Question

    Just a little walk in the city of New York or Chicago, for example, would make any foreigner realize the presence of people of various races walking down the street: probably blacks, African Americans, Spanish, Asians, and so on. Or for another example, on school campuses in America, both the teachers and the students usually consist of people from a number of countries rather than only one.

    Indeed, the variety of ethnicities (种族渊源) in America is often claimed to be the best mix in the world. That’s why the famous term “melting pot” arises. Its basic idea presents the whole nation as one large pot. Anyone who enters the United States is automatically thrown into this “pot”. All the cultural aspects that one brings into are mixed together, or melted, to form a new culture.

    In comparison with the “melting pot” theory, there is a “salad bowl” theory. This idea shows a completely separate view that newcomers bring different cultures, where each of these cultures is kept as an essential part to make up the whole. Every distinctive culture or belief is considered to be one of the tastes or ingredients (成分) that contribute to forming the whole. Therefore, its original shape and characteristics are maintained.

    The ideas of the “melting pot” and the “salad bowl” in America both show an ideal to many people and are often admired. Having a close look at the reality of the country, such as the existing ethnic segregation (分离), the fact of the white population fleeing from the minority, and the trend of the minority group forming their own group, one can see that the “melting pot” theory is merely a myth. Despite its long fame, it is more suitable to label America as a “salad bowl”.

51. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. America: “melting pot” or “salad bowl”?

B. Why many people come to America?

C. The development of American culture

D. The ways to adapt to American life

52. The purpose of the first paragraph is to tell us the fact that________.

A. a foreigner is likely to experience culture shock in America

B. America is a country of a wide variety of ethnic minorities

C. people of various races live in big cities in America

D. it’s easy for a foreigner to stand out in America

53. According to the “melting pot” theory, people who enter the United States______.

A. are eager to change the new culture

B. can adapt to the new culture more easily

C. try to prove the importance of their culture

D. lose their own identities to form a new culture

54. We can learn from the last paragraph that different ethnic minorities in America_______.

A. are completely equal in society

B. tend to live segregated

C. strictly keep their own cultures

D. have mixed together

Answer 1

51. 【解析】选A。主旨大意题。综合全文可知，作者主要围绕美国到底是熔炉还是色拉盘展开论述。

52. 【解析】选B。写作意图题。第一段叙述，在美国无论是在城市还是在大学校园，你都会遇到各种族的人，因此本段的目的是告诉读者美国是一个多民族融合的国家。

53. 【解析】选D。细节理解题。根据第二、三段可知，色拉盘不同于熔炉，在于各种族在美国文化中是否保留了自己的文化特点，熔炉理论是说人们在美国的大熔炉中丧失了自己的特点。

54. 【解析】选B。推理判断题。最后一段说明，在美国不同种族的人并没有完全融合，而是保持着一定的距离，因此选B。