[单选题]21.In the United States there are two major political parties, the Democratic and the Republican. The Democratic party is the older of the two, tracing its history back to the time of Andrew Jackson in 1820s. The Republican party, which followed the Federalist party and the Whigs, was organized in the 1850s primarily as an antislavery party. Since antislavery sentiment was strongest in the manufacturing area of the North and East, the Republican party logically adopted the protective tariff and other ideas furthering the growth of manufacturing in the United States. In 1860 the Democratic party was split into two factions, the northern and the southern Democrats, each putting up its own candidate for president. While the two factions together polled more votes than did the Republican ticket, the Republicans received a total higher than that of either faction of the Democrats, and Abraham Lincoln was elected president.
From 1860 to the present day there have been many attempts to found new parties. But whenever a third party has had considerable appeal at the polls, one of both of the major parties in the next election has embraced the platform accounting for its appeal, and the third party has faded away.
Over the years, therefore, the positions of the two major parties have been changing and adapting themselves to the currently important problems of public policy. At one time the Democratic party was considered to be a party standing up for state rights, and the Republican party a party representing the interests of business and industry. A clearcut difference between the two parties, however, has not existed for more than half a century. If one reads the platforms of the two parties, one finds that there is very little difference between them. Each party seems to be appealing to practically every group of voters. Unlike the political parties of Europe, and unlike the Conservatives and Laborites in England, the political parties in the United States are the collections of many disparate (不同的) elements.


21.1  At first, the platform of the Republican party was centered around____.
A. antislavery policies
 B. developing manufacturing
 C. settling the disputes between factions
 D. solving social problems

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