gre考试阅读真题解析(B)

　　Typically the queen honeybee is mother to all the bees in a hive; after mating with several male drones from other colonies, she lays fertilized eggs that develop into all-female worker bees and lays unfertilized eggs that become all-male drones. When a queen dies, workers often lay unfertilized eggs that hatch into drones. Yet workers rarely reproduce while a queen reigns.

　　According to natural selection theory, a worker would enhance her fitnessor ability to propagate her genesby hatching her own eggs in addition to or in place of the queens. But a typical workers fitness would be diminished if other workers sons, who have less genetic material in common with the worker, supplanted the queens sons . Researchers, testing the hypothesis that workers usually somehow block each others attempts to reproduce, put unfertilized eggs laid by workers and by the queen into a hive. Other workers quickly devoured the workers eggs while leaving the queens eggs alone.

　　17. The author refers to the experiment described in lines 16-19 in order to

　　 explain how worker bees are prevented from mating with drones

　　 explain how worker bees hatch and nurture the queens young

　　 demonstrate the universality of natural selection

　　 show that worker bees are capable of thwarting each others attempts to reproduce

　　 provide a model of daily life in a typical honeybee hive

　　18. The inner workings in a honeybee hive that regulate reproduction, as they are described in the passage, are most similar to which of the following types of human societies?

　　 A totalitarian society in which citizenspolicing of each others actions helps to maintain the status quo.

　　 A pacifist state in which the individuals are strongly opposed to the use of violence or aggression to settle disputes.

　　 A democratic society in which the voice of the majority rules.

　　 A parliamentary society in which a few members, organized as a cabinet wield executive power.

　　 An anarchic state in which order and stable social structures are lacking.

　　19. The passage best supports which of the following inferences about the fitness of honeybees?

　　 Reproduction diminishes any individual honeybees fitness.

　　 An individual workers fitness can be maintained without the individual herself reproducing.

　　 A hierarchy of stronger and weaker individuals among the worker bees determines which individuals will reproduce when a queen dies.

　　 While a queen reigns, the fitness of the worker bees is increased and that of the drones is diminished.

　　 Fitness encourages worker bees to hatch honeybee eggs without regard for the relatedness of the young to the parent.

　　20. The passage suggests which of the following about the eggs laid by worker bees?

　　 One of the eggs hatches into the next queen.

　　 The eggs are invariably destroyed by other worker bees.

　　 Each worker tries to hide her eggs from the other worker bees.

　　 The eggs hatch only if the worker has mated with a drone from another hive.

　　 The eggs are less likely to be harmed by other workers if the queen is dead.

　　In the fields of Delano, California, in 1965, Luis Valdez started the Teatro Campesino , and with it initiated the renaissance of Mexican American theater. The Teatro Campesino had an avowedly political purpose: to rally campesinos in support of the farm workers strike then being organized by Cesar Chavez. Valdez dramatic presentations, called actos, spoke to a campesino audience and addressed topics and themes directly related to the strike. Valdez early actos were composed of a series of scenes about the strike experience acted by campesino volunteers. His later actos were presented by a newly constituted professional company, still called the Teatro Campesino, and addressed such themes as the impact of the Vietnam War on Mexican Americans and the dangers of assimilation, themes relevant to urban Mexican Americans as well as to campesinos. All Valdez actos contained elements of song and dance, relied little on stage effects or props, and featured the use of masks. These dramatic elements, along with an intensely social or political purpose and the use of a mixture of Spanish, English, and Mexican American dialects in the dialogues, which realistically capture the flavor of Mexican American conversation, are still characteristic both of the acto and of most other forms of Mexican American theater today.

