The broad definition of migration, “permanent change of residence”, usually includes a move across a city or a town. What we are concerned about is movement between nations, not internal migration within nations, although such movements often go beyond international movements in volume.
Students of human migration speak of “push” and “pull” factors, which influence an individual’s decision to move from one place to another. Push factors are associated with the place of origin. A push factor can be as simple a matter as difficulty in finding a suitable job, or as painful as war, or severe famine.
Pull factors are those associated with the place of destination. Most often these are economic, such as better job opportunities or the availability of good land to farm. The latter was an important factor in attracting settlers to the United States during the 19th century. In general, pull factors add up to an apparently better chance for a good life and material well-being than is offered by the place of origin. When there is a choice between several attractive potential destinations, the deciding factor might be a non-economic consideration such as the presence of relatives, friends, or at least fellow countrymen already established in the new place who are willing to help the newcomers settle in Considerations of this sort lead to the development of migration flow.
Besides push and pull factors, there are what the sociologists call “intervening(干预)obstacles”. Even if push and (or) pull factors are very strong, they still may be outweighed by intervening obstacles, such as the distance of the move, the trouble and cost of moving, the difficulty of entering the new country, and the problems likely to be encountered on arrival.
The decision to move is also influenced by “personal factors” of the potential migrant. The same push-pull factors and obstacles operate differently on different people, sometimes because they are at different stages of their lives, or just because of their varying abilities and personalities. The prospect of packing up everything and moving to a new and perhaps very strange environment may appear interesting and challenging to an unmarried young man and rather difficult to a slightly older man with a wife and small kids. Similarly, the need to learn a new language and customs may excite one person and frighten another.
Regardless of why people move, migration of large numbers of people causes conflict. The United States and other western countries have experienced adjustment problems with each new wave of immigrants. The newest arrivals are usually given the lowest-paid jobs and are resented by native people who may have to compete with them for those jobs. It has usually taken several decades for each group to be accepted into the mainstream of society in the host country.
【小题1】Suppose Thomas is thinking of migrating to a new place but he is faced with several choices of destinations , what may contribute to his final decision?| A．Good land to farm. | B．The people he knows. |
| C．The distance travelled. | D．Better job opportunities. |
| A．Because they differ in their abilities to learn a new language and customs. |
| B．Because different stages of lives will lead to their different decisions about migration. |
| C．Because their abilities to compete for a better job or a better farm land are different. |
| D．Because the older one is more likely to be accepted into the mainstream of the new society. |
| A．Push-pull factors are so strong as to be more important than intervening factors. |
| B．Pull factors may include one’s difficulty in finding a job or suffering from famine. |
| C．New immigrants always need to suffer great hardships to fit in with the new environment. |
| D．The same push-pull factors may exert similar effect on people with different personalities. |
| A．the motives of international migrants |
| B．the problems of international migrants |
| C．the migration problems inside the country |
| D．the adjustment problem among migrants |
