GMAT考试写作指导：Issue写作范文六五

　　65. Although global homogeneity in a broader sense may not be as inexorable as the

　　speaker here suggests, I agree that multinational corporations are indeed creating global

　　sameness in consumer preferences. This homogeneity is manifested in two concurrent

　　megatrends: the embracing of American popular culture throughout the world, and

　　 a synthesis of cultures, as reflected in consumer preferences.

　　The first trend is toward Americanization of popular culture throughout the world.

　　In food and fashion, once a nations denizens fall into the Gap or get a taste of a Coke

　　or Big Mac, their preferences are forever Westernized. The ubiquitous Nike swoosh,

　　which nearly every soccer player in the world will soon don, epitomizes this

　　phenomenon. In media, the cultural agendas of giants such as Time-Warner now drive

　　the worlds entertainment preferences. The Rolling Stones and the stars of Americas

　　prime-time television shows are revered among young people worldwide, while

　　Mozarts music, Shakespeares prose, and Ghandis ideology are largely ignored.

　　A second megatrend is toward a synthesis of cultures into a homogenous stew.

　　The popularity of world music and of the New Age health care and leisure-time

　　activities aptly illustrate this blending of Eastern, Western and third-world cultures.

　　Perhaps nowhere is the cultural-stew paradigm more striking, and more bland, than at

　　the international food courts now featured in malls throughout the developed world.

　　These trends appear inexorable. Counter-attacks, such as Ebonies, rap music, and

　　bilingual education, promote the distinct culture of minority groups, but not of nations.

　　Further homogenization of consumer preferences is all but ensured by failing trade

　　barriers, coupled with the global billboard that satellite communications and the Internet

　　provide.

　　In sum, American multinationals have indeed instigated a homogeneous global,

　　yet American-style, consumerism―one which in all likelihood will grow in extent

　　along with free-market capitalism and global connectivity.