同等学力英语每日练习：2017年2月10日

When anti-globalization protesters took tothe streets of Washington last weekend，they blamed globalization for everything from hunger to thedestruction of home-grown cultures．And globalization meant the United States．The critics call itCoca-Colonization, and French sheep farmer Jose Bove has become a cult (狂热分子) figure since destroying aMcDonald’s restaurantin 1999．Contrary toconventional wisdom，however，globalization is neither homogenizing (使…同化) nor Americanizing the culturesof the world．

    To understand why not，we have to step back and put thecurrent period in a larger historical perspective．Although they are related, the long-term historical trends ofglobalization and modernization are not the same．While modernization has produced some common traits，such as large cities， factories and mass communications,local cultures have by no means been erased．The appearance of similar institutions in response to similarproblems is not surprising, but it does not lead to homogeneity．In the first half of the 20thcentury，for example，there were some similarities amongthe industrial societies of Britain，Germany，America and Japan，but there were even more important differences．When China，India and Brazil complete theircurrent processes of industrialization and modernization，we should not expect them to beexact copies of Japan, Germany or the United States．

    Take the current information revolution．TheUnited Statesis at the forefrontof this great movement of change，so the uniform social and cultural habits produced by televisionviewing or Internet use，for instance，are often attributed to Americanization．But correlation is not cause．Since the United States does existand is at the leading edge of the information revolution，there is a degree ofAmericanization at present，but it is likely to decrease over the course of the 21 st century astechnology spreads and local cultures modernize in their own ways．

    Historical proof that globalization doesnot necessarily mean homogenization can be seen in the case of Japan．In the mid一19th century，it became the first Asian countryto embrace globalization and to borrow successfully from the world withoutlosing its uniqueness．Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868，Japan searched broadly for toolsand innovations that would allow it to become a major power rather than avictim of Western imperialism．The lesson that Japan has to teach the rest of the world is thateven a century and a half of openness to global trends does not necessarilyassure destruction of a country’s separate cultural identity．

1．The author’s main purpose in writing thispassage is to _____．

    A) report the progress of some newevents 

    B) criticize extreme and violentactions 

    C) recall a certain period of Americanhistory 

    D) tell his readers not to be afraid ofglobalization    

2．The author mentions world historyto prove that modernization _____．

    A) does not result in homogeneity of localcultures 

    B) is somewhat related to globalization 

    C) is one of the long-term historicaltrends 

    D) has shaped different traits inindustrial countries    

3．The author admits that a degree ofAmericanization does exist because ______．

    A) it is a long-term historical trend ofthe world 

    B) industrial societies are almost exactcopies of theUnited States 

    C) the Internet and TV promote the spreadof American social and cultural habits 

    D) local cultures are gradually weakenedover the course of the 21 st century 

4．Japan is mentioned in the passageto show that _________．

    A) openness to globalization will not costa nation’s cultural identity 

    B) it was the first Asian country todevelop successfully 

    C) the Meiji Restoration of 1868 wascrucial inJapan’shistory 

    D) tools and innovations would allow acountry to become a major power 

5．From the passage we can concludethat the author is strongly in defense of ______．

    A) Americanization         B) globalization 

    C) information revolution  D) modernization 

【解析】

1．D)。全文的主题是：全球化既不能同化世界文化，也不能使世界文化美国化。全文都是在论述这一观点，所以其目的也是告诉人们不要惧怕全球化，即为D)。A) 是第一段的例子；B) 是对第一段例子的态度，不是全文的观点；c) 是文章中的一个细节。

2．B)。由题干中的modernization 定位到第二段，题干中的world history 对应文中的historical trends，第二句的意思是虽然他们之间有联系，全球化和现代化的历史趋势是不同的。所以选B) 是为了证明现代化和全球化有点相关，另外somewhat 使语义避免绝对化，是正确选项特征之一。由第二段第三句话：虽然现代化已经导致了相同的特点，当地文化决不能被消除，A) 和该句意思相反；c) 是文章中的事实，不是目的；D) 的说法不全面，因为现代化不仅形成了工业国家不同点，也有相同特点。

3．c)。由题干Americanization 定位到文章第三段的第二句话：美国走在这种变革的前沿，因此由电视和因特网所带来的同一社会和文化习惯是美国化的原因，所以选c)。由第三段第四句话后半句：但是随着科技的传播和当地文化以自己的方式使之现代化，美国的影响会减少，所以A)、B)不对；D) 和该句意思相反。

4．A)。由题干 Japan 定位到最后一段。列举例子是为了支持作者的观点。该段的第一句：全球化并不意味着同一化，日本就是一例。即为作者的观点，所以应选A)。B)、c) 和D) 是事实，不是目的，而是例子的具体内容。

5．B)。本题是问作者为什么辩护。通过全文：第一段作者提出全球化既不能让世界文化同化，也不能使之美国化。第二段指出全球化和现代化的历史趋势是不同的。现代化不能消除当地文化，表面的相似不能导致同一性。第三段以美国为例，美国走在这种变革的前沿，因此由电视和因特网所带来的同一社会和文化习惯是美国化的原因，但是随着科技的传播和当地文化以自己的方式使之现代化，美国的影响会减少；第四段又以日本为例，说明全球化的趋势不需要破坏一个国家独立的文化个性。所以全文都是在说全球化。由此应选B)。由第三段可知，美国化是全球化的一个例子，所以A)、c)不对；由第二段可知作者是想通过与现代化做对比来说明一个国家文化被同化不是全球化的结果，所以D) 不对。