The campaign is over. The celebrations have ended. And the work for US president-elect Barack Obama has begun.
The 47-year-old politician rose to the highest post because of his stand against the war in Iraq and his plans to fix a weak economy. But what will the first 47-year-old African-American president do for race relations.
Obama’s victory appears to have given blacks and other minorities a true national role model. For years, many looked to athletes and musicians for inspiration. As Darius Turner, an African-American high school student in Los Angeles, told the Los Angeles Times.“Kobe( the basketball player) doesn’t have to be everybody’s role model anymore.”
Recent polls also suggest that Obama’s victory has given Americans new optimism about race relations. For example, a USA Today poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe relations between blacks and whites“will finally be worked out”. This is the most hopeful response since the question was first asked during the civil rights revolution in 1963.
However, it’s still too early to tell whether Obama’s presidency will begin to solve many of the social problems facing low-income black communities.
Although blacks make up only 13 percent of the US population, 55 percent of all prisoners are African-American. Such numbers can be blamed on any number of factors on America’s racist past, a failure of government policy and the collapse of the family unit in black communities.
It is unlikely that Obama will be able to reverse（扭转）such trends overnight. However, Bill Bank, an expert of African-American Studies, say that eventually young blacks need to find role models in their own communities.“That’s not Martin Luther King, and not Barack Obama,”he told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s actually the people closest to them. Barack only has so much influence.”
In the opinion of black British politician Trevor Phillips, Obama’s rise will contribute more to multiculturalism than to race relations in the US.
52: For years, before Obama was elected president of the US, .
A. Kobe was the only role model for all the blacks
B. blacks could only find role models on the basketball court
C. minorities in America couldn’t find role models in their real life
D. American blacks had no role model who was successful in political area
53. According to Bill Bank, .
A. Obama is not the proper role model for African-Americans
B. young blacks should not be so much influenced by Obama
C. blacks should find other role models because Obama is far from their reality
D. it’s better for young blacks to find role models in those who are close to them
54. What do you think the author is probably going to talk about in the next paragraph?
A. In what ways Obama will contribute to racial relations in the US.
B. How Obama will influence Americans as a national role model.
C. How Obama will contribute to multiculturalism in the US.
D. How to choose a role model in his community as a young black.
55.What would be the best title for this passage?
A. The First African-American President
B. America’s New Role Model
C. Obama—a Successful Black
D. Choosing a Right Role Model
