OG-35-223

lindazhou · 发表于 2005-6-14 10:31:00

Two divergent definitions have dominated sociologists’

discussions of the nature of ethnicity. The first emphasizes

the primordial and unchanging character of ethnicity. In

this view, people have an essential need for belonging that

(5) is satisfied by membership in groups based on shared

ancestry and culture. A different conception of ethnicity

de-emphasizes the cultural component and defines ethnic

groups as interest groups. In this view, ethnicity serves as

a way of mobilizing a certain population behind issues

(10) relating to its economic position. While both of these

definitions are useful, neither fully captures the dynamic

and changing aspects of ethnicity in the United States.

Rather, ethnicity is more satisfactorily conceived of as a

process in which preexisting communal bonds and common

(15) cultural attributes are adapted for instrumental purposes

according to changing real-life situations.

One example of this process is the rise of participation

by Native American people in the broader United States

political system since the Civil Rights movement of the

(20)1960’s. Besides leading Native Americans to participate

more actively in politics (the number of Native American

legislative officeholders more than doubled), this movement

also evoked increased interest in tribal history and traditional

culture. Cultural and instrumental components of

(25 )ethnicity are not mutually exclusive, but rather reinforce

one another.

The Civil Rights movement also brought changes in the

uses to which ethnicity was put by Mexican American

people. In the 1960’s, Mexican Americans formed

(30) community-based political groups that emphasized ancestral

heritage as a way of mobilizing constituents. Such emerg-

ing issues as immigration and voting rights gave Mexican

American advocacy groups the means by which to promote

ethnic solidarity. Like European ethnic groups in the

(35) nineteenth-century United States, late-twentieth-century

Mexican American leaders combined ethnic with contem-

porary civic symbols. In 1968 Henry Censors, then mayor

of San Antonio, Texas, cited Mexican leader Benito Juarez

as a model for Mexican Americans in their fight for con-

(40) temporary civil rights. And every year, Mexican Americans

celebrate Cinco de Mayo as fervently as many Irish

American people embrace St. Patrick’s Day (both are major

holidays in the countries of origin), with both holidays

having been reinvented in the context of the United States

and linked to ideals, symbols, and heroes of the United

States

223. Information in the passage supports which of the following statements about many

European ethnic groups in the nineteenth-century United States?

(A) They emphasized economic interests as a way of mobilizing constituents behind certain

issues.

(B) They conceived of their own ethnicity as being primordial in nature.

(C) They created cultural traditions that fused United States symbols with those of their

countries of origin.

(D) They de-emphasized the cultural components of their communities in favor of political

interests.

(E) They organized formal community groups designed to promote a renaissance of ethnic

history and culture.

what is civic symbols? i can't find explanation in the passage?

wangyu73cn · 发表于 2005-6-14 13:26:00

223.

Reference to the “many European ethnic groups in the nineteenth-century United States” is found in the last paragraph of the passage.
文中有Like European ethnic groups in the nineteenth-century United States, late-twentieth-century Mexican American leaders combined ethnic with contemporary civic symbols.这里的civic symbols是民间象征、民间代表性人物的意思。

The best answer is C. “United States symbols” in choice C paraphrases “civic symbols” in the passage, and “those symbols of their countries of origin” in C paraphrases “ethnic …. symbols.”

Although the statements in choices A, B, D, and E are not necessarily incorrect, there is no information in the passage that clearly supports any of them.

lindazhou · 发表于 2005-6-15 14:58:00

thanks.

OG-35-223

OG-35-223

所属分类: GMAT考试

正在浏览此版块的会员 ()