In this new era, the single most immediate and most serious challenge to America traditional identity comes from the immense and

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问题     In this new era, the single most immediate and most serious challenge to America traditional identity comes from the immense and continuing immigration from Latin America, especially from Mexico, and the fertility (生育) rates of these immigrants compared to black and white American natives. Americans like to boast of their past success in assimilating (同化) millions of immigrants into their society, culture, and politics. But Americans have tended to generalize about immigrants without distinguishing among them and have focused on the economic costs and benefits of immigration, ignoring its social and cultural consequences. As a result, they have overlooked the unique characteristics and problems posed by contemporary Hispanic immigration. The extent and nature of this immigration differ fundamentally from those of previous immigration, and the assimilation successes of the past are unlikely to be copied with the contemporary flood of immigrants from Latin America. This reality poses a fundamental question: Will the United States remain a country with a single national language and a core culture? By ignoring this question, Americans acquiesce (默认)to their eventual transformation into two peoples with two cultures and two languages.
    The impact of Mexican on the United States becomes evident when One imagines what would happen if Mexican immigration abruptl5 stopped. The annual flow of legal immigrants would drop by about 175000 closer to the level recommended by the 1900s Commission on Immigration Reform chaired by former US congresswoman Barbara Jordan. Illegal entries would decrease dramatically. The wages of low-income US citizens would improve. Debates over the use of Spanish and whether English should be made the official language of state and national governments would go. Bilingual education and the controversies it causes would virtually disappear, as would controversies over welfare and other benefits for immigrants. The debate over whether immigrants pose an economic burden on state and federal governments would be decisively resolved in the negative. The average education and skills of the immigrants continuing to arrive would reach their highest levels in US history. The inflow of immigrants would again become highly different, creating increased stimulations for all immigrants to learn English and absorb US culture. And most important of all, the possibility of an actual split between a predominantly Spanish-speaking US and an English speaking US would disappear, and with it, a major threat to the country’s cultural and political integrity.
What can we learn about the fundamental question listed in the end of the first paragraph?

选项 A、America will be separated into two countries.
B、English will give its place to other languages.
C、It concerns America’s national and cultural identity.
D、It’s not very serious because of America’s powerful influence.

答案C

解析 语义理解题。由原文对该问题的叙述“美国是否仍然能够保持一种全国语言和一个核心的文化呢?忽略了这个问题,美国就默认了他们最终将转变为有两种文化的两个民族,并且讲两种浯言”可推知,该问题事关美国文化、语言与民族的独立性,故C“与美国的民族和文化独立性有关”正确。
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