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中国教育在线（
）
中国最权威考研门户
2006
年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语试题
Text 1
In spite of “endless
talk of difference,” American society is an
amazing machine for
homogenizing
people. There is “the democratizing
uniformity of dress and discourse, 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 levels nor resistant to
assimilation. In 1998 immigrants were
9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent.
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. 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 Engl
ish.
“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 U.S.
-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
livi
ng
within the United
States remain somehow immune to the nation?s
assimilative power.”
Are
there divisive issues and pockets of seething
anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough
to have a bit of everything. But
particularly when viewed against America?s
turbulent past, today?s
social indices
hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social
environment.
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
中国教育在线考研频道
中国教育
在线（
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中国最权威考研门户
[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
Text
2
Stratford-on-Avon, as we all know,
has only one industry -- William Shakespeare --
but there
are two distinctly separate
and increasingly hostile branches. There is the
Royal Shakespeare
Company (RSC), which
presents superb productions of the plays at the
Shakespeare Memorial
Theatre on the
Avon. And there are the townsfolk who largely live
off the tourists who come, not
to see
the plays, but to look at Anne Hathaway?s Cottage,
Shakespeare?s birthplace and the other
sights.
The worthy residents
of Stratford doubt that the theatre adds a penny
to their revenue. They
frankly dislike
the RSC?s actors, them with their long hair and
beards and sandals and noisiness.
It?s
all deliciously ironic when you consider that
Shakespeare, who earns their living, was himself
an actor (with a beard) and did his
share of noise-making.
The tourist
streams are not entirely separate. The sightseers
who come by bus -- and often
take in
Warwick Castle and Blenheim Palace on the side --
don?t usually see the plays, and some
of them are even surprised to find a
theatre in Stratford. However, the playgoers do
manage a little
sight-seeing along with
their playgoing. It is the playgoers, the RSC
contends, who bring in much
of the
town?s revenue because they spend the night (some
of them four or five nights) pouring
cash into the hotels and restaurants.
The sightseers can take in everything and get out
of town by
nightfall.
The
townsfolk don?t see it this way and local council
does not contribute directly to the
subsidy of the Royal Shakespeare
Company. Stratford cries poor traditionally.
Nevertheless every
hotel in town seems
to be adding a new wing or cocktail lounge. Hilton
is building its own hotel
there, which
you may be sure will be decorated with Hamlet
Hamburger Bars, the Lear Lounge,
the
Banquo Banqueting Room, and so forth, and will be
very expensive.
Anyway, the townsfolk
can?t understand why the Royal Shakespeare Company
needs a
subsidy. (The theatre has
broken attendance records for three years in a
row. Last year its 1,431
seats were 94
percent occupied all year long and
this
year they?ll do better.) The reason, of course,
is that costs have rocketed and ticket
prices have stayed low.
It would be a
shame to raise prices too much because it would
drive away the young people
who are
Stratford?s most attractive clientele.
The
y come entirely for the plays, not
the sights. They
all seem to look alike
(though they come from all over) -- lean, pointed,
dedicated faces, wearing
jeans and
sandals, eating their buns and bedding down for
the night on the flagstones outside the
theatre to buy the 20 seats and 80
standing-room tickets held for the sleepers and
sold to them
when the box office opens
at 10:30 a.m.
26.
From the
first two paragraphs, we learn that ________.
[A] the townsfolk deny the RSC?s
contribution to the town?s revenue
[B] the actors of the RSC imitate
Shakespeare on and off stage
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