2012年12月四六级暑假备考快速阅读模拟练习与解析_大学英语阅读

2012年12月四六级暑假备考快速阅读模拟练习与解析

　　2012英语六级阅读全真模拟题(第16篇)

　　Obamas success isnt 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.

　　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 its like a barrier has been let down.

　　Whites 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. Hes very intelligent and eloquent.

　　Sting in the tail

　　Ashby Plant is one of a number of psychologists who seized on Obamas candidacy to test hypotheses about the power of role models. Their work is already starting to reveal how the Obama effect is changing peoples views and behaviour. Perhaps surprisingly, it is not all good news: there is a sting in the tail of the Obama effect.