阅读理解 The way in which people use social space reflects their social relationships and their ethnic identity. Early immigrants to America from Europe brought with them a collective style of living, which they retained until late in the 18th century. Historical records document a group-oriented existence, in which one room was used for eating, entertaining guests, and sleeping. People ate soups from a communal pot, shared drinking cups, and used a common pit toilet. With the development of ideas about individualism, people soon began to shift to the use of individual cups and plates; the eating of meals that included meat, bread, and vegetables served on separate plates; and the use of private toilets. They began to build their houses with separate rooms to entertain guests—living rooms, separate bedrooms for sleeping, separate work areas— kitchen, laundry room, and separate bathrooms. In Mexico, the meaning and organization of domestic space is strikingly different. Houses are organized around a patio, or courtyard. Rooms open onto the patio, where all kinds of domestic activities take place. Individuals do not have separate bedrooms. Children often sleep with parents, and brothers or sisters share a bed, emphasizing familial interdependence. Rooms in Mexican houses are locations for multiple activities that, in contrast, are rigidly separated in the United States.
单选题 Changes in living styles among early immigrants were initially brought about by_______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】本题考查早期移民生活方式改变的原因。文章大意是人们的生活方式反映了他们的社会关系和民族特性,所以生活方式的改变取决于人们社会关系和民族观念的改变。第一段第五句指出With the development of ideas about individualism...B)中的new concepts与文中的ideas意思接近。
单选题 Which of the following is NOT discussed in the passage?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】文中第二段以墨西哥为例详细地介绍了家庭空间的结构和具体含义的不同,排除A);文中第一段最后一句谈到每个房间的作用,排除C);文章开头就提到人们对待社会空间的态度反映了他们的社会关系,从文中可以看出美国人强调空间的隔离,反映出他们在社会关系中的独立性,墨西哥人崇尚家庭空间的多功能,反映出他们在社会中的相互依靠和融洽,排除B);只有D)“房间的布局”文中没有具体谈论。