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Passage 2

Not too many decades ago it seemed “obvious” both to the general public and to sociologists that modem society, has changed people's natural relations, loosened their responsibilities to kin 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 activates. 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 heterogeneity. For instance, sociologists have found much evidence that the size of a community is associated with had behavior including gambling, drugs, etc. Large-city people are also more likely than their small-town counterparts to have a multinational 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.

单选题

Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the first paragraph?

单选题

According to the passage, it was once a common belief that urban residents ________.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】

题干中的关键词“once”为时间对比词，表明要去找旧观点。第一段第一句“Not too many decades ago...loosened their responsibilities to kin and neighbors, and substituted in their place superficial relationships with passing acquaintances.”提供了明确的答案。大意是：现代社会已经改变了人们的自然关系，减轻了他们对亲戚和邻居的责任，取而代之的是点头之交的表面关系。选项B中“not develop long-standing relationships”正与之相符。故选B。

单选题

One of the consequences of urban life is that impersonal relationships among neighbors ________.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】

题干中的关键词“impersonal relationships”与文章第三段第二句“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.”意思相符。该句大意是：如果邻居之间彼此陌生，他们就不大可能给住在隔壁的一对上了年纪的夫妇打扫门前的人行通道或留意年轻的调皮鬼。故选C。

单选题

It can be inferred from the passage that the bigger a community is ________.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】

题干关键词“the bigger a community”对应第三段第五句“Large-city urbanites are also more likely than their small-town counterparts to have a cosmopolitan outlook...to be tolerant of nontraditional religious groups, unpopular political groups, and so-called undesirables.”大意是：大城市的居民比小城镇的居民更具有开阔的视野，对传统的亲属关系承担更小的责任，投票赞成左派政治候选人，会容忍非传统的宗教团体、不受欢迎的政治团体和所谓的不良分子。该句中出现了“tolerant”和“unusual behavior”的表达，说明社区越大，人们也开明。故选C。