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1、【2006】Text1Inspiteof“endlesstalkofdifference,”Americansocietyisanamazingmachineforhomogenizingpeople.Thereis“thedemocratizinguniformityofdressanddiscourse,andthecasualnessandabsenceofdeference”characteristicofpopularculture.Peopleareabsorbedinto“acultureofconsumption”launchedbythe19th-centur
2、ydepartmentstoresthatoffered“vastarraysofgoodsinanelegantatmosphere.Insteadofintimateshopscateringtoaknowledgeableelite,”thesewerestores“anyonecouldenter,regardlessofclassorbackground.Thisturnedshoppingintoapublicanddemocraticact.”Themassmedia,advertisingandsportsareotherforcesforhomogenizat
3、ion.Immigrantsarequicklyfittingintothiscommonculture,whichmaynotbealtogetherelevatingbutishardlypoisonous.WritingfortheNationalImmigrationForum,GregoryRodriguezreportsthattoday’simmigrationisneitheratunprecedentedlevelsnorresistanttoassimilation.In1998immigrantswere9.8percentofpopulation;in1
4、900,13.6percent.Inthe10yearspriorto1990,3.1immigrantsarrivedforevery1,000residents;inthe10yearspriorto1890,9.2forevery1,000.Now,considerthreeindicesofassimilation--language,homeownershipandintermarriage.The1990Censusrevealedthat“amajorityofimmigrantsfromeachofthefifteenmostcommoncountriesofo
5、riginspokeEnglish‘well’or‘verywell’aftertenyearsofresidence.”ThechildrenofimmigrantstendtobebilingualandproficientinEnglish.“Bythethirdgeneration,theoriginallanguageislostinthemajorityofimmigrantfamilies.”HencethedescriptionofAmericaasa“graveyard”forlanguages.By1996foreign-bornimmigrantswhoh
6、adarrivedbefore1970hadahomeownershiprateof75.6percent,higherthanthe69.8percentrateamongnative-bornAmericans.Foreign-bornAsiansandHispanics“havehigherratesofintermarriagethandoU.S.-bornwhitesandblacks.”Bythethirdgeneration,onethirdofHispanicwomenaremarriedtonon-Hispanics,and41percentofAsian-A
7、mericanwomenaremarriedtonon-Asians.RodrigueznotesthatchildreninremotevillagesaroundtheworldarefansofsuperstarslikeArnoldSchwarzeneggerandGarthBrooks,yet“someAmericansfearthatimmigrantslivingwithintheUnitedStatesremainsomehowimmunetothenation’sassim
