Two divergent definitions have dominated sociologists’ discussions of the nature of ethnicity. The first emphasizes the primordi

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问题     Two divergent definitions have dominated sociologists’ discussions of the nature of ethnicity. The first emphasizes the primordial and unchanging character of ethnicity. In this view, people have an essential need for belonging that is satisfied by membership in groups based on shared ancestry and culture. A different conception of ethnicity de-emphasizes the cultural component and defines ethnic groups as interest groups. In this view, ethnicity serves as a way of mobilizing a certain population behind issues relating to its economic position. While both of these definitions are useful, neither fully captures the dynamic and changing aspects of ethnicity in the United States. Rather, ethnicity is more satisfactorily conceived of as a process in which preexisting communal bonds and common cultural attributes are adapted for instrumental purposes according to changing real-life situations.
    One example of this process is the rise of participation by Native American people in the broader United States political system since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. Besides lead- ing Native Americans to participate more actively in politics(the number of Native American legislative officeholders more than doubled), this movement also evoked increased interest in tribal his- tory and traditional culture. Cultural and instrumental components of ethnicity are not mutually exclusive, but rather reinforce one another.
    The Civil Rights movement also brought changes in the uses to which ethnicity was put by Mexican American people. In the 1960’s, Mexican Americans formed community-based political groups that emphasized ancestral her- itage as a way of mobilizing constituents. Such emerging issues as immigration and voting rights gave Mexican American advocacy groups the means by which to promote ethnic soli- darity. Like European ethnic groups in the nineteenth-century United States, late-twentieth-century Mexican American leaders combined ethnic with contemporary civic symbols. In 1968 Henry Censors, then mayor of San Antonio, Texas, cited Mexican leader Benito Juarez as a model for Mexican Americans in their fight for contemporary civil rights. And every year, Mexican Amer- icans celebrate Cinco de Mayo as fervently as many Irish American people embrace St. Patrick’ s Day(both are major holidays in the countries of origin), with both holidays having been reinvented in the context of the United States and linked to ideals, symbols, and heroes of the United States.
The author of the passage refers to Native American people in the second paragraph in order to provide an example of

选项 A、the ability of membership in groups based on shared ancestry and culture to satisfy an essential human need.
B、how ethnic feelings have both motivated and been strengthened by political activity.
C、how the Civil Rights movement can help promote solidarity among United States ethnic groups.
D、how participation in the political system has helped to improve a group’ s economic situation.
E、the benefits gained from renewed study of ethnic history and culture.

答案B

解析 第二段提出印第安人是为了举例说明哪一点?A.“based on shared ancestry and culture”是文章一开始第一个观点,不为作者完全同意。B.正确。民族情感怎样被政治运动激起和加强。作者在第二段举完印第安人的例子之后,总结(L35—38)文化和功利的部分在民族中是互相促进的,即此选项之意。C.民权运动推动民族团结。是事实,但不是作者此处论述目的,参见选项B。D.参与政治制度提高经济地位。未提。E.重新研究的好处。无。
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