09考研英语阅读理解技巧标准全书(6)

In spite of "endless talk of difference," American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. This is "the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference "characteristic of popular culture. People are absorbed into"a culture of consumption"launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered "vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite." these were stores "anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act." The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.
Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today's immigration is neither at unprecedented level nor resistant to assimilation.

In 1998, immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1,000. Now, consider three indices of assimilation-language, home ownership and intermarriage.

The 1990 census revealed that"a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English ‘well' or ‘very well' after ten years of residence."

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The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English. "By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families." Hence the description of America as a "graveyard" for language. By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans.

Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics "have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S.-born whites and blacks." By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non- Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians. Rodriguez note that children in remote villages around world are fans of superstars like Amold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet "some Americans fear that immigrant living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation's assimilative power." Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America? Indeed，it is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America's turbulent past, today's social induces hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment.（2006年真题）

21. The word "homogenizing" most probably means ________.

[A] identifying
[B] associating
[C] assimilating
[D] monopolizing

【解答过程】解题思路一：

文中第一句说"尽管人们在没完没了地谈论差异，而美国社会却是一个惊人____的机器。"从句意理解可以看出，后一句在内容上应该和前面的让步状语内容是相对的。前句谈到"差异"，后句自然是与"一致"相近的含义了。查看选项，A鉴定，有差别才能鉴定，排除。B联系，C同化，D垄断，对比三者含义，只有C与一致最接
近，故答案为C。

解题思路二：

从文章中心判断，本文中心探讨的是有关"移民融入美国社会"的内容，C最能反映文章中心，反映中心的是解，故确定答案为C。

解题思路三：

从英语的使用习惯上看，对于需要反复表达的同一含义，文中通常会采用不同的同义词进行替换， 而作为文章表达的中心"homogenizing"，其同义词必然会在文中多次出现，自然可以在文中找到相近的词，然后进行推断。在文中，我们通过句意可得到"uniformity"、"assimilation"、"assimilative"等含义相近的替代
词，同样可以得出答案为C。

22. According to the author, the department stores of the 19th century ______.

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[A] played a role in the spread of popular culture
[B] became intimate shops for common consumers
[C] satisfied the needs of a knowledgeable elite
[D] owed its emergence to the culture of consumption

【解答过程】文章中心"移民融入美国社会"，社会的相容自然是文化间的融通。题目问到有关文章中提到的"19世纪美国百货商店"这一具体事例。通常，文中事例是对中心的强化。查看选项，只有A在大众文化传播中起到了作用，涉及了"文化"这一中心，反映中心的是解，故答案为A，这一选项其实在文章第一段中也作了具体说明。B成为普通大众的商店、C满足了知识精英的需要、D它的产生归功于消费文化，均偏离文章中心。

23. The text suggests that immigrants now in the U.S. _______.

[A] are resistant to homogenization
[B] exert a great influence on American culture
[C] are hardly a threat to the common culture
[D] constitute the majority of the population

【解答过程】从文中"is hardly poisonous"、"hardly suggest a dark anddeteriorating social environment"可以看出，作者对目前移民融入美国文化持正面评价。A对同化的抵制，和作者态度相悖，排除；B对美国文化施加了很大的影响，从"Hence the description of America as a ‘graveyard'for language（因此，把美国描述成语言的坟墓）"说明美国文化对外来语言的影响力，而不是移民对美国文化的影响，排除；C几乎没有对大众文化构成威胁，和作者的态度吻合，反映作者态度的是解，故答案为C；D构成了大部分人口，文中只是对不同地区的移民在美国的状况作对比（如拥有房屋的比例、异族通婚的比例等），并没有整个人口的对比，并且从"In 1998, immigrantswere 9.8 percent of population;⋯"这段数据也可以看到，移民不可能构成美国人口的多数（现实中，移民人口占一国人口的多数是罕见的，违背常识的不是解，也可以排除D）。

24. Why are Amold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks mentioned in Paragraph 5?

[A] To prove their popularity around the world.
[B] To reveal the public's fear of immigrants.
[C] To give examples of successful immigrants.
[D] To show the powerful influence of American culture.

【解答过程】举例是为了论证文章中心，D展示了美国文化强大的影响力，反映了"美国文化的影响"这一中心，反映中心的是解，故确定答案为D。A证明他们在全球的流行，表面肤浅的解释，肤浅的不是解；B揭示了公众对移民的担忧，和作者态度相悖，违背作者态度的不是解；C给出了一个成功移民的例子，虽然和整个文章的态度吻合，但严重偏离了段落的中心（事实上，他们两人并非移民，违背常识的不是
解），不是解。

25. In the author's opinion, the absorption of immigrants into American society is
_____

[A] rewarding
[B] successful
[C] fruitless
[D] harmful

【解答过程】从文中"is hardly poisonous"、"hardly suggest a dark and deterioratingsocial environment"可以看出，作者对目前移民对美国文化的影响持正面评价。A有益的、B成功的、C没有成果的、D有害的，根据作者态度可以首先排除C、D，符合正面评价的只有A、B。将A代入文中检验，可以看到，文中主要客观论述移民与美国文化融合的状况，从文中可以看出是成功的，但并未涉及到取得的收益。有部分考生甚至
是专家选择了A，这其实可以从另外一个角度考虑，收益通常是某一方对利益的权衡结果，成功则是对一种状态的描述，本篇文章中没有涉及到收益的权衡，因此可以排除A。故答案为B。

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