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 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 he.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 religious groups, unpopular political groups, and so-called undesirables. Everything considered, heterogeneity and unusual behavior seem to be outcomes of large population size.
【测试题】
1. 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 arid small-town life is given.
2. According co the passage, it was once a common belief chai 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
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 not to show concern for one another
D) cause them !o be suspicious of each other
4. I can be inferred from the passage that che bigger a community is_____________.
A) the better its quality of life
B) the more similar its interests
C) the more tolerant it is
D) the likelier it is to display psychological symptoms of stress
5. What is che passage mainly about?
A) Similarities in the interpersonal relationships between urbanites and small town dwellers.
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.
【选项翻译与答案】
1. 以下哪种说法最适合形容第一段的结构?
A) 展示了两种相反的观点。
B) 检视了一种论点，给出了可能的解决方法。
C)关于城市生活质量的研究结果以时间的顺序展示出来。
D) 对于城市和小镇生活的不同作出了详细的描述。
[A]在文章第1段作者通过However提出了两种完全不同的观点，“就在几十年前，对一须在众和社会学家而言，现代社会‘明显地’改变了人们的自然关系”和“然而，最近几年，越来越多的研究表明，那些‘明显’的事情并不真实”。因此，应该先A。
2. 文章中显示，曾经人们普遍相信城市居民______________。
A) 与邻居没有共同的兴趣 B) 无法发展出长期的关系
C) 总是和不良行为挂上钧 D) 通常会有更多朋友
[B]根据文章第1段“就在几十年前，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”，由此可推断，B与文章的内容相符，故而正确。
3. 城市生活的后果之一就是邻居间的人际关系________________。
A) 破坏了人们的自然关系 B)让他们担心犯罪
C)让他们不去展现对彼此的关心 D)让他们彼此怀疑
[C]根据文章第3段“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”，故C正确。B是原因，不是结果。
4. 从文章中可以推断，社区越大，________________。
A) 生活质量就越高 B)兴趣就越相似
C) 就更具包容性 D)就更可能展现出精神压力的症状
5. 本文主旨是什么?
A)城市居民和小城镇居民的人际关系的相似之处。
B)居住在大城市相对于居住在小城镇的优势。
C)城市化在现代生活中的正面作用。
D)城市居民的强烈疏远感。
[A]在文章第1段，作者提出了两种不同的观点，随后一直在论述第二个观点，作者通过对比大城市和小城镇居民的相似性来支持他自己的观点。因此，A与文章的内容想一致。
【参考译文】
[1]/[2]就在几十年前，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。然而，最近几年，越来越多的研究表明，那些“明显”的事情并不是真实。真实似乎是，如果你居住在城市里，那么你认识的邻居就必定会比你住在小社区里认识的少。但是，这个事实在多数情形下没有什么意义。如果你认识的邻居少，也不一定就意味着你不认识别的人。
即使在是都市，人们仍保持在小范围的、私人的社交圈子里密切往来。事实上，在城市化多些或少些的居民之间，有意义的人际关系的数目和质量都没有什么区别。小镇居民比大城市居民更愿意同亲戚走动。但是城里人通过结交志趣相投的朋友弥补了这个缺憾。城市化可能会产生不同的生活方式，但是城镇之间的生活质量并无差别。大城市居民也不见得就比小社区居民更容易呈现出紧张或陌生感，即没有归属感等心理症状。但是，城市居民确实对犯罪行为更为担心，这使他们不信任陌生人。
这些发现并不是说城市化没有造成影响或造成的影响很小。[3]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。此外，正像沃斯说的那样，社区的人口规模同其成员的社交多样性大有关系。比如，社会学家发现，有很多证据表明社区的大小同赌博、吸毒等恶习的多寡有关。相对于小镇居民，[4]大城市的居民比小城镇的居民见多识广，对传统的亲情角色承担更小的责任，更有可能投票选举左翼政党候选人，对非传统的宗教团体、不得人心的政团组织或所谓的讨人嫌者更能容忍。通盘考虑，多样性和不同寻常的举止是巨大的人口规模造成的。
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