Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
Obama’s success isn’t all good news for black Americans
As Erin White watched the election results head towards victory for Barack Obama, she felt a burden lifting from her shoulders. "In that one second, it was a validation for my whole race," she recalls.
"I’ve always been an achiever," says White, who is studying for an MBA at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. "But there had always been these things in the back of my mind questioning whether I really can be who I want. It was like a shadow, following me around saying you can only go so far. Now it’s like a barrier has been let down."
White’s experience is what many psychologists had expected - that Obama would prove to be a powerful role model for African Americans. Some hoped his rise to prominence would have a big impact on white Americans, too, challenging those who still harbour racist sentiments. "The traits that characterise him are very contradictory to the racial stereotypes that black people are aggressive and uneducated," says Ashby Plant of Florida State University. "He’s very intelligent and eloquent."
Sting in the tail
Ashby Plant is one of a number of psychologists who seized on Obama’s candidacy to test hypotheses about the power of role models. Their work is already starting to reveal how the "Obama effect" is changing people’s views and behaviour. Perhaps surprisingly, it is not all good news: there is a sting in the tail of the Obama effect.
But first the good news. Barack Obama really is a positive role model for African Americans, and he was making an impact even before he got to the White House. Indeed, the Obama effect can be surprisingly immediate and powerful, as Ray Friedman of Vanderbilt University and his colleagues discovered.
They tested four separate groups at four key stages of Obama’s presidential campaign. Each group consisted of around 120 adults of similar age and education, and the test assessed their language skills. At two of these stages, when Obama’s success was less than certain, the tests showed a clear difference between the scores of the white and black participants—an average of 12.1 out of 20, compared to 8.8, for example. When the Obama fever was at its height, however, the black participants performed much better. Those who had watched Obama’s acceptance speech as the Democrats’ presidential candidate performed just as well, on average, as the white subjects.After his election victory, this was true of all the black participants.
Dramatic shift
What can explain this dramatic shift? At the start of the test, the participants had to declare their race and were told their results would be used to assess their strengths and weaknesses. This should have primed the subjects with "stereotype threat" – an anxiety that their results will confirm negative stereotypes, which has been shown to damage the performance of African Americans.
Obama’s successes seemed to act as a shield against this. "We suspect they felt inspired and energised by his victory, so the stereotype threat wouldn’t prove a distraction," says Friedman.
Lingering racism
If the Obama effect is positive for African Americans, how is it affecting their white compatriots (同胞)? Is the experience of having a charismatic (有魅力的) black president modifying lingering racist attitudes? There is no easy way to measure racism directly; instead psychologists assess what is known as "implicit bias", using a computer-based test that measures how quickly people associate positive and negative words—such as "love" or "evil"—with photos of black or white faces. A similar test can also measure how quickly subjects associate stereotypical traits—such as athletic skills or mental ability—with a particular group.
In a study that will appear in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Plant’s team tested 229 students during the height of the Obama fever. They found that implicit bias has fallen by as much as 90% compared with the level found in a similar study in 2006. "That’s an unusually large drop," Plant says.
While the team can’t be sure their results are due solely to Obama, they also showed that those with the lowest bias were likely to subconsciously associate black skin colour with political words such as "government" or "president". This suggests that Obama was strongly on their mind, says Plant.
Drop in bias
Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, who runs a website that measures implicit bias using similar test, has also observed a small drop in bias in the 700,000 visitors to the site since January 2007, which might be explained by Obama’s rise to popularity. However, his preliminary results suggest that change will be much slower coming than Plant’s results suggest.
Talking honestly
"People now have the opportunity of expressing support for Obama every day," says Daniel Effron at Stanford University in California. "Our research arouses the concern that people may now be more likely to raise negative views of African Americans." On the other hand, he says, it may just encourage people to talk more honestly about their feelings regarding race issues, which may not be such a bad thing.
Another part of the study suggests far more is at stake than the mere expression of views. The Obama effect may have a negative side. Just one week after Obama was elected president, participants were less ready to support policies designed to address racial inequality than they had been two weeks before the election.
Huge obstacles
It could, of course, also be that Obama’s success helps people to forget that a disproportionate number of black Americans still live in poverty and face huge obstacles when trying to overcome these circumstances. "Barack Obama’s family is such a salient (出色的) image, we generalise it and fail to see the larger picture—that there’s injustice in every aspect of American life," says Cheryl Kaiser of the University of Washington in Seattle. Those trying to address issues of racial inequality need to constantly remind people of the inequalities that still exist to counteract the Obama’s effect, she says.
Though Plant’s findings were more positive, she too warns against thinking that racism and racial inequalities are no longer a problem. "The last thing I want is for people to think everything’s solved."
