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

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

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问题     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 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 levels 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 10 years 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 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 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 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 态度题。通读全文，可以发现作者从好几个方面讲到了美国吸收移民的成功，比如说移民到第三代的时候基本上忘掉了原来的语言，新移民的家庭一般高于50％的人都拥有自己的房子等等，所以正确答案为B项。注意题干中的“absorption”就是文中的“homogenize”和“assimilate”两个词的“同义替换”。文章第二段第一句话“Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture，which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous．”讲了移民溶入美国文化“is hardly poisonous”=“is hardly harmful”，所以D项不能选。本文并没有着重强调美国吸收移民是有好处的、有回报的，而只是强调吸收移民的过程的成功，所以A项是偷换概念。
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