The changing profile of a city in the United States is apparent in the shifting definitions used by the United States Bureau of the Census. In 1870 the census officially distinguished the nation’s “urban” from its “rural” population for the first time. “Urban population” was defined as persons living in towns of 8,000 inhabitants or more. But after 1900 it meant persons living in incorporated places having 2,500 or more inhabitants.
Then,in 1950 the Census Bureau radically changed its definition of “urban”to take account of the new vagueness of city boundaries. In addition to persons living in incorporated units of 2, 500 or more, the census now included those who lived in unincorporated units of that size, and also all persons living in the densely settled urban fringe, including both incorporated and unincorporated areas located around cities of 50, 000 inhabitants or more. Each such unit, conceived as an integrated economic and social unit with a large population nucleus, was named a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA).
Each SMSA would contain at least one central city with 50,000 inhabitants or more or two cities having shared boundaries and constituting, for general economic and social purposes, a single community with a combined population of at least 50,000, the smaller of which must have a population of at least 15,000. Such an area included the country in which the central city is located, and adjacent countries that are found to be metropolitan in character and economically and socially integrated with the country of the central city. By 1970, about two-thirds of the population of the United States was living in these urbanized areas, and of that figure more than half were living outside the central cities.
While the Census Bureau and the United States government used the term SMSA (by 1969 there were 233 of them), social scientists were also using new terms to describe the elusive, vaguely defined areas reaching out from what used to be simple “towns” and “cities”. A host of terms came into use: “metropolitan regions”, “polynucleated population groups”, “conurbations”, “metropolitan clusters”, “megalopolises”, and so on.
1.What does the passage mainly discuss?
2.Prior to 1900, how many inhabitants would a town have to have before being defined as urban?
3.According to the passage, why did the Census Bureau revise the definition of urban in 1950?
4.Which of the following is NOT true of an SMSA?
问题1选项
A.How cities in the United States began and developed.
B.Solutions to overcrowding in cities.
C.The changing definition of an urban area.
D.How the United States Census Bureau conducts a census.
问题2选项
A.2,500
B.8,000
C.15,000
D.50,000
问题3选项
A.City borders had become less distinct.
B.Cities had undergone radical social change
C.Elected officials could not agree on an acceptable definition.
D.New businesses had relocated to larger cities
问题4选项
A.It has a population of at least 50,000.
B.It can include a city’s outlying regions.
C.It can include unincorporated regions.
D.It consists of at least two cities
第1题:
1.【选项释义】
1. What does the passage mainly discuss? 1. 文章主要讨论了什么？
A. How cities in the United States began and developed. A. 美国城市是如何开始和发展的。
B. Solutions to overcrowding in cities. B. 城市过度拥挤的解决方案。
C. The changing definition of an urban area. C. 不断变化的城市区域定义。
D. How the United States Census Bureau conducts a census. D. 美国人口普查局如何进行人口普查。
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】首先，定位文章首尾段中心句，首段第一句“美国人口普查局使用的定义发生了变化，这明显反映了美国城市面貌的变化”，和末段第一句“当人口普查局和美国政府使用SMSA这个术语时，社会科学家们也在使用新的术语来描述那些难以捉摸、定义模糊的区域，这些区域从过去简单的‘城镇’和‘城市’延伸出来”，结合全文内容可知，本文主要讲的是“城市”的定义，关键词为definition。C项“不断变化的城市区域定义”符合文章中心内容。
【干扰项排除】
A项“美国城市是如何开始和发展的”和D项“美国人口普查局如何进行人口普查”只是在文中提到一部分，以偏概全；
B项“城市过度拥挤的解决方案”在文中没有提到，无中生有。
第2题:
2.【选项释义】
2. Prior to 1900, how many inhabitants would a town have to have before being defined as urban? 2. 在1900年之前，一个城镇需要有多少居民才能被定义为城市？
A. 2,500 A. 2500人
B. 8,000 B. 8000人
C. 15,000 C. 15000人
D. 50,000 D. 50000人
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据关键词1990定位至第一段最后两句“‘城市人口’的定义是居住在人口有8000或8000以上的城镇中的人。但在1900年之后，它指的是居住在拥有2500或更多居民的合并地区的人。”，从中可知，1900年以前，城镇居民人口数量达到8000人或以上的将其定义为城市。故该题选择B项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A项“2500人”是1900年以后的标准，张冠李戴；
C项“15000人”和D项“50000人”是1950年以后的定义，张冠李戴。
第3题:
3.【选项释义】
3. According to the passage, why did the Census Bureau revise the definition of urban in 1950? 3. 根据这篇文章，为什么人口普查局在1950年修改了城市的定义？
A. City borders had become less distinct. A. 城市边界变得不那么明显了。
B. Cities had undergone radical social change. B. 城市经历了彻底的社会变革。
C. Elected officials could not agree on an acceptable definition. C. 民选官员无法就一个可接受的定义达成一致。
D. New businesses had relocated to larger cities. D. 新的企业已经迁往较大的城市。
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据第二段第一句“然后，在1950年，考虑到城市边界的新的模糊性（new vagueness），人口普查局彻底改变了‘城市’的定义”，从中可知，人口普查局在1950年修改了城市的定义是因为城市边界的模糊性，A项“城市边界变得不那么明显了”中的less distinct是vagueness的同义转换。故该题选择A项正确。
【干扰项排除】B项“城市经历了彻底的社会变革”、C项“民选官员无法就一个可接受的定义达成一致”和D项“新的企业已经迁往较大的城市”在文中没有提及，无中生有。
第4题:
4.【选项释义】
4. Which of the following is NOT true of an SMSA? 4. 关于标准大都市统计区域，下列哪项是不正确的？
A. It has a population of at least 50,000. A. 它至少有5万人口。
B. It can include a city’s outlying regions. B. 它可以包括一个城市的边远地区。
C. It can include unincorporated regions. C. 它可以包括未合并的地区。
D. It consists of at least two cities. D. 它至少由两个城市组成。
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据第三段第一句“每个标准大都市统计区域包含一个至少有50000居民或以上的中心城市（at least one central city），或者为了一般的经济和社会目的而共享边界和律法的两个城市（two cities）……”，从中可知，标准大都市统计区域包含至少一个50000人口以上的中心城市或者两个城市，D项“它至少由两个城市组成”表述不清。故该题选择D项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A项“它至少有5万人口”根据解题思路可知，该项符合原文，属于反向干扰；
B项“它可以包括一个城市的边远地区”和C项“它可以包括未合并的地区”，根据第二段中的“……人口普查现在包括那些住在这种规模的未合并地区的人，也包括所有住在人口稠密的城市边缘地区的人（in the densely settled urban fringe）……每一个这样的地区被命名为标准大都市统计区域”，可知该项符合原文，属于反向干扰。
