liberation” group, or “women’s lib”, used radical tactics and received a great deal of bad publicity. This group found strong support among large numbers of young activists from other organizations.

6. What are the legacies of the social movements of the 1960s? What are their effects, positive and negative, upon contemporary US society? The Civil Rights Movement, the Youth Movement, the Anti-War Movement, Free Speech Movement, Counter Culture, Women’s Liberation Movement.

1. During World War Two, many American Negroes had a taste of life outside the South. They knew that life in the segregated South, where Negroes were prevented from working at good jobs and getting good education, was not the American way of life.

2. Women earned less money and had fewer opportunities to advance than men working in the same jobs, or they became housewives, isolated at home with their children.

3. Many young people resented traditional white male values in US society.

4. When the US army began to fight in Vietnam, many people thought the war was wrong. They did not understand why US troops were fighting in Asia. Unit10

16

1.The author says that the United States was founded on the principle of human equality, but in practice the nation has fallen far short of that ideal. Illustrate this point with what you have learned from this text. For example, the racial discrimination, sex discrimination, class structure, etc.

2.Use examples from this text to support the author’s argument that American society is a stratified one, in which power, wealth and prestige are unequally distributed among the population.

1.In America, any group other than the dominant white Anglo-Saxon Protestant majority is a minority group. They mainly refer to the blacks, Native Americans or American Indians, the Hispanics, and Asian Americans.

2.After the abolition of slavery, many states passed segregation laws, and institutionalized discrimination kept blacks in the lowest-paid jobs. 3.Literacy tests were a method used to keep blacks off the voters’ rolls and prevent them from voting.

3.Discussthe origins, development and current situation of the black-white relations in the United States.

Unlike most other peoples, Americans are primarily a nation of immigrants.The citizens or their ancestors immigrated from many parts of the globe. Though people all share a common American culture, the

17

nation contains many racial and ethnic subcultures with their own distinctive characteristics. These differences might seem trivial or irrelevant to outside observers, but they have contributed to racial conflicts that have been a persistent social problem to American society. The United States was founded on the principle of human equality, but in practice the nation has fallen far short of that ideal. Particularly since the civil rights demonstrations, ghetto riots, and other unrest in the 1960s, race and ethnic relations have been a major preoccupation of social scientists, politicians and the general public.

The 1960s saw the great civil rights movement whose goals were to end segregation laws completely and fight for the equal rights for the colored people.

The current status of black Americans presents a mixed picture. The elimination of legal barriers to their advancement has been a major gain, but institutionalized discrimination is still rife.

Race relations between black and white still leave much to be desired, although there is unmistakable evidence of some improvements in attitudes.

4.Why does poverty mean in the United States? Why is poverty a social problem in America?

Poverty in the United States does not simply mean that the poor do not live quite as well as other citizens. It means many old people eating

18

dog and cat food to supplement their diets. It means malnutrition and deprivation for hundreds of thousands of children. It means greater susceptibility to disease, to alcoholism, to victimization by criminals, and to mental disorders. It often means unstable marriages, slum housing, illiteracy, ignorance, inadequate, medical facilities, and shortened life expectancy. Poverty can mean low self-esteem, despair, and stunting of human potential.

Because it occurs in a society in which the overall distribution of wealth( property and other capital) and income( wages, salaries, and other earnings) is very unequal.

5.Why does the drug issue always excite strong emotions among Americans? Why is it perceived as a major threat to American society? Because drug abuse is perceived as a major threat to the society, particularly to its younger members.

1.Drug is closely related to crime and automobile accidents. 2.It has severe effects on individuals physically as well as mentally. 3.Drug abuse has caused great economic losses.

19