of the USA
The text of the advertisement:
Individual enterprise, as Thomas
Jefferson noted, was the foundation for the pillars of American prosperity
two centuries ago. In fact, it was largely the enterprise of individuals
and organizations seeking private gain, or profit, that spurred the founding
of the colonies in the century before the break with England.
Every school child knows that the
Revolution was a struggle for freedom. What is often overlooked is that one
of the basic liberties for which the colonies fought was the freedom of enterprise
‑ the freedom to develop without the economic constraints imposed by England.
The founding fathers were deeply influenced by Adam Smith's philosophy of
economic independence, so it was significant that the Declaration of Independence
appeared in the same year as another historic declaration ‑ Smith's Wealth
of Nations.
In the two hundred years of America's
growth, freedom of enterprise has been tightly interwoven with our other
basic freedoms. It has provided a unique climate for invention, for innovation
and for competition that has allowed our people to achieve an unparalleled
living standard. In short, it was and is the most effective, efficient economic
system ever devised.
Now, however, we hear increasing
calls for constraints on our economic freedom. Calls for more government
controls, more government regulations, more government restrictions. Many
are directed at the energy business, but they have implications for all business,
indeed for all Americans.
Ironically, the people who seek to
inhibit economic freedom are often the ones who cry the loudest for other
kinds of liberties. They do not accept the fact that all our freedoms are
woven into the same cloth, and that if one is weakened, the others will be
weakened also.
Now, at this special time in our
history, Americans should remember that our freedoms are inseparable. Freedom
of enterprise is essential to our economic growth and well being, to create
more and better jobs, more energy, more security ‑ and the capital that they
demand. Furthermore, this same freedom of enterprise can generate the funds
needed to continue the impressive social progress achieved in recent years.
The more we study history, the more
we will respect the wisdom of the men who founded this country. They knew
that freedom was both priceless and fragile. And they told us to treat it
with great care. That is America's heritage ‑ and America's challenge.
The quotations:
Thomas Jefferson:
Agriculture, Manufacture, Commerce, and Navigation, the four Pillars of our Prosperity, are the most thriving when left to individual Enterprise.
James Madison
There are more
Instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent
Encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.
Patrick Henry:
Perfect freedom
is as necessary to the health and vigor of commerce as it is to the health
and vigor of Citizenship.
Thomas Paine:
In the Progress
of Politics as in the common occurrence of Life we are not only apt to forget
the ground we have travelled over, but frequently neglect to gather up experience
as we go.
Abigail Adams:
We have too
many high-sounding words, and too few Actions that correspond with them.
Alexander Hamilton:
Not only the
wealth but the Independence and Security of a country appear to be materially
connected with the Prosperity of manufactures.