考研英语阅读命题思路透析和真题揭秘(43)

2006年Text 1

In spite of "endless talk of difference," American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is "the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence 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 10years 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." 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 languages. 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 the world are fans of superstars like Arnold 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 suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment.

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.

[答案] C

[解题思路]

首先，A和D选项的内容在文章中没有涉及，可以排除。而B和C选项的意思基本上是想相反的，因此只有一项是正确答案。文章的第三、四段主要谈论了关于移民的问题，其中指出了移民们经过了几代之后都已经失去了原来的语言、而且移民与美国本族人的通婚也越来越频繁，这些都说明了美国移民们很好地融入了美国文化、几乎都被美国的大众文化同化了。他们不仅没有对美国文章带来很大的影响，反而对美国文化丝毫不构成威胁。因此，可以判断C选项是正确答案。

[题目译文]

文章指出现在的美国移民们
[A] 反对单一化
[B] 对美国文化有很大的影响
[C] 对大众文化几乎没有什么威胁
[D] 构成人口中的大多数