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  3. Two divergent definitions have dominated sociologists’ discussions of the na

Two divergent definitions have dominated sociologists’ discussions of the na

游客2024-01-13  51
问题     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 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 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 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 1960’s. Besides lead- ing 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 his- tory and traditional culture. Cultural and instrumental components of 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 community-based political groups that emphasized ancestral her- itage as a way of mobilizing constituents. Such emerging issues as immigration and voting rights gave Mexican American advocacy groups the means by which to promote ethnic soli- darity. Like European ethnic groups in the nineteenth-century United States, late-twentieth-century Mexican American leaders combined ethnic with contemporary 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 contemporary civil rights. And every year, Mexican Amer- icans 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. [br] Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
选项 A、In their definitions of the nature of ethnicity, sociologists have underestimated the power of the primordial human need to belong.
B、Ethnicity is best defined as a dynamic process that combines cultural components with shared political and economic interests.
C、In the United States in the twentieth century, ethnic groups have begun to organize in order to further their political and economic interests.
D、Ethnicity in the United States has been significantly changed by the Civil Rights movement.
E、The two definitions of ethnicity that have dominated sociologists discussions are incompatible and should be replaced by an entirely new approach.
答案 B
解析 主题题型：A．社会学家们低估了原始的人类寻求归属的需要。有两派观点，其中一派强调了此点。B．正确。民族最好的定义是将文化特性和共同的政治、经济利益结合的过程。见原文L18—24，作者表述自已观点的说法。C．民族团体开始组织起来推行政治经济利益。作者未提是在20世纪美国才开始的；实际上文中L50一51指出，19世纪时就有此种现象。D．是事实，但不是原文主题。E．社会学家关于民族的两种定义不能协调，应完全被新方式代替。不合作者态度。作者实际上就是从两者各汲取一部分因素，提出自己的观点。
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