首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
(1) Culture is only a relatively recent invention in the history of the human species. It seems that we first developed the abil
(1) Culture is only a relatively recent invention in the history of the human species. It seems that we first developed the abil
admin
2023-01-28
24
问题
(1) Culture is only a relatively recent invention in the history of the human species. It seems that we first developed the ability to acquire knowledge, beliefs, and practices from others about 160,000 to 200,000 years ago. Our predecessors roamed the African savannah for at least a million years as hunter- gatherers in small family groups, whereas our more recent ancestors homo sapiens sapiens lived in larger tribal societies where people worked together. In these larger groups, they developed common systems of customs, beliefs, and cultural identities, and learnt new skills, technologies, and languages from each other. Broadly defined as the evolution of "culture", this enabled humans to cooperate with and learn from people from outside their immediate family group. Culture gave humans the critical advantage they needed to survive and expand out across the world, becoming the dominant species on the planet.
(2) Culture has become our species’ strategy for survival, and our genes have adapted to make best use of their new social environment. In other words,
we are all "wired" for culture
, inheriting something similar to a software operating system which enables us to acquire cultural identities and to cooperate and thrive in social environments. This is unique to the human species, and influences every aspect of our behaviour and psychology. It’s what makes us all truly social animals.
(3) So why, if culture and language are so fundamental to our survival, do we have so many separate ones? It’s certainly not a case of geographical distance. In the tribes of Papua New Guinea, a different language is spoken every few miles. New Guinea, just one island in the Australasian archipelago, is home to 800—or some 15%—of the world’s languages. There are no obvious explanations for this in terms of political barriers. In fact, it appears that these tribes deliberately alter their languages to maintain their separation from their neighbours. Under this hypothesis, linguistic diversity is a result of our social psychology, which values and preserves distinct languages as a key marker of the cultural identity we rely upon for survival. Separate languages also act as a form of basic intellectual property protection, reducing the ability from those outside of the group to steal the ideas you are communicating within it. Our enduring linguistic diversity reflects one key lesson from the cultural history of evolution: the inherent and unique propensity (倾向) of humans to form separate social and cultural identities.
(4) This brings us to an inherent tension. Our cultural instincts have given us an unmatched ability to get along with each other. They drive us to do all kinds of things not found in the animal kingdom towards those to whom we are not related—to be charitable to strangers, to look after old people and the sick, to support our local sports team, and to work together to innovate and create knowledge, technology, and spectacular works of art. However, these instincts are a double-edged sword linked to a much darker side of our nature. For most of their existence humans have faced a continuous struggle to survive, with competition from other humans one of the main threats. As a result, these societies developed hostile attitudes to outsiders, which has left a legacy on our behaviour today, in the form of xenophobia, parochialism, racism and, in some cases, a drive to carry out violence and war. The same instinct can also drive violence against group members who are seen to violate group norms. This is because their actions are seen as threatening the sense of togetherness on which the group’s survival depends.
(5) Our cultural psychology, developed over millennia living in (relatively) distinct cultural groups with shared values and allegiances, is adapting to the new age of globalization and the emergence of multicultural societies. On the surface, such societies have a lower sense of cultural relatedness than has been true for the much of humans’ evolutionary history. This puts under strain social rules which have been developed for different cultures. To maintain cohesion these societies will depend upon the clear enforcement of cultural or democratically derived rules. And they will face pressure as individualistic and self-interested behaviour grows and groups seek to break away from the whole. However, our unique social talent for cooperation with others will ultimately overcome our narrow instincts and find new ways to build a sense of shared culture and purpose.
What’s the author’s attitude towards globalization and building multicultural societies?
选项
A、Hopeful.
B、Neutral.
C、Negative.
D、Appreciative.
答案
A
解析
观点态度题。最后一段中,作者先是描述了全球化和多元文化社会表面上的一些问题,最后一句用However,话锋一转,表达了对人类战胜本能,建立起文化共同感和目标共同感的坚定信心(will ultimately overcome our narrow instincts and find new ways…) ,因此A项符合文意。B、C、D三项均不如A确切。可直接排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/UISD777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Asageneralrule,AmericanmenearnmorethanAmericanwomen.Thisholdstrueacrossindustries,acrosseducationlevels,anda
Ifyou’vegotanearforlanguages,askillofcodingorasteadyhandanddon’tfaintatthesightofbloodthenyourcareerlo
SupposeyouwereinvitedbyProfessorWilliamtoworkasanassistantinhisnewprogram,butyouarefullyoccupiedwritingap
TheUnitedStatesiswidelyrecognizedtohaveaprivateeconomybecauseprivatelyownedbusinessesplay【C1】________roles.TheA
Formostofhumanhistoryrichpeoplehadthemostleisure.Ontheotherhand,thepoorhavetypicallyworkedpersistently.Hans
WhichofthefollowingistrueaboutfathersinSweden?
NationalAviationandSpaceAdministration(NASA)anditspartnersintheInternationalSpaceStationhaveagreedinprinciplet
WhichofthefollowingsentencesisINCORRECT?
A、Sheistall.B、Shestudieshard.C、Sheislovely.D、Sheiskindandfriendly.D对话中,男士询问女士的朋友是怎样的一个人,女士回答说她朋友十分亲切友好。因此,答案为D项“她亲
A、Theyextendtheirwaterpipes.B、Theygiveoutfaintcries.C、Theymakenoisestodriveawayinsects.D、Theybecomeelasticli
随机试题
“在劳资谈判中,企业员工如果不满意所得到的薪酬,可以组成一个团体共同向资方申诉员工所关心的问题。”上述行为体现了增大威胁压力技巧中的()
常人白天工作时出现的脑电波应为
近年来临床输血中细菌污染反应增多的最主要原因是
( )的收取对象是有关货物。
不同的共同基金会在各自的招募说明书中明确规定自己的收益分配原则及方式,投资者应以其作为投资参考标准。但封闭式基金和开放式基金业分别有自己的共同原则,下列标准中属于封闭式基金收益分配原则是()。
材料:每一棵草都会开花去乡下,跟母亲一起到草地里去。惊奇地发现,一种叫牛耳朵的草,开了细小的黄花。那些小小的花,羞涩地藏在叶间,不细看,还真看不出。我说,怎么草也开花?母亲笑着扫过来一眼,淡淡地说,每一棵草,都会开花的。愣住,细想,还真
了解学生的现状和存在的问题的评价是()。
土地改革完成后,党提出农业社会主义改造的阶级路线是
如今,电脑对很多中国家庭来说早已不是新鲜东西了,而渐渐成为他们生活的一部分。对已经退休的老程来说,电脑与他家庭的关系更是非同一般。老程为了正在读医学博士的儿子花去近万元买了一台电脑。儿子通过电脑网络查了很多世界上的先进资料,他的课题因此做得十分顺利
Your____________(头发需要理一理).You’dbetterhaveitdonetomorrow.
最新回复
(
0
)