These findings do not only apply to Obama, or even just to race. They should hold for any role model in any country. "There’s no reason we wouldn’t have seen the same effect on our views of women if Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin had been elected," says Effron. So the election of a female leader might have a downside for other women.
Beyond race
We also don’t yet know how long the Obama effect—both its good side and its bad—will last.Political sentiment is notoriously changeable: What if things begin to go wrong for Obama, and his popularity slumps?
And what if Americans become so familiar with having Obama as their president that they stop considering his race altogether? "Over time he might become his own entity," says Plant. This might seem like the ultimate defeat for racism, but ignoring the race of certain select individuals—a phenomenon that psychologists call subtyping—also has an insidious (隐伏的) side. "We think it happens to help people preserve their beliefs, so they can still hold on to the previous stereotypes." That could turn out to be the cruellest of all the twists to the Obama effect.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
1. How did Erin White feel upon seeing Barack Obama’s victory in the election?
A) Excited.
B) Victorious.
C) Anxious.
D) Relieved.
2. Before the election, Erin White has been haunted by the question of whether ______.
A) she could obtain her MBA degree
B) she could go as far as she wanted in life
C) she was overshadowed by her white peers
D) she was really an achiever as a student
3. What is the focus of Ashby Plant’s study?
A) Racist sentiments in America.
B) The power of role models.
C) Personality traits of successful blacks.
D) The dual character of African Americans.
4. In their experiments, Ray Friedman and his colleagues found that ______.
A) blacks and whites behaved differently during the election
B) whites’ attitude towards blacks has dramatically changed
C) Obama’s election has eliminated the prejudice against blacks
D) Obama’s success impacted blacks’ performance in language tests
5. What do Brian Nosek’s preliminary results suggest?
A) The change in bias against blacks is slow in coming.
B) Bias against blacks has experienced an unusual drop.
C) Website visitor’s opinions are far from being reliable.
D) Obama’s popularity may decline as time passes by.
6. A negative side of the Obama effect is that ______.
A) more people have started to criticise President Obama’s racial policies
B) relations between whites and African Americans may become tense again
C) people are now less ready to support policies addressing racial inequality
D) white people are likely to become more critical of African Americans
7. Cheryl Kaiser holds that people should be constantly reminded that ______.
A) Obama’s success is sound proof of black’s potential
B) Obama is but a rare example of black’s excellence
C) racial inequality still persists in American society
D) blacks still face obstacles in political participation
8. According to Effron, if Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin had been elected, there would also have been a negative effect on ______.
9. It is possible that the Obama effect will be short-lived if there is a change in people’s ______.
10. The worst possible aspect of the Obama effect is that people could ignore his race altogether and continue to hold on to their old racial ______.
参考答案：
1. D Relieved
2. B she could go as far as she wanted in life
3. B The power of role models
4. D Obama’s success impacted blacks’ performance in language tests
5. A The change in bias against black is slow in coming
6. C people are now less ready to supportpolicies addressing racial inequality
7. C racial inequality still persists in American society
8. our views of women
9. political sentiment
10. stereotypes
【详解】
1. How did Erin White feel upon seeing Barack Obama’s victory in the election”?
A) Excited.
B) Victorious.
C) Anxious.
D) Relieved.
此题问的是Eric对于Obama选举胜利后感觉如何?
此题从文中第一段来找，As Erin White watched the election results head towards victory for Barack Obama, she felt a burden lifting from her shoulders. 关键字为a burden lifting from her shoulders(肩上放下了一个重担)与D选项relieved同义，故此题答案为D。
2. Before the election, Erin White has been haunted by the question of whether ________.
A) she could obtain her MBA degree
B) she could go as far as she wanted in life
C) she was overshadowed by her white peers
D) she was really an achiever as a student
此题问的是选举前Erin被什么问题所困扰?
此题从文中第二段找答案，But there had always been these things in the back of my mind questioning whether I really can be who I want.
关键字是whether，题目中有个whether,而此句中也有个whether.
题目中有个词haunted意思是：长期不断地缠扰(某人) ,缠绕, 萦绕
而此句in the back of my mind 与haunted同义，
所以要选择与I really can be who I want(我想成为我想成为的人)的意思相近，故选择B选项(在她的生活中，她想走多远，就能走多远，即她可以成为她想成为的人)。
3. What is the focus of Ashby Plant’s study?
A) Racist sentiments in America.
B) The power of role models.
C) Personality traits of successful blacks.
D) The dual character of African Americans.
此题问的是Plant的研究重点在于什么?
此题可以从文中找到答案:
Ashby Plant is one of a number of psychologists who seized on Obama’s candidacy to test hypotheses about the power of role models.
