北京外国语大学2011年硕士研究生入学考试英语语言文学.docVIP

北京外国语大学2011年硕士研究生入学考试 英语语言文学专业能力测试试卷（样题） I. Summarize the two views (that of the author and that he criticizes) in the following passage and then write a commentary. Your answer should not exceed 1000 words (50%) Asian Americans have increasingly come to be viewed as a “model minority”. But are they as successful as claimed? And for whom are they supposed be model? The model minority thesis first surfaced in the mid-1960s when journalists began publicizing the high educational attainment levels, high median incomes, low crime rates, and absence of juvenile delinquency and mental health problems among Asian Americans. This publicity served an important political purpose at the height of the civil rights movement: proponents of the thesis were in fact telling Black and Chicano activists that they should following examples set by Asian Americans who work hard to pull themselves up by the bootstraps instead of using ,militant protests to obtain their rights. Until today, similar political rhetoric can still be heard. Many politicians and pundits ask: “If Asian Americans can make it with their stress on hard work and education, why can’t African Americans?” Such comparisons pit minorities against each other and generate African American resentment toward Asian Americans. The victims are blamed for their plight, rather than racism or an economy that has made many young African- American workers superfluous. Without question, the socioeconomic status of Asian Americans as a whole has improved since the early 1940s. The median family income of Asian Americans in 1990 ($42,240) stood above the national average ($35,225). Asian American households are more affluent than any other racial or ethnic group including Whites. Asian Americans also have an enviable record of educational achievement, with almost twice the national average of college graduates. The figures, however, can be misleading. The celebration of Asian American success has obscured reality.