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  3. Definition of "culture" are multiple, broad, and notably ambiguous. While there is no agreed-upon definition of culture, the cla

Definition of "culture" are multiple, broad, and notably ambiguous. While there is no agreed-upon definition of culture, the cla

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问题     Definition of "culture" are multiple, broad, and notably ambiguous. While there is no agreed-upon definition of culture, the classic definition by E. B. Tylor in 1871 is widely cited: "Culture... is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, moral, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. " Most definitions of culture emphasize that it is complex and dynamic, comprised of the shared solutions to problems faced by the group. These solutions include technologies, beliefs, and behaviors.
    Culture does not determine behavior, but affords group members a repertoire of ideas and possible actions, providing the framework through which they understand themselves, their environment, and their experiences. Culture is a complex set of relationships, responses, and interpretations that must be understood, not as a body of discrete traits, but as an integrated system of orientations and practices generated within a specific socioeconomic context. Culture is ever changing and always being revised within the dynamic context of its enactment.
    Culture is neither a blueprint nor an identity; individuals choose between various cultural options, and in our multicultural society, many times choose widely between the options offered by a variety of cultural traditions. It is not possible to predict the beliefs and behaviors of individuals based on their race, ethnicity, or national origin. Individuals’ group membership cannot be assumed to indicate their culture because those who share a group label may variously enact culture.
    In its zeal to encourage respect for cultural difference, the cultural competency movement has sometimes lost sight of these important features of the concept of culture. Instead it has too often represented culture as a decontextualized set of traits providing a template for the perceptions and behaviors of group members. A burgeoning literature on cultural diversity presents the reader with veritable laundry lists of traditional beliefs and practices ostensibly characteristic of particular ethnic groups. This approach encourages the questionable notion that immigrants and certain ethnic and racial minorities are particularly driven by traditionalism. The emphasis in this genre is on difference, pitting the exotic and esoteric against mainstream or conventional beliefs that remain unnamed and unexplored.
    The misconception, common in clinical settings, that culture can be understood as a set of discrete traits, has led some mistakenly to treat culture as an explanatory variable, subject to prediction and control. In such applications, specific ethnic cultures are represented as a codified body of characteristics that can be identified and then either modified or manipulated to facilitate clinical goals.
    Paradoxically, in such approaches, what originated in a desire to promote respect for individual differences may instead promote stereotyping and essential zing. This process of reifying presumed difference may have the unintended consequence of bolstering a sense of group boundaries. It may also reinforce the belief that culture can be diagnosed and treated, that exotic or unfamiliar beliefs and behaviors of members of already disempowered subgroups should be controlled and adjusted to resemble norms of the dominant group.
Which of the following is the author’s viewpoint?
选项 A、Culture can be understood not as a set of discrete traits but as an integrated system of orientations and practices generated within a specific socioeconomic context.
B、Culture can be treated as an explanatory variable, subject to prediction and control.
C、Culture can be represented as a codified body of characteristics that can be identified and then either modified or manipulated.
D、Culture can be diagnosed and treated and the exotic or unfamiliar beliefs and behaviors should be controlled and adjusted to resemble norms of the dominant group.
答案A
解析 细节判断题。根据原文第二段第二句be understood，not as，discrete traits，as an integratedsystem of orientations and practices generated within a specific socioeconomic context与选项A重现，原句中的a body of与选项A中的a set of对应。故答案为A。
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