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

LANGSTON HUGHES
1 Among the many talentedAfricanAmerican writers connected with the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, Langston Hughes was the most popular in his time. His two most important achievements were the incorporation of the rhythms of black music into his poetry and the creation of an authentic black folk speaker in the character of JesseB、Semple. Through both poetry and storytelling, Hughes captured in written form the dominant oral and improvisatory traditions of black culture.
2Langston Hughes was born in Missouri in 1902. He began to write poetry in high school and later attendedColumbia University in New York.After one year at university, Hughes commenced a nomadic life in the United States andEurope. He shipped out as a merchant marine and worked in a Paris nightclub, all the while writing and publishing poetry. His prolific literary career was launched in 1926 with the publication of his first book, The WearyBlues, a collection of poems onAfricanAmerican themes set to rhythms from jazz and blues. His first novel appeared in 1930, and from that point on Hughes was known as "the bard of Harlem."
3In the activist 1930s, Hughes was a public figure. He worked as a journalist, published works in several media, and foundedAfricanAmerican theaters in New York,Chicago, and LosAngeles. Hughes’s concern with race, mainly in an urban setting, is evident in his poetry, plays, screenplays, novels, and short stories. His poetry includes lyrics about black life and black pride as well as poems of racial protest. His major prose writings are those concerned with the character JesseB、Semple, a shrewd but supposedly ignorant Harlem resident nicknamed Simple. Simple was a wise fool, an honest man who saw through sham and spoke plainly. The Simple stories were originally published as newspaper sketches and later collected in five book volumes.
4 By the 1960s, readers preferred themes that reflected the struggles of the times, and Hughes’s writings were overshadowed by those of a younger generation of black poets. However, in more recent decades, scholars and readers have rediscovered Hughes and regard him as a major literary and social influence. His poetry and stories remain an enduring legacy of the Harlem Renaissance, and for this reason his position in theAmerican canon is secure.
Which sentence below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 4
A、The writings of Hughes, although still well known, are not as relevant today as they were at the time of the Harlem Renaissance.
B、Hughes attained prominence inAmerican literature because his writings represent the accomplishments of the Harlem Renaissance.
C、Today Hughes is most remembered for the humorous poetry and stories that madeAmericans feel secure in the 1930s.
D、Americans like the old-style rhythms of Hughes’s poems and stories, and this is why a musical composition was dedicated to him.

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