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

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

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问题     In spite of "endless talk of difference", American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. This is "the democratizing uniformity" of dress and discourse (话语), 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 level nor resistant to assimilation (同化). In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990, 31 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 92 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 US-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 extreme anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America’s turbulent (动荡的) past, today’s social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment.
According to the author, the department stores of the 19th century______.
选项 A、played a role in the spread of popular culture
B、became intimate shops for common consumers
C、satisfied the needs of a knowledgeable elite
D、owed its emergence to the culture of consumption
答案A
解析 根据题干中的the department stores of the 19th century将本题出处定位到首段三、四句。这两句提到，人们被19世纪百货公司发起的“一种消费文化”所吸引……与迎合“知识精英”的亲情商店不同，这些是“不论阶层或背景，任何人都能进去”的商店。由此可知，19世纪百货公司在大众消费文化的传播上发挥了作用，故答案为[A]。intimate shops是向knowledgeable elite开放的，而不是向common consumers开放的，故排除[B]。满足知识精英需要的是intimate shops，而不是department stores，故排除[C]。是19世纪兴起的这种百货公司促使了消费文化的形成，[D]颠倒了该逻辑关系，故排除。
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大学英语四级

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