gre考试阅读真题解析(A)

　　The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1868, prohibits state governments from denying citizens the equal protection of the laws. Although precisely what the framers of the amendment meant by this equal protection clause remains unclear, all interpreters agree that the framers immediate objective was to provide a constitutional warrant for the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which guaranteed the citizenship of all persons born in the United States and subject to United States jurisdiction. This declaration, which was echoed in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment, was designed primarily to counter the Supreme Courts ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford that Black people in the United States could be denied citizenship. The act was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson, who argued that the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, did not provide Congress with the authority to extend citizenship and equal protection to the freed slaves. Although Congress promptly overrode Johnsons veto, supporters of the act sought to ensure its constitutional foundations with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment.

　　The broad language of the amendment strongly suggests that its framers were proposing to write into the Constitution not a laundry list of specific civil rights but a principle of equal citizenship that forbids organized society from treating any individual as a member of an inferior class. Yet for the first eight decades of the amendments existence, the Supreme Courts interpretation of the amendment betrayed this ideal of equality. In the Civil Rights Cases of 1883, for example, the Court invented the state action limitation, which asserts that private decisions by owners of public accommodations and other commercial businesses to segregate their facilities are insulated from the reach of the Fourteenth Amendments guarantee of equal protection under the law.

　　After the Second World War, a judicial climate more hospitable to equal protection claims culminated in the Supreme Courts ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that racially segregated schools violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Two doctrines embraced by the Supreme Court during this period extended the amendments reach. First, the Court required especially strict scrutiny of legislation that employed a suspect classification, meaning discrimination against a group on grounds that could be construed as racial. This doctrine has broadened the application of the Fourteenth Amendment to other, nonracial forms of discrimination, for while some justices have refused to find any legislative classification other than race to be constitutionally disfavored, most have been receptive to arguments that at least some nonracial discriminations, sexual discrimination in particular, are suspect and deserve this heightened scrutiny by the courts. Second, the Court relaxed the state action limitation on the Fourteenth Amendment, bringing new forms of private conduct within the amendments reach.

　　17. Which of the following best describes the main idea of the passage?

　　 By presenting a list of specific rights, framers of the Fourteenth Amendment were attempting to provide a constitutional basis for broad judicial protection of the principle of equal citizenship.

　　 Only after the Supreme Court adopted the suspect classification approach to reviewing potentially discriminatory legislation was the applicability of the Fourteenth Amendment extended to include sexual discrimination.

　　 Not until after the Second World War did the Supreme Court begin to interpret the Fourteenth Amendment in a manner consistent with the principle of equal citizenship that it expresses.

　　 Interpreters of the Fourteenth Amendment have yet to reach consensus with regard to what its framers meant by the equal protection clause.

　　 Although the reluctance of judges to extend the reach of the Fourteenth Amendment to nonracial discrimination has betrayed the principle of equal citizenship, the Supreme Courts use of the state action limitation to insulate private activity from the amendments reach has been more harmful.

　　18. The passage suggests that the principal effect of the state action limitation was to

　　 allow some discriminatory practices to continue unimpeded by the Fourteenth Amendment

　　 influence the Supreme Courts ruling in Brown v, Board of Education

　　 provide expanded guidelines describing prohibited actions

　　 prohibit states from enacting laws that violated the intent of the Civil Rights Act of 1866

　　 shift to state governments the responsibility for enforcement of laws prohibiting discriminatory practices

　　19. The authors position regarding the intent of the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment would be most seriously undermined if which of the following were true?

　　 The framers had anticipated state action limitations as they are described in the passage.

　　 The framers had merely sought to prevent discriminatory acts by federal officials.

　　 The framers were concerned that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 would be overturned by the Supreme Court.

　　 The framers were aware that the phrase equal protection of the laws had broad implications.

　　 The framers believed that racial as well as non-racial forms of discrimination were unacceptable.

