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  3. In spite of "endless talk of difference", American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. This is "the democrati

In spite of "endless talk of difference", American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. This is "the democrati

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问题     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 (话语), 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 (同化). In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990, 31 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 92 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 US-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 notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet "some Americans fear that immigrants living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation’s assimilative power."
    Are there divisive issues and pockets of extreme anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America’s turbulent (动荡的) past, today’s social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment.
In the author’s opinion, the absorption of immigrants into American society is______.
选项 A、rewarding
B、successful
C、fruitless
D、harmful
答案B
解析 文章第三段提到，从15个移民数量最多的国家来的大多数移民，在美国居住十年后都能把英语讲“好”或“很好”，移民的孩子通常掌握两种语言，尤其精通英语，到了第三代，在大多数移民家庭，他们的母语消失了，并且移民后代的住房拥有率比美国本土人还高，由此可推知，作者认为美国社会对移民的容纳是成功的，故答案为[B]。根据末段末句提到的“这些社会指标并没有显示出美国的社会环境变得黑暗和恶化”可以排除[D]“有害的”。由第二段首句提到的“移民正在快速融入共同文化，这不一定对共同文化完全有好处，但也不会有害”可排除[A]“有益的”和[C]“无益的”。
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大学英语四级

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