gre考试阅读真题解析(A)

　　It is now established that the Milky Way is far more extended and of much greater mass than was hitherto thought. However, all that is visible of the constituents of the Milky Ways corona , where much of the galaxys mass must be located, is a tiny fraction of the coronas mass. Thus, most of the Milky Ways outlying matter must be dark.

　　Why? Three facts are salient. First, dwarf galaxies and globular clusters, into which most of the stars of the Milky Ways corona are probably bound, consist mainly of old stars. Second, old stars are not highly luminous. Third, no one has detected in the corona the clouds of gaseous matter such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide that are characteristic of the bright parts of a galaxy. At present, therefore, the best explanationthough still quite tentativefor the darkness of the corona is that the corona is composed mainly of old, burned-out stars.

　　17. The passage as a whole is primarily concerned with

　　 analyzing a current debate

　　 criticizing a well-established theory

　　 showing how new facts support a previously dismissed hypothesis

　　 stating a conclusion and adducing evidence that may justify it

　　 contrasting two types of phenomena and showing how they are related

　　18. According to the passage, a bright part of a galaxy typically includes

　　 dwarf galaxies and clusters of stars

　　 a balanced mixture of old and new stars

　　 a large portion of the galaxys mass

　　 part of the corona of the galaxy

　　 gases such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide

　　19. It can be inferred from the passage that, compared with what they now think, until fairly recently astronomers believed that the Milky Way

　　 was much darker

　　 was much smaller

　　 was moving much more slowly

　　 had a much larger corona

　　 had much less gaseous matter

　　20. The passage presents which of the following as incontrovertible?

　　I. The low luminosity of old stars

　　II. The absence of clouds of gaseous matter from the corona of the Milky Way

　　III. The predominance of globular clusters and dwarf galaxies in the corona of the Milky Way

　　 I only

　　 III only

　　 I and II only

　　 II and III only

　　 I, II, and III

　　One of the principal themes of Walzers critique of liberal capitalism is that it is insufficiently egalitarian. Walzers case against the economic inequality generated by capitalism and in favor of a radical redistribution of wealth is presented in a widely cited essay entitled In Defense of Equality.

　　The most striking feature of Walzers critique is that, far from rejecting the principle of reward according to merit, Walzer insists on its validity. People who excel should receive the superior benefits appropriate to their excellence. But people exhibit a great variety of qualitiesintelligence, physical strength, agility and grace, artistic creativity, mechanical skill, leadership, endurance, memory, psychological insight, the capacity for hard workeven moral strength, sensitivity, the ability to express compassion. Each deserves its proper recompense, and hence a proper distribution of material goods should reflect human differences as measured on all these different scales. Yet, under capitalism, the ability to make money of bourgeois society) enables its possessor to acquire almost every other sort of social good, such as the respect and esteem of others.

　　The centerpiece of Walzers argument is the invocation of a quotation from Pascals Pensees, which concludes: Tyranny is the wish to obtain by one means what can only be had by another. Pascal believes that we owe different duties to different qualities. So we might say that infatuation is the proper response to charm, and awe the proper response to strength. In this light, Walzer characterizes capitalism as the tyranny of money . And Walzer advocates as the means of eliminating this tyranny and of restoring genuine equality the abolition of the power of money outside its sphere. What Walzer envisions is a society in which wealth is no longer convertible into social goods with which it has no intrinsic connection.

　　Walzers argument is a puzzling one. After all, why should those qualities unrelated to the production of material goods be rewarded with material goods? Is it not tyrannical, in Pascals sense, to insist that those who excel in sensitivity or the ability to express compassion merit equal wealth with those who excel in qualities essential in producing wealth? Yet Walzers argument, however deficient, does point to one of the most serious weaknesses of capitalismnamely, that it brings to predominant positions in a society people who, no matter how legitimately they have earned their material rewards, often lack those other qualities that evoke affection or admiration. Some even argue plausibly that this weakness may be irremediable: in any society that, like a capitalist society, seeks to become ever wealthier in material terms disproportionate rewards are bound to flow to the people who are instrumental in producing the increase in its wealth.

　　21. The primary purpose of the passage is to

　　 argue that Walzers critique of liberal capitalism is the cornerstone of Walzers thinking

　　 identify and to deprecate the origins of the intellectual tradition championed by Walzer

　　 present more clearly than does the essay In Defense of Equality the distinctive features of Walzers politico-economic theories

　　 demonstrate that Walzers critique of liberal capitalism is neither original nor persuasive

　　 outline and to examine critically Walzers position on economic equality

　　22. The author mentions all of the following as issues addressed by Walzer EXCEPT:

　　 proper recompense for individual excellence

　　 proper interpretation of economic equality

　　 proper level of a societys wealth

　　 grounds for calling capitalism the tyranny of money

　　 exchangeability of money for social goods

　　23. The argumentation in the passage turns importantly on the question of what should be the proper relation between

　　 liberal capitalism and bourgeois society

　　 reward and recompense

　　 sensitivity and the ability to express compassion

　　 distribution of material goods and redistribution of wealth

　　 social goods and material goods

　　24. The passage provides sufficient information to answer which of the following questions?

　　 What weight in relation to other qualities should a quality like sensitivity have, according to Walzer, in determining the proper distribution of goods?

　　 Which quality does Walzer deem too highly valued under liberal capitalism?

　　 Which are the social goods that are, according to Walzer, outside the reach of the power of money?

　　 What practical steps does Walzer suggest be taken to relieve the economic inequality generated by capitalism?

　　 What deficiencies in Walzers own argument does Walzer acknowledge?

　　25. The author implies that Walzers interpretation of the principle of reward according to merit is distinctive for its

　　 insistence on maximizing everyones rewards

　　 emphasis on equality

　　 proven validity

　　 broad conception of what constitutes merit

　　 broad conception of what constitutes a reward

　　26. The authors interpretation of the principle that we owe different duties to different qualities suggests that which of the following would most probably be the duty paired with the quality of veracity?

　　 Dignity

　　 Trust

　　 Affection

　　 Obedience

　　 Integrity

　　27. The author implies that sensitivity is not a quality that

　　 is essential in producing wealth

　　 wealthy people lack

　　 can be sensibly measured on a scale

　　 characterizes tyrannical people

　　 is owed a duty in Pascals sense

答案：17-27：DEBAECEBDBA