Cultural globalization, for many, means Westernization or Americanization. An important distinction concerning today’s cultural

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问题     Cultural globalization, for many, means Westernization or Americanization. An important distinction concerning today’s cultural globalization is that it is largely driven by corporations, rather than countries. As such, one of the central concerns is the spread of consumer culture. For many critics, non-Western culture and practices are at risk of being overwhelmed by homogenizing " Mc-Donaldization".
    Skeptics contend that the erosion of culture has been overstated. They point to evidence that local culture remains strong. Cultural interactions have taken place for centuries so to argue non-Western cultural are somehow pure is naive. In a sense, the cultural degradation argument dismisses the ability of non-Western people to control their destiny and incorporate those attributes they may find useful. What is more, some argue that national identities are founded on real differences that have continued salience.
    Other skeptics point to the growth of ethnic and nationalist movements in the post-Cold War world as evidence that these sources of identity remain strong. Intense interaction may make people more cognizant of difference and lead to conflict. Information technology may, in fact, intensify traditional identities. Cultural globalization involves processes of unequal power, which brings traditions and identities into question. Where ethnic and religious groups feel threatened by globalization , there is the potential for conflict.
    Migration is a significant aspect of globalization that has not only economic but also social and cultural effects. While migration is not unique to the present age, communication and transportation technologies allow migrants a greater opportunity to maintain links with their homelands. More porous borders raise questions about notions of citizenship and identity. While challenges to national identity may come from supranational entities such as the European Union, globalization at the same time may facilitate the triggering of more local, particularistic identities.
    There is some disagreement on where this is all going and whether globalization could come to an end. Clearly the openness and interconnectedness that emerged in the late 1800s was not permanent. The 1930s saw the major powers carving out spheres of influence and blocking out others. From a broader historical perspective, however, that may have been a hiccup. Whereas before the end of the American Civil War it took months to go by ship from one coast of the US to the other. The transcontinental railroad cut the trip to a week by 1870 and today it is a matter of a few hours by plane. There was some discussion after 9.11 whether the need for security would bring an end to the era of globalization. In some areas, such as educational exchanges, there has been an impact. Overall, however, the flow of goods, people, and messages of peace and war continue unabated some five years later. In many respects, therefore, globalization is not going away. The challenge for humanity, then, is to direct these forces in peaceful and beneficial ways.
The author of this article

选项 A、tries to sound neutral by giving equal weight on both sides.
B、believes that cultural globalization can be beneficial to humans.
C、argues that information technology plays a role in breaking national identities.
D、agrees that organizations such as EU are blocking out other countries.

答案A

解析 推断题。题目问的是“这篇文章的作者——。”文章中并没有表明作者的观点,表达的都是其他人的观点,故排除C、D选项。根据最后一段的“The challenge for humanity,then,is todirect these forces in peaceful and beneficial ways.”可知,人类所面临的的挑战就是用和平有益的方式引导这些理论。但并不是说文化全球化是有益的,因此B选项不对。根据排除法,故选A。
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