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发布时间：2006-06-23 17:07     点击：

　　Two divergent definitions have dominated sociologists' discussions of the nature of ethnicity. The first emphasizes the primordial and unchanging character of ethnicity. In this view, people have an essential need for belonging that (5)  is satisfied by membership in groups based on shared ancestry and culture. A different conception of ethnicity de-emphasizes the cultural component and defines ethnic groups as interest groups. In this view, ethnicity serves as a way of mobilizing a certain population behind issues (10) relating to its economic position. While both of these definitions are useful, neither fully captures the dynamic and changing aspects of ethnicity in the United States. Rather, ethnicity is more satisfactorily conceived of as a process in which preexisting communal bonds and common (15) cultural attributes are adapted for instrumental purposes according to changing real-life situations.

　　One example of this process is the rise of participation by Native American people in the broader United States political system since the Civil Rights movement of the (20)1960's. Besides leading Native Americans to participate more actively in politics (the number of Native American legislative officeholders more than doubled), this movement also evoked increased interest in tribal history and traditional culture. Cultural and instrumental components of (25 )ethnicity are not mutually exclusive, but rather reinforce one another.

　　1. Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?

　　(A) In their definitions of the nature of ethnicity, sociologists have underestimated the power of the primordial human need to belong.

　　(B) Ethnicity is best defined as a dynamic process that combines cultural components with shared political and economic interests.

　　(C) In the United States in the twentieth century, ethnic groups have begun to organize in order to further their political and economic interests.

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