　　Innovative as it is, the acto owes much to the theater traditions of other periods and regions. Like early Spanish American religious dramas, secular folk dramas, and the Mexican carpas of a somewhat later period, actos are usually performed outdoors by traveling groups of players or by local theater groups. The improvised comic satire of the actos is often attributed to Valdez study of the Italian commedia dell arte of the sixteenth century, although some critics see it as a direct reflection of the comic and improvisational qualities of the more contemporary and local carpas of Mexican theater. The Italian influence is likely, whatever Valdez immediate source: the Mexican carpas themselves are said to have originated from the theater pieces of a sixteenth-century Spanish writer inspired by encounters with Italian commedia dell arte troupes on tour in Spain. The English-language theater has provided elements as well: Valdez himself has acknowledged his debt to the agitprop socialist theater that appeared in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. In particular, his actos contain the same assortment of semiallegorical characters and the same blend of music, chorus, and dialogue found in some of the agitprop pieces, as well as the same fierce spirit of social and political critique. Finally, many of Valdez later theater pieces freely incorporate characters, plots and symbols drawn from the indigenous myths and rituals of the pre-Hispanic peoples of Latin America. In fact, no other art form illustrates more clearly the depth and complexity of the Mexican American heritage itself than does the acto of Luis Valdez and the Teatro Campesino.

　　21. According to the passage, the original impetus behind the establishment of the Teatro Campesino was which of the following?

　　 To help urban Mexican Americans understand the problems confronting striking campesinos in California

　　 To promote an attitude of pride in the depth and richness of the Mexican American heritage among striking campesinos

　　 To provide striking campesinos an opportunity to use their creative talents to express their political opinions

　　 To allow its founder to express his personal support of the campesinos strike effort

　　 To mobilize campesinos to support the farm workers strike in California

　　22. The author cites all of the following as probable influences on Valdez development of the acto EXCEPT the

　　 theater of sixteenth-century Italy

　　 carpas of Mexico

　　 drama of classical Greece

　　 English-language theater of the United States

　　 myths and rituals of pre-Hispanic America

　　23. The passage suggests that which of the following was true of the later actos of the Teatro Campesino?

　　 They were more politically effective than were earlier actos.

　　 They were presented primarily outdoors, whereas earlier actos were presented inside theaters.

　　 They used a greater mixture of dialects than did the earlier actos.

　　 They addressed a broader audience than did the earlier actos.

　　 They differed from earlier actos in that they contained fewer improvisational elements.

　　24. Which of the following best describes the authors evaluation of the views of the critics cited in lines 36-39?

　　 Their views, if correct, do not preclude the existence of an Italian influence on the acto.

　　 Their views are unlikely to be correct, given the differences existing between Mexican and Mexican American theater.

　　 Their views concerning the Mexican carpas are essentially correct, but they lack familiarity with the acto.

　　 Their views are probably more correct than the views of those who have attributed the comic and improvisational elements of the acto to earlier sources.

　　 Their views betray a lack of familiarity with the commedia dell arte.

　　25. The passage suggests that which of the following explains the characteristic use of a mixture of Spanish, English, and Mexican American dialects in the works of Mexican American playwrights?

　　 Mexican American playwrights wish to include in their works elements drawn from the traditions and history of pre-Hispanic America.

　　 Mexican American playwrights try to guarantee that their works are fully understood by the broadest possible audience, including those who may speak only one language.

　　 Such a linguistic mix faithfully reflects the linguistic diversity of Mexican American culture, and is easily understood by most Mexican Americans.

　　 Many Mexican American playwrights are quite familiar with both the Spanish-language and the English-language theater traditions.

　　 Many different languages are still spoken within the confines of the United States, although English is still the most common first language of its citizens.

　　26. According to the passage, which of the following elements characteristic of the acto are also found in some agitprop theater pieces?

　　 The use of masks

　　 Comic improvisation

　　 An outdoor setting

　　 Minimal use of complex stage effects or props

　　 An assortment of semiallegorical characters

　　27. Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the authors argument concerning the debt of the acto to the theater traditions of other periods and regions?

　　 Many popular forms of theater rely heavily on improvisation.

　　 Plays resembling the acto in structure were written in the 1970s by West African playwrights who are interested in dramatizing the richness of their own cultures.

　　 The use of masks has, at one time or another , been characteristic of the theater traditions of almost all cultures, even those most isolated from outside influences.

　　 During a strike, it is common for union members to present musical skits dramatizing the values of solidarity and resistance.

　　 Before 1965 Luis Valdez had attended many performances of traditional Mexican theater groups touring the western United States.

答案：17-27：DABEECDACEE