生词学习

1 democratizing

2 discourse 演讲

3 deference

polite behaviour that shows that you respect someone and are therefore willing to accept their opinions or judgment

尊敬，敬重；服从

【词组】

in deference to 

4 elegant

beautiful, attractive, or graceful

高雅的，优美的

5 unprecedented  

adj. 空前的；无前例的

6 index 索引；指数

indices

7 deteriorate 

If something deteriorates, it becomes worse in some way. 恶化

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短语积累

1 which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous

2 Hence the description of America as a “graveyard” for languages.

Hence+名词

是省略句，也是倒装句：Hence（comes） the description of America as a “graveyard” for languages.

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逐句翻译

In spite of “endless talk of difference,” American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people.

尽管美国社会充斥着无休无止关于“差异”的讨论，美国社会仍然是异步神奇的同化国民的机器。

There is “the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference” characteristic of popular culture.

流行文化的特征是穿着和言谈的民主化统一，还有随意性和缺失的差异性。

美国大众文化的特征体现在穿着和谈吐的民主化统一以及性格上的随心所欲，不拘礼节。

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. ”

人们被“消费文化”所同化。所谓“消费文化”，是由19世纪那些在一个优雅的环境中供应大量的货物的公寓商店发起的。

19世纪以来，由那些“环境优美，货物齐全”的百货商店发起的“消费文化”一直吸引着人们的眼球。

Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite, these were stores “anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. ”

取代那些专为迎合知识渊博的精英们而开设的温馨小店，这些商店都是“不管你是什么肤色什么阶级，都可以进入”。

This turned shopping into a public and democratic act.”

这让购物变成了公共化民主化的行为。

The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.

大众媒体，广告和体育是其他同质化的力量。

Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous.

移民们迅速适应了这个公共的文化中，这对国家来说可能谈不上很大的促进但是却几乎没有带来什么负面影响。

移民们迅速地适应了大众文化，尽管可能没有给整体带来提升，但至少是无害的。

Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today’s immigration is neither at unprecedented levels nor resistant to assimilation.

为国家移民专栏写作的格里高利 罗德里格斯报道称，今日的移民既没有处在不可预见的水准，也没有抗拒被同化。

格里高利 罗德里格斯写给国家移民论坛的文章中指出：今天的移民既没有处于前所未有的水平，也不抗拒美国社会的同化。

In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of the population; in 1900, 13.6 percent.

1998年移民们占了9.8%的总人口数，在1990年时，是13.6%。

In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1,000.

80年代，每一千个居民中就有3.1个是移民。但是在19世纪80年代，是9.2个。

Now, consider three indices of assimilation—language, home ownership and intermarriage.

现在我们来考虑三个同质化的指数——语言，住房所有权和通婚。

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.”

1990年的人口普查显示“来自于15个移民大国的大多数移民在经过十年的定居后，能把英语说得‘好’或‘很好’”

The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English.

移民的孩子们更倾向于掌握两门语言，并且对英语有很好的掌握。

“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.

在第三代后，大多数移民家庭的母语都已经消失了，因此美国被称为语言的坟墓。

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.

截至1996年，在1970年前就已经抵达美国的生于国外的移民们拥有房子的比率是75.6%，比生于美国的本地居民的69.8%要高。

Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics “have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S.-born whites and blacks.”

生于国外的亚裔和西班牙裔的人“比美国出生的白人和黑人有更高比率的通婚”。

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.

移民家庭的第三代中，三分之一的西班牙裔的女性嫁给了非西班牙裔人，41%的亚裔美国女性嫁给了非亚洲人。

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.”

罗德里格斯说全世界贫远地区的儿童们都是阿诺德施瓦辛格和盖斯布鲁克斯这类超级巨星的粉丝，然而还是有一些美国人在担心居住在美国的移民们对这个国家强大的同化力量保持着一定程度的抵抗能力。

Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America? Indeed.

美国存在着社会分裂的问题和让人极度愤怒的事端吗？确实有。

It is big enough to have a bit of everything.

美国很大，各种事都会发生。（林子大了什么鸟都有）

But particularly when viewed against America’s turbulent past, today’s social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment.

但特别地当我们观察到美国动荡的过去想比时，今天社会的各种指数几乎显示不出美国社会的黑暗和腐朽。

21. The word “homogenizing” (Line 2, Paragraph 1) most probably means ________.

[A] identifying

[B] associating

[C] assimilating

[D] monopolizing

22. According to the author, the department stores of the 19th century ________.

[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

23. The text suggests that immigrants now in the U.S. ________.

[A] are resistant to homogenization

[B] exert a great influence on American culture

[C] are hardly a threat to the common culture

[D] constitute the majority of the population

24. Why are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks mentioned in Paragraph 5?

[A] To prove their popularity around the world.

[B] To reveal the public’s fear of immigrants.

[C] To give examples of successful immigrants.

[D] To show the powerful influence of American culture.

25. In the author’s opinion, the absorption of immigrants into American society is _______.

[A] rewarding

[B] successful

[C] fruitless

[D] harmful

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