A．they think of it as immoralB．their pursuits are not f……
TEXT E
If ambition is to be well
regarded, the rewards of ambition--wealth, distinction, control over one’s
destiny--must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambition’s behalf. If
the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it
especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves ad- mired, the
educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who
have claimed to have given up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they
have perhaps most benefited from ambition--if not always their own then that of
their parents and grandparents. There is heavy note of hypocrisy in this, a case
of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped, with the educated
themselves riding on them. Certainly people do not seem less
interested in success and its signs now than formerly. Summer homes, European
travel, BMWs--the locations, place names and name brands may change, ’but such
items do not seem less in demand today than a decade or two years ago. What has
happened is that people cannot confess fully to their dreams, as easily and
openly as once they could, lest they be thought pushing, acquisitive and vulgar.
In- stead, we are treated to fine hypocritical spectacles, which now more than
ever seem in ample supply; the critic of American materialism with a Southampton
summer home; the publisher of radical books who takes his meals in three-star
restaurants; the journalist advocating participatory democracy in all phases of
life, whose own children are enrolled in private schools. For such people and
many more perhaps not so exceptional, the proper formulation is, "Succeed at all
costs but avoid appearing ambitious."
The attacks on ambition
are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and
unimpressive, where they are not extremely unattractive. As a result, the
support for ambition as a healthy impulse, a quality to be admired and fixed in
the mind of the young, is probably lower than it has ever been in the United
States. This does not mean that ambition is at an end, that people no longer
feel its stirring and prompting, but only that, no longer openly honored, it is
less openly underground, or made sly. Such, then, is the way things stand: on
the left angry critics, on the right stupid supporters, and in the middle, as
usual, the majority of ear nest people trying to get on in life. (418)
Some people do not openly admit they have ambition because ______.
A．they think of it as immoral
B．their pursuits are not fame or wealth
C．ambition is not closely related to material benefits
D．they do not want to appear greedy and contemptible
