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  3. American culture is rich, complex, and unique. It emerged from the short and rapid European conquest of an enormous landmass spa

American culture is rich, complex, and unique. It emerged from the short and rapid European conquest of an enormous landmass spa

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问题     American culture is rich, complex, and unique. It emerged from the short and rapid European conquest of an enormous landmass sparsely settled by diverse indigenous peoples. Although European cultural patterns predominated, especially in language, the arts, and political institutions, peoples from Africa, Asia, and North America also contributed to American culture. All of these groups influenced popular tastes in music, dress, entertainment, and cuisine. As a result, American culture possesses an unusual mixture of patterns and forms forged from among its diverse peoples. The many melodies of American culture have not always been harmonious, but its complexity has created a society that struggles to achieve tolerance and produces a uniquely casual personal style that identifies Americans everywhere. The country is strongly committed to democracy, in which views of the majority prevail, and strives for equality in law and institutions.

    Characteristics such as democracy and equality flourished in the American environment long before taking firm root in European societies, where the ideals originated. As early as the 1780s, a French writer living in Pennsylvania who wrote under the pseudonym J. Hector St. John, was impressed by the democratic nature of early American society. When French political writer Alexis de Tocqueville, an acute social observer, traveled through the United States in the 1830s, he provided an unusually penetrating portrait of the nature of democracy in America and its cultural consequences. He commented that in all areas of culture — family life, law, arts, philosophy, and dress— Americans were inclined to emphasize the ordinary and easily accessible, rather than the unique and complex. His insight is as relevant today as it was when de Tocqueville visited the United States. As a result, American culture is more often defined by its popular and democratically inclusive features, such as blockbuster movies, television comedies, sports stars, and fast food, than by its more cultivated aspects as performed in theaters, published in books, or viewed in museums and galleries. Even the fine arts in modern America often partake of the energy and forms of popular culture, and modern arts are often a product of the fusion of fine and popular arts.
    While America is probably most well known for its popular arts, Americans partake in an enormous range of cultural activities. Besides being avid readers of a great variety of books and magazines catering to differing tastes and interests, Americans also attend museums, operas, and ballets in large numbers. They listen to country and clas-sical music, jazz and folk music, as well as classic rock-and-roll and new wave. Still evolving and drawing upon its ever more diverse population, American culture has come to symbolize what is most up-to-date and modern. American culture has also become increasingly international and is imported by countries around the world.
The author’s intention in writing this passage is to tell us that______.
选项 A、the uniqueness of American culture is more important than its ordinary characteristics
B、European cultures are the main resources of American culture
C、American culture is the most up-to-date one
D、the primary trait of American culture is its commonness
答案D
解析 主旨大意题。作者主要想表达的是虽然美国文化由于历史的原因具有独特性，但是在一般情况下我们主要还是用它的普通性来定义。所以[D]正确。[A]选项表述与原文相矛盾。[B]和[C]选项虽然表述上是正确的，但是却不是作者的主要意图。
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