【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[听力原文]
Johnson:
Hello, class. Last week we invited Mrs. Lee here to talk about the United States being a melting pot. Today, Mrs. Lee will continue talking something about this. Welcome, Mrs. Lee.
Mrs. Lee:
Thank you. We know the United States is a melting pot, where all the different immigrants mix together to create something new. Well, everything has exceptions, including our melting pot. Inside the Mississippi River Valley, there is a large area that is part melting pot and part garden salad. In Louisiana, or more specifically, New Orleans, there have been a few major cultural influences that are different from the rest of the United States.
Unlike the rest of the United States, which was colonized by England and Spain, New Orleans was mainly a French settlement. It also was a unique slave culture.
While the rest of the U.S. was a melting pot, mixing all its parts to create something new, New Orleans became a garden salad.
Right now you may be asking yourself, "What does she mean by garden salad?" A garden salad has many parts that are combined to make a new flavor.
Each piece retains its original identity, but combined they make something new, and hopefully better. This contrasts to the melting pot because in a melting pot, all pieces lose their identity to form something new.
So in New Orleans, we have a French beginning, with French culture, food, language and lifestyle. Added in over the centuries is a bit of a Spanish influence, when Spain controlled the territory for about 50 years after the French and Indian War.
After that is the American and English influence after President Jefferson bought the territory from France.
And lastly is an influx of Latino culture from Mexico and the Caribbean.
The result now is that New Orleans has a distinct culture apart from the United States. Because of their French ancestry, they have different expressions, such as they say "I"m making groceries," instead of our "I am grocery shopping." Again, this is because the French influence. In French, the direct translation is "to make groceries," not "to buy or go shopping."
What"s the difference between New Orleans and the rest of the U.S.?
[解析] 李老师的讲座开头提到凡事都有例外，包括我们的大熔炉，随后以新奥尔良为例，提到Unlike the rest of the United States, which was colonized by England and Spain. New Orleans was mainly a French settlement. It also was a unique slave culture，指出新奥尔良和美同的其他地方不同，它曾经主要是法国的殖民地，即受到法国文化的影响颇深，凶此D项正确，故选D。曾经被英国占领的是除新奥尔良之外的美国其他地方，因而排除A项；讲座中提到影响新奥尔良的几种主要文化与美国其他地方的不同，但是并没有说它比别的地方有更多的文化影响力，因而排除B项；讲座中提及新奥尔良是作为美国大熔炉的反例，因而可以排除C项。