关键字为：the power of role models，与B选项对应，故此题答案为B。
4. In their experiments, Ray Friedman and his colleagues found that ________.
A) blacks and whites behaved differently during the election
B) whites’ attitude towards blacks has dramatically changed
C) Obama’s election has eliminated the prejudice against blacks
D) Obama’s success impacted blacks’ performance in language tests
此题问的是在试验中，Ray Friedman 和他的同事发现了什么?
此题也可以从文中找到相应的答案：When the Obama fever was at its height, however, the black participants performed much better. Those who had watched Obama’s acceptance speech as the Democrats’ presidential candidate performed just as well, on average, as the white subjects. 当奥巴马热达到最高潮时，那些黑人试验者表现就更好，这说明Obama的成功影响着黑人的表现，与D选项对应，故此题答案为D。
5. What do Brian Nosek’s preliminary results suggest?
A) The change in bias against blacks is slow in coming.
B) Bias against blacks has experienced an unusual drop.
C) Website visitor’s opinions are far from being reliable.
D) Obama’s popularity may decline as time passes by.
此题问的是Brian 的初步结果显示什么?
此题从文中可以找到答案:Drop in bias
Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, who runs a website that measures implicit bias using silimar test, has also observed a small drop in bias in the 700,000 visitors to the site since January 2007, which might be explained by Obama’s rise to popularity. However, his preliminary results suggests that change will be much slower coming than Plant’s results suggest.
关键词为： change will be much slower coming ，而根据原文，change具体指a small drop in bias against blacks.
所以综合起来就是：对黑人歧视的人的数量将减少，这一改变将会慢慢到来，与A选项对应，故此题答案为A。
6. A negative side of the Obama effect is that ________.
A) more people have started to criticise President Obama’s racial policies
B) relations between whites and African Americans may become tense again
C) people are now less ready to support policies addressing racial inequality
D) white people are likely to become more critical of African Americans
此题问的是Obama effect所带来得消极影响是什么?
此题也可以从文中找到答案:
The Obama effect may have a negative side. Just one week after Obama was elected president, participants were less ready to support policies designed to address racial inequality than they had been two weeks before the election.
参与者在奥巴马当选后，支持解决种族不平等的政策的人变得少些了。与C选项对应，故此题答案为C。
7. Cheryl Kaiser holds that people should be constanly reminded that ________.
A) Obama’s success is sound proof of black’s potential
B) Obama is but a rare example of black’s excellence
C) racial inequality still persists in American society
D) blacks still face obstacles in political participation
此题问的是Cheryl Kaiser 认为人们应该不停地被提醒什么事情?
此题也可以从文中找到答案：
Those trying to address issues of racial inequality need to constantly remind people of the inequalities that still exists to counteract the Obama’s effect.
关键词是：remind people of the inequalities that still exists 提醒人们不平等仍然存在，persist与exist是近义词，都是存在的意思。与C选项对应，故此题答案为C。
8. According to Effron, if Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin had been elected, there would also have been a negative effect on our views of women.
此题问的是如果Hillary Clinton 或Sarah Palin 当选，会有什么负面影响?
从文中也可以找到答案：
“There’s no reason we wouldn’t have seen the same effect on our views of women if Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin had been elected,” says Effron. So the election of a female leader might have a downside for other women.
这里的the same effect 是指与奥巴马有同样的影响，即the negative effect.
关键词为：effect on our views of women ，故此题答案为：our views of women
9. It is possible that the Obama effect will be short-lived if there is a change in people’s political sentiment.
此题问的是如果人们的什么改变的话，奥巴马热将会消失。
从文中此处可以找到答案：We also don’t yet know how long the Obama effect—both its good side and its bad—will last. Political sentiment is notoriously changeale: What if things begin to go wrong for Obama, and his popularity slumps?
关键词为：Political sentiment is notoriously changeale即zz态度的改变。后面又进一步解释说明。故此题答案为：political sentiment
10. The worst possible aspect of the Obama effect is that people could ingore his race altogether and continue to hold on to their old racial sterotypes.
此题从文中最后一段可以找到答案：And what if Americans become so familiar with having Obama as their president that they stop considering his race altogether? “Over time he might become his own entity,” says Plant. This might seem like the ultimate defeat for racism, but ignoring the race of certain select individuals—a phenomenon that psychologists call subtyping—also has an insidious(隐伏的)side. “We think it happens to help people preserve their beliefs, so they can still hold on to the previous sterotypes.” That could turn out to be the cruellest of all the twists to the Obama effect.
关键词为： hold on to the previous sterotypes，
这里需要解释下sterotypes:刻板印象(sterotype)便是众人共同形成的人格化
而An ethnic stereotype is a generalized representation of an ethnic group, composed of what are thought to be typical characteristics of members of the group. Ethnic stereotypes are commonly portrayed in ethnic jokes.
ethnic是与racial同义的，故此题答案为：sterotypes.
