2010年6月英语六级真题快速阅读原文与参考答案_大学英语阅读

2010年6月英语六级真题快速阅读原文与参考答案

It could, of course, also be that Obamas 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 Obamas family is such a salient (出色的) image, we generalise it and fail to see the larger picturethat theres 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 Obamas effect, she says.

Though Plants 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 everythings solved.

These findings do not only apply to Obama, or even just to race. They should hold for any role model in any country. Theres no reason we wouldnt 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 dont yet know how long the Obama effectboth its good side and its badwill 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 individualsa phenomenon that psychologists call subtypingalso 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.