　　20. According to the passage, the original proponents of the Fourteenth Amendment were primarily concerned with

　　 detailing the rights afforded by the principle of equal citizenship

　　 providing support in the Constitution for equal protection for all citizens of the United States

　　 closing a loophole that could be used to deny individuals the right to sue for enforcement of their civil rights

　　 asserting that the civil rights protected by the Constitution included nonracial discrimination as well as racial discrimination

　　 granting state governments broader discretion in interpreting the Civil Rights Act of 1866

　　21. The author implies that the Fourteenth Amendment might not have been enacted if

　　 Congress authority with regard to legislating civil rights had not been challenged

　　 the framers had anticipated the Supreme Courts ruling in Brown v. Board of Education

　　 the framers had believed that it would be used in deciding cases of discrimination involving non-racial groups

　　 most state governments had been willing to protect citizens civil rights

　　 its essential elements had not been implicit in the Thirteenth Amendment

　　22. According to the passage, which of the following most accurately indicates the sequence of the events listed below?

　　I. Civil Rights Act of 1866

　　II. Dred Scott v. Sandford

　　III. Fourteenth Amendment

　　IV. Veto by President Johnson

　　 I, II, III, IV

　　 I, IV, II, III

　　 I, IV, III, II

　　 II, I, IV, III

　　 III, II, I, IV

　　23. Which of the following can be inferred about the second of the two doctrines referred to in lines 39-41 of the passage?

　　 It caused some justices to rule that all types of discrimination are prohibited by the Constitution.

　　 It shifted the focus of the Supreme Court from racial to nonracial discrimination.

　　 It narrowed the concern of the Supreme Court to legislation that employed a suspect classification.

　　 It caused legislators who were writing new legislation to reject language that could be construed as permitting racial discrimination.

　　 It made it more difficult for commercial businesses to practice racial discrimination.

　　The Earths magnetic field is generated as the molten iron of the Earths outer core revolves around its solid inner core. When surges in the molten iron occur, magnetic tempests are created. At the Earths surface, these tempests can be detected by changes in the strength of the Earths magnetic field. For reasons not fully understood, the field itself reverses periodically every million years or so . During the past million years, for instance, the magnetic north pole has migrated between the Antarctic and the Arctic.

　　Clearly, geophysicists who seek to explain and forecast changes in the field must understand what happens in the outer core. Unlike meteorologists, however, they cannot rely on observations made in their own lifetimes. Whereas atmospheric storms arise in a matter of hours and last for days, magnetic tempests develop over decades and persist for centuries. Fortunately scientists have been recording changes in the Earths magnetic field for more than 300 years

　　24. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with

　　 analyzing a complicated scientific phenomenon and its impact on the Earths surface features

　　 describing a natural phenomenon and the challenges its study presents to researchers

　　 discussing a scientific field of research and the gaps in researchers methodological approaches to it

　　 comparing two distinct fields of physical science and the different research methods employed in each

　　 proposing an explanation for a geophysical phenomenon and an experiment that could help confirm that explanation

　　25. The passage suggests which of the following about surges in the Earths outer core?

　　 They occur cyclically every few decades.

　　 They can be predicted by changes in the Earths inner core.

　　 They are detected through indirect means.

　　 They are linked to disturbances in the Earths atmosphere.

　　 They last for periods of about 1 million years.

　　26. It can be inferred from the passage that geophysicists seeking to explain magnetic tempests ought to conduct research on the Earths outer core because the Earths outer core

　　 is more fully understood than the Earths magnetic field

　　 is more easily observed than the Earths magnetic field

　　 has been the subject of extensive scientific observation for 300 years

　　 is involved in generating the Earths magnetic field

　　 reflects changes in the inner core caused by magnetic tempests

　　27. In the second paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with

　　 stating a limitation that helps determine a research methodology

　　 making a comparative analysis of two different research methodologies

　　 assessing the amount of empirical data in the field of physical science

　　 suggesting an optimistic way of viewing a widely feared phenomenon

　　 describing a fundamental issue and discussing its future impact on society

答案：17-27：CABBADEBCDA