Two Types of Social Groups
1. One of the most basic elements of human life is the way in which we form social groups and interact with the members of those groups.According to sociologists, no one is ever entirely separate from the social networks that surround him or her, and the groups we belong to play an enormous role in determining how we see ourselves and our worlD、EarlyAmerican sociologistCharles H.Cooley(1864-1929) defined two principal categories of human groupings, and his ideas are still widely accepted today. He termed them primary and secondary, based on the kinds of relationships individuals in the group share with each other.
2. In primary groups, we form whatCooley referred to as primary relationships. These are marked by strong, long-lasting emotional ties, feelings of intimacy and genuine concern for the well-being of the other person or people. Intangible items, such as love, respect, and support, are exchanged by individuals in primary groups, causing them to feel nurtured by the relationships the group affords them. Participation in the group is therefore seen as its own reward; there is no concrete, external goal that members are working towards.
3.Due to the time and effort it takes to build such close bonds, primary groups are typically small. Some prominent examples given byCooley include families, groups of childhood friends, and the tight-knit communities adults enter into with their neighbors or other close peers. In the view ofCooley and later sociologists, it is the primary group that is most important in the development of an individual’s personal beliefs and values, and assists that person with his or her integration into society at large.
4. Secondary groups, in contrast, are characterized by the lack of intimate relationships among their members. These secondary relationships involve less personal interaction and weaker emotional connections, and therefore they do not have as significant an impact on the development of an individual’s worldview. In addition, since ties between individuals are not as strong, many secondary groups either exist for only a short time before dissolving, or experience frequent changes in membership.
5. Secondary groups can be quite large.A、company’s employees, a university’s student body, and even a country’s citizens are all examples of secondary groups.
The items individuals exchange are usually tangible in nature, such as the labor provided in return for wages in the case of a commercial organization.
Most notably, though, the reason that secondary groups form in the first place is to accomplish a specific task.
Employees participate in the secondary group of their company with the intention of creating a product or service, as well as to receive pay.
lf the group fails to achieve its goal, it will most likely cease to exist.
6.Cooley believed that both primary and secondary groups are universal to human societies. While modern sociologists agree with this, they have also observed that the ratio of primary to secondary groups varies according to the level of a society’s technological development. In less-developed nations, individuals spend most of their lives in a single location with prolonged exposure to a certain group of people.This enables them to develop close bonds more easily, so primary groups are commonplace.Developed countries, on the other hand, have witnessed an increase in secondary groups at the expense of primary groups. The fast pace, widespread technology and diversity of life in these societies mak

Coming Soon: the Next Great FluEpidemic
The virus first came to officials’ attention in a bag of dead chickens.Early in March 1997, a farmer from Hong Kong’s New Territories carried them into theAgriculture and FisheriesDepartment laboratory. The final state of some birds was a hideous, bloody mush.Cultures of their organs revealed they had died of avian influenza, type H5N1. Influenza of the H5 subtype had never been known to infect humans.But in the next seven months, 18 Hong Kong residents fell ill with H5N1 and six dieD、
In lateDecember 1997, public health officials took a drastic step, ordering the slaughter of every chicken in every farm and marketplace in Hong Kong. The HSN1 virus seemed to disappear but for how long
The specter of the 1918 flu was raised by this new avian flu. The 1918 flu was one of the most changeable and resistant viruses known to man.After we’ve been infected with one strain, it can mutate and infect us again. We are only immune to flu strains our bodies have seen before.
A、flu can also "jump species" to an animal it has never infected before, once such a flu moves into humans, if it can "learn" to pass easily between them, it can spark a pandemic—a global outbreak.
Birds carry the flu virus in their intestines and excrete it in their feces. In all likelihood, shoppers who got sick with H5 touched surfaces contaminated with chicken feces. Humans, however, carry flu in their respiratory tracts and usually spread them in a cough or sneeze. Flu strains that travel this way are highly contagious.
The H5 virus in Hong Kong was different. It sickened very few, but killed a third of those infecteD、Most who got sick with H5 seemed to catch it directly from a bird they bought in a live-poultry market.
After the Hong Kong outbreak, flu experts feared that H5—already deadly to humans—might learn to move between humans as well as between birds. That "raises the specter of 1918", says NancyCox, chief of the InfluenzaBranch of the U. S.Centers forDiseaseControl and PreventionCDCP).
Geographic isolation was no protection during the 1918 pandemiC、In theAlaska Territory, the mortality rate in some villages was as high as 90 percent.All told, at least 500000Americans perisheD、It could happen again.
The virus that became the Spanish flu probably came from a birD、Avian-flu expertDr. Robert Webster of St. JudeChildren’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., believes the virus may have leapt straight from birds to humans, possibly a year to two before the pandemic began. Once lodged in human lungs, it quickly passed from person to person in a simple cough or sneeze. To avoid that grim possibility, here are three measures all nations need to take:
The first step is better surveillance. Most countries, though, don’t start tracking avian flu until after an epidemic kills their chickens. The United States dramatically increased its monitoring after a deadly outbreak in Pennsylvania in the early 1980s. The USDA、(United StatesDepartment ofAgriculture) provides diagnostic support. Some virologists recommend enhancing surveillance of swine flu too. The U. S. National Institutes of Health is beginning to study the issue.
Elsewhere, the coverage is not good enough, saysDr. W. Paul Glezen of theBaylorCollege of Medicine’s Influenza ResearchCenter. He namesAfrica and SouthAmerica as areas where the World Health Organizations net is incomplete.
Another important measure is producing more vaccines and flu shots. Only three of the 15 known influenza subtypes—H1, H2 and H3—have been found in people. Vaccines exist for each, and an H5 vaccine is now being developeD、Some experts believe that we should develop a vaccine for the other known subtypes as well.
Health authorities add that more people need flu shots now. We should manufacture 120 million doses a year

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