前程百利小编为大家带来托福阅读材料。文章的难词已经标示出来，希望大家可以学习到相关知识，并通过不断的阅读练习提高自己的托福阅读能力。
Some of the most powerful influences in the political process are that of minorities(少数群体) which can have major impact on the outcomes(结果) of elections(选举) on local state and federal levels. Two of the groups are members of the African-American and LGBT communities.
What is ironic is that often these interests can be in serious conflict with(与……严重冲突) each other -- for example Proposition 8 related to gay marriage -- although both groups often end up voting for the same party/candidate without perhaps understanding all of the critical issues in what I term the lemming complex(旅鼠情结;lemming是旅鼠，旅鼠因大规模的种群迁徙而出名，lemming complex是本文的作者创造的概念，后文也有解释;“旅鼠集体跳海自杀”是假的，有兴趣的同学可以把辟谣找来看看).
It is a fact that more than 90 percent of African Americans voted for President Barack Obama in 2012 and a summer 2012 Gallup poll(民意调查) revealed that approximately 65 percent of those LGBT individuals identify as(自称是) Democrats in contrast to 44 percent of the overall U.S. population.
This could be for two main reasons. First some believe the Republican Party does not truly represent(代表) their interests. Second many minorities have been conditioned to(适应于) vote for the same party as the rest of their fellow citizens -- thus the lemming complex where the perceived self interests (usually social) of a group and its individuals supersede(取代) a careful study of all issues.
One example is that the overall economy has not significantly improved for those categorized as main streeters over the past six years. These main streeters comprise(构成) a majority of the U.S. population (approximately 76 percent) who live paycheck-to-paycheck(收入全部都用来付各种帐单了，没有剩余，没有存款;美国人平时常用现金支票来完成支付，paycheck-to-paycheck可以理解成刚收到一张支票就要转交给别人来付账) based on congruous(合适的) information from the CBS network and CNN Money.
The Republican Party has made more inroads into(取得进展) diverse populations and I believe it is making a sincere effort to create a larger tent in which more minorities can feel accepted. One evidence of this is that the California Republican Party -- the largest state party in the nation -- at its recent winter meeting overwhelmingly voted (861-293) to recognize the Log Cabin Republicans as an official volunteer charter organization.
This organization is a conservative grass-roots(草根的) national organization founded in 1977 that advocates for(主张) equality in the Republican Party related to gay and lesbian issues to promote equality within the party. This vote represents a significant step that we are hopeful other states will follow in building inroads with the conservative LGBT community in addition to building relationships with other minority groups such as African Americans and Hispanics(拉美裔美国人).
Some Democrats may say that some Republicans are only concerned about their wealth and that they may be looking after their own self-interests. However it should be noted that in the Bay Area which is overwhelmingly(压倒性地) Democratic there is significant wealth especially in the technology industry and they are willing to pay $25000 or more to attend Democratic National Committee and other lavish(大方的) fundraisers.
The take-away message is that all individuals should keep an open mind set aside(搁置) their own internal and group preconceptions(成见) ， and make informed decisions for themselves. This will provide for a better democratic process that can work on national state and local levels(不同层面).
以上就是前程百利小编为大家带来的托福阅读材料，平时的阅读练习是托福考试阅读备考的重要一环。希望大家利用好每份材料，尽可能多地从中获取知识。预祝大家托福考试取得好成绩。
