GRE，全称Graduate Record Examination，中文名称为美国研究生入学考试，适用于除法律与商业外的各专业。由美国教育考试服务处(Educational Testing Service，简称ETS)主办，GRE是美国、加拿大的大学各类研究生院（除管理类学院，法学院）要求申请者所必须具备的一个考试成绩，也是教授对申请者是否授予奖学金所依据的最重要的标准。 另有，Generic Routing Encapsulation（通用路由封装）也简称GRE。
Nevertheless, preserving cultural identify cannot be the only purpose of ritual and ceremony.
Otherwise, how would one explain why isolated cultures that don't need to distinguish
themselves to preserve their identity nevertheless engage in their own distinct rituals and
ceremonies? In fact, the initial purpose of ritual and ceremony is rooted not in cultural identity
but rather superstition and spiritual belief. The original purpose of a ritual might have been to
frighten away evil spirits, to bring about weather conditions favorable to bountiful harvests, or
to entreat the gods for a successful hunt or for victory in battle. Even today some primitive
cultures engage in rituals primarily for such reasons.
Nor are ritual and ceremony the only means of preserving cultural identity. For example, our
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Amish culture demonstrates its distinctiveness through dress and life-style. Hasidic Jews set
themselves apart by their dress, vocational choices, and dietary habits. And African-Americans
distinguish themselves today by their manner of speech and gesture. Of course, these
subcultures have their own distinct ways of cerebrating events such as weddings, coming of
age, and so forth. Yet ritual and ceremony are not the primary means by which these
subcultures maintain their identity.
In sum, to prevent total cultural assimilation into our modern-day homogenous soup, a
subculture with a unique and proud heritage must maintain an outward display of that
heritage--by way of ritual and ceremony. Nevertheless, ritual and ceremony serve a spiritual
function as well--one that has little to do with preventing cultural assimilation. Moreover, rituals
and ceremonies are not the only means of preserving cultural identity.
Issue 105
"The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much
about a society's ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people."
This statement generalizes unfairly that the way people look, dress, and act reveals their
attitudes and their society's values. In my view, while in certain respects the habits and
customs of a people are accurate indicators of their attitudes and values, in other respects
they are not.
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