2024年06月六级第2套仔细阅读 Passage 1 原文翻译及答案解析

The "American Dream" promises that in the Land of Opportunity, any individual can climb the economic ladder and prosper through hard work and ambition alone. And yet, young Americans today are struggling to earn more than their parents did at the same age, and upward mobility in the US actually compares unfavourably to that of other industrialised nations. So why does the idea of the American Dream persist? A new study in the American Journal of Political Science identifies one factor that has been overlooked: the influence of reality TV. Reality shows have come to dominate US television over the past 20 years, notes Eunji Kim from Vanderbilt University. And the overwhelming majority of these have a "rags-to-riches" storyline: they feature ordinary Americans who work hard to achieve great economic success. And while these programmes are regularly among the most-watched shows, news broadcasts—which paint a more realistic view of the economic hardship faced by millions of Americans—get a much smaller proportion of the viewership. Rags-to-riches stories are ubiquitous on TV—but does watching these programmes actually convince people that economic mobility is easily attainable? To find out, Kim's team had participants watch a 5-minute clip from a reality show with a rags-to-riches storyline. Control participants watched a clip from a reality show that didn't have a rags-to-riches story. After watching the shows, participants rated how much they agreed with four statements relating to the American Dream. The results showed that those who'd watched a rags-to-riches clip did indeed have a significantly greater belief in the American Dream. Interestingly, when participants were separated by party affiliation, this effect was significant among Republicans but not Democrats, suggesting that the kind of messages implicit in these TV shows may play into people's existing socioeconomic beliefs. Kim also conducted a survey of 3,000 US residents. They also rated the extent to which they believed success in life is related to various internal factors (such as ambition) and external factors (such as family wealth). Finally, they read a list of TV programmes and indicated which they regularly watched. Participants who were heavy viewers of rags-to-riches programmes or frequent viewers had a stronger belief in the American Dream than those who never watched such shows. Kim concludes that "rags-to-riches entertainment media are an important cultural force that promotes and perpetuates beliefs in upward mobility". And here's the problem: if people mistakenly believe that hard work is all that is needed for individuals to make a better life for themselves, they may be less supportive of policies that could actually combat inequality. "In this era of choice, entertainment media are what captures hearts and minds," Kim writes. "Its political consequences are anything but trivial".

“美国梦”承诺，在机会之地，任何个体都可以仅凭努力工作和雄心壮志攀登经济阶梯并取得成功。然而，今天的美国年轻人正努力在相同年龄比他们的父母挣得更多，而美国的向上流动性实际上不如其他工业化国家。那么，为什么美国梦的理念依然持续存在？《美国政治学杂志》上的一项新研究发现了一个被忽视的因素：真人秀电视的影响。范德比尔特大学的 Eunji Kim 指出，在过去20年里，真人秀节目已经主导了美国电视。而绝大多数这类节目都有“白手起家”的故事情节：它们以普通美国人努力工作取得巨大经济成功为特色。虽然这些节目经常是收视率最高的节目之一，但新闻广播——描绘了数百万美国人面临经济困难的更现实景象——收视份额要小得多。白手起家的故事在电视上无处不在——但观看这些节目真的能让人们相信经济流动性很容易实现吗？为了找出答案，Kim 的团队让参与者观看一段5分钟的具有白手起家故事情节的真人秀片段。对照组参与者观看了一段没有白手起家故事的真人秀片段。观看节目后，参与者评价了他们对四个与美国梦相关的陈述的同意程度。结果表明，观看白手起家片段的人确实对美国梦有显著更强的信念。有趣的是，当参与者按党派归属分组时，这种效应在共和党人中显著，但在民主党人中不显著，这表明这些电视节目中隐含的信息可能迎合了人们现有的社会经济信念。Kim 还对3,000名美国居民进行了调查。他们还评价了他们认为生活中的成功与各种内部因素（如雄心）和外部因素（如家庭财富）相关的程度。最后，他们阅读了一份电视节目列表，并指出了他们经常观看哪些节目。经常观看白手起家节目或频繁观看的参与者比从未观看此类节目的人对美国梦有更强的信念。Kim 总结道：“白手起家的娱乐媒体是促进和延续向上流动性信念的重要文化力量。”问题在于：如果人们错误地相信，努力工作就是个人为自己创造更好生活所需的全部，他们可能对那些能真正减少不平等的政策支持度较低。“在这个选择的时代，娱乐媒体是捕获人心的东西，”Kim 写道。“其政治后果绝非微不足道。”