2002年1月大学英语六级考试真题试卷 - 阅读4

Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

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 may produce a different style of life, but the quality of life does not differ between town and city. Nor are residents 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 urbanites are also more likely than their small-town counterparts to have a cosmopolitan (见多识广者的 ) outlook, to display less responsibility to traditional kinship roles, to vote for leftist political candidates, and to be tolerant of nontraditional , unpopular political groups, and so-called undesirables. Everything considered, heterogeneity and unusual behavior seem to be outcomes of large population size.

36. Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the first paragraph?
A) Two contrasting views are presented.
B) An argument is examined and possible solutions given.
C) Research results concerning the quality of urban life are presented in order of time.
D) A detailed description of the difference between urban and small-town life is given.

37. According to the passage, it was once a common belief that urban residents______.
A) did not have the same interests as their neighbors
B) could not develop long-standing relationships
C) tended to be associated with bad behavior
D) usually had more friends

38. 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 not to show concern for one another
D) cause them to be suspicious of each other

39. It can be inferred from the passage that the bigger a community is,______.
A) the better its quality of life
B) the more similar its interests
C) the more tolerant and open-minded it is
D) the likelier it is to display psychological symptoms of stress

40. What is the passage mainly about?
A) Similarities in the interpersonal relationships between urbanites and small-towndwellers.
B) Advantages of living in big cities as compared with living in small towns.
C) The positive role that urbanism plays in modern life.
D) The strong feeling of alienation of city inhabitants.


36．[A] 根据文章第一般写作技法第一段不会结论，因此B不对，段中however的使用说明第一段所展示的使两种观点，答案为A。

37．[B]文章第一段所展示的第一种观点substituted in their place superficial relationships with passing acquaintances.说明人们以往是认为城市居民不可能发展长久的友谊。

38．[C] 文章第三段提到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. 说明邻里之间很可能出现彼此都不关心的状况，即C。

39．[C]文章最后提到，大城市里居民比小城镇居民更见多识广，to be tolerant of nontraditional ，说明社区越大，人们越容易变得包容，思想也越开朗，所以答案为C。

40．[A] 本篇文章对比了大城市与小城镇种人际关系，但并没有强调在大城市中居住的优越，B不对；文中提到了很多城市居住的负面影响，显然C也不对；文章第二段中提到nor are residents any likelier to display psychological symptoms of stress or alienation,说明D也不对。由此可以判断答案为A。