Question

    Not too many decades ago it seemed “obvious” both to the general public and to sociologists that modern society has changed people’s natural relations, loosened their responsibilities to kin (亲戚) and neighbors, and substituted in their place superficial relationships with passing acquaintances. However, in recent years a growing body of research  has revealed that the “obvious” is not true. It seems that if you are a city resident, you typically know a smaller proportion of your neighbors than you do if you are a resident of a smaller community. But, for the most part, this fact has few significant consequences. It does not necessarily follow that if you know few of your neighbors you will know no one else.

Even in very large cities, people maintain close social ties within small, private social worlds. Indeed, the number and  quality of  meaningful  relationships  do  not  differ  between more and less urban people. Small-town residents are more involved with kin than are big-city residents. Yet city dwellers compensate by developing friendships with people who share similar interests and activities. Urbanism many produce a different style of life, but the quality of life  does not differ between town and city. Nor are residents of large communities any likelier to display psychological symptoms of stress or alienation, a feeling of not belonging, than are residents of smaller communities. However, city dwellers do worry more about crime, and this leads them to a distrust of strangers.

These findings do not imply that urbanism makes little or no difference. If neighbors are strangers to one another, they are less likely to sweep the sidewalk of an elderly couple living  next door or keep an eye out for young trouble makers. Moreover, as Wirth suggested, there may be a link between a community’s population size and its social heterogeneity (多样性). For instance, sociologists have found much evidence that the size of a community is associated with bad behavior including gambling, drugs, etc. Large-city urbanities are also more likely than their small-town counterparts to have a cosmopolitan(见多识广)outlook, to display less responsibility to traditional kinship roles, to vote for leftist political candidates, and to be tolerant of nontraditional religious groups, unpopular political groups, and so—called undesirables. Everything considered, heterogeneity and unusual behavior seem to be outcomes of large population size.

1.Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the first paragraph?

A.An argument is examined and possible solutions given.

B.Two contrasting views are presented.

C.Research results concerning the quality of urban life are presented in order of time.

D.A detail description of the difference between urban and small-town life is given.

2.According to the passage, it was once a common belief that urban residents  .

A.could not develop long-standing relationships.

B.did not have the same interests as their neighbors.

C.tended to be associated with bad behavior.

D.usually had more friends.

3.One of the  consequences  of  urban  life  is  that  impersonal  relationships  among  neighbors  .

A.disrupt people’s natural relations.

B.make them worry about crime.

C.cause them no to show concern for one another.

D.cause them to be suspicious of each other.

4.It can be inferred from the passage that the bigger a community is____,

A.the better its quality of life

B.the more tolerant and open-minded it is.

C.the likelier it is to display psychological symptoms of stress.

D.the more similar its interests

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.C

4.B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了城市居民和小城镇居民的人际关系的相似之处。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段中的“both to the general public and to sociologists that modern society has changed people’s natural relations, loosened their responsibilities to kin (亲戚) and neighbors, and substituted in their place superficial relationships with passing acquaintances. However, in recent years a growing body of research has revealed that the “obvious” is not true.”可知，以前，普通大众和社会学家认为，现代社会“明显地”改变了人们的自然关系，使他们的亲情、邻里观念变得淡薄，取而代之的是彼此之间萍水相逢的表面关系，然而，最近几年，越来越多的研究表明，那些“明显”的事情并不是事实，也就是说第一段展示了两种相反的观点，故B项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第一段中的“it seemed “obvious” both to the general public and to sociologists that modern society has changed people’s natural relations, loosened their responsibilities to kin (亲戚) and neighbors, and substituted in their place superficial relationships with passing acquaintances.”可知，以前，对于普通大众和社会学家而言，现代社会“明显地”改变了人们的自然关系，使他们的亲情、邻里观念变得淡薄，取而代之的是彼此之间萍水相逢的表面关系，也就是说人们曾普遍认为城市居民不能发展长期的关系，故A项正确。

3.细节理解题。根据第三段中的“If neighbors are strangers to one another, they are less likely to sweep the sidewalk of an elderly couple living next door or keep an eye out for young trouble makers.”可知，如果邻里之间互不相识，他们就不大会清扫隔壁老夫妇门前的过道，也不会帮忙照看一下小捣蛋，也就是说城市生活的后果之一就是使人们不会互相关心，故C项正确。

4.推理判断题。根据第三段中的“Large-city urbanities are also more likely than their small-town counterparts to have a cosmopolitan(见多识广)outlook, to display less responsibility to traditional kinship roles, to vote for leftist political candidates, and to be tolerant of nontraditional religious groups, unpopular political groups, and so—called undesirables.”可知，大城市社区的人们对非传统宗教团体、不受欢迎的政治团体和所谓的不受欢迎的人持宽容态度，由此可知，社区越大，越是宽容和豁达，故B项正确。