GRE阅读练习每日一篇(三十六)

　　编辑点评： GRE阅读的方法相信大家已经积累了很多了，本文就为大家提供一些GRE阅读的材料，大家来练一练，把平时学到的东西运用到实际中，也多多积累词汇和句子，提高自己的阅读能力。

　　每天做一些标准的GRE阅读练习，有助于大家在GRE考试的复习过程中不断地进行练习和总结。希望大家在进行GRE阅读练习时，充分运用平时所积累的知识，这样才能有效果。

　　If a supernova triggered star formation from dense clouds of gas and dust, and if the most massive star to be formed from the cloud evolved into a supernova and triggered a new round of star formation, and so on, then a chain of star-forming regions would result. If many such chains were created in a differentially rotating galaxy, the distribution of stars would resemble the observed distribution in a spiral galaxy 螺旋星云,旋涡星云).

　　This line of reasoning underlies an exciting new theory of spiral-galaxy structure. A computer simulation based on this theory has reproduced the appearance of many spiral galaxies without assuming an underlying density wave, the hallmark of the most widely accepted theory of the large-scale structure of spiral galaxies. That theory maintains that a density wave of spiral form sweeps through the central plane of a galaxy, compressing clouds of gas and dust, which collapse into stars that form a spiral pattern.

　　17. The primary purpose of the passage is to

　　describe what results when a supernova triggers the creation of chains of star-forming regions

　　propose a modification in the most widely accepted theory of spiral-galaxy structure

　　compare and contrast the roles of clouds of gas and dust in two theories of spiral-galaxy structure

　　describe a new theory of spiral-galaxy structure and contrast it with the most widely accepted theory

　　describe a new theory of spiral-galaxy structure and discuss a reason why it is inferior to the most widely accepted theory

　　18. The passage implies that, according to the new theory of spiral-galaxy structure, a spiral galaxy can be created by supernovas when the supernovas are

　　producing an underlying density wave

　　affected by a density wave of spiral form

　　distributed in a spiral pattern

　　located in the central plane of a galaxy

　　located in a differentially rotating galaxy

　　19. Which of the following, if true, would most discredit the new theory as described in the passage?

　　The exact mechanism by which a star becomes a supernova is not yet completely known and may even differ for different stars.

　　Chains of star-forming regions like those postulated in the new theory have been observed in the vicinity of dense clouds of gas and dust.

　　The most massive stars formed from supernova explosions are unlikely to evolve into supernovas.

　　Computer simulations of supernovas provide a poor picture of what occurs just before a supernova explosion.

　　A density wave cannot compress clouds of gas and dust to a density high enough to create a star.

　　20. The author s attitude toward the new theory of spiral-galaxy structure can best be described as

　　euphoric

　　enthusiastic

　　concerned

　　critical

　　disputatious

　　The first mention of slavery in the statutes of the English colonies of North America does not occur until after 1660 some forty years after the importation of the first Black people. Lest we think that slavery existed in fact before it did in law, Oscar and Mary Handlin assure us that the status of Black people down to the 1660 s was that of servants. A critique of the Handlins interpretation of why legal slavery did not appear until the 1660 s suggests that assumptions about the relation between slavery and racial prejudice should be reexamined, and that explanations for the different treatment of Black slaves in North and South America should be expanded.

　　The Handlins explain the appearance of legal slavery by arguing that, during the 1660 s, the position of White servants was improving relative to that of Black servants. Thus, the Handlins contend, Black and White servants, heretofore treated alike, each attained a different status. There are, however, important objections to this argument. First, the Handlins cannot adequately demonstrate that the White servant s position was improving during and after the 1660 s; several acts of the Maryland and Virginia legislatures indicate otherwise. Another flaw in the Handlins interpretation is their assumption that prior to the establishment of legal slavery there was no discrimination against Black people. It is true that before the 1660 s Black people were rarely called slaves. But this should not overshadow evidence from the 1630 s on that points to racial discrimination without using the term slavery. Such discrimination sometimes stopped short of lifetime servitude or inherited status the two attributes of true slavery yet in other cases it included both. The Handlins argument excludes the real possibility that Black people in the English colonies were never treated as the equals of White people.

　　This possibility has important ramifications. If from the outset Black people were discriminated against, then legal slavery should be viewed as a reflection and an extension of racial prejudice rather than, as many historians including the Handlins have argued, the cause of prejudice. In addition, the existence of discrimination before the advent of legal slavery offers a further explanation for the harsher treatment of Black slaves in North than in South America. Freyre and Tannenbaum have rightly argued that the lack of certain traditions in North America such as a Roman conception of slavery and a Roman Catholic emphasis on equality explains why the treatment of Black slaves was more severe there than in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies of South America. But this cannot be the whole explanation since it is merely negative, based only on a lack of something. A more compelling explanation is that the early and sometimes extreme racial discrimination in the English colonies helped determine the particular nature of the slavery that followed.

　　21. Which of the following statements best describes the organization of lines 1-8 of the passage?

　　A historical trend is sketched and an exception to that trend is cited.

　　Evidence for a historical irregularity is mentioned and a generalization from that evidence is advanced.

　　A paradox about the origins of an institution is pointed out and the author s explanation of the paradox is expounded.

　　A statement about a historical phenomenon is offered and a possible misinterpretation of that statement is addressed.

　　An interpretation of the rise of an institution is stated and evidence for that interpretation is provided.

　　22. Which of the following is the most logical inference to be drawn from the passage about the effects of several acts of the Maryland and Virginia legislatures passed during and after the 1660 s?

　　The acts negatively affected the pre-1660 s position of Black as well as of White servants.

　　The acts had the effect of impairing rather than improving the position of White servants relative to what it had been before the 1660 s.

　　The acts had a different effect o n the position of White servants than did many of the acts passed during this time by the legislatures of other colonies.

　　The acts, at the very least, caused the position of White servants to remain no better than it had been before the 1660 s.

　　The acts, at the very least, tended to reflect the attitudes toward Black servants that already existed before the 1660 s.

　　23. With which of the following statements regarding the status of Black people in the English colonies of North America before the 1660 s would the author be LEAST likely to agree?

　　Although Black people were not legally considered to be slaves, they were often called slaves.

　　Although subject to some discrimination, Black people had a higher legal status than they did after the 1660 s.

　　Although sometimes subject to lifetime servitude, Black people were not legally considered to be slaves.

　　Although often not treated the same as White people, Black people, like many White people, possessed the legal status of servants.

　　Although apparently subject to more discrimination after 1630 than before 1630, Black people from 1620 to the 1660 s were legally considered to be servants.

　　24. According to the passage, the Handlins have argued which of the following about the relationship between racial prejudice and the institution of legal slavery in the English colonies of North America?

　　Racial prejudice and the institution of slavery arose simultaneously.

　　Racial prejudice most often took the form of the imposition of inherited status, one of the attributes of slavery.

　　The source of racial prejudice was the institution of slavery.

　　Because of the influence of the Roman Catholic church, racial prejudice sometimes did not result in slavery.

　　Although existing in a lesser form before the 1660 s, racial prejudice increased sharply after slavery was legalized.

　　25. The passage suggests that the existence of a Roman conception of slavery in Spanish and Portuguese colonies had the effect of

　　extending rather than causing racial prejudice in these colonies

　　hastening the legalization of slavery in these colonies

　　mitigating some of the conditions of slavery for Black people in these colonies

　　delaying the introduction of slavery into the English colonies

　　bringing about an improvement in the treatment of Black slaves in the English colonies

　　26. The author considers the explanation put forward by Freyre and Tannenbaum for the treatment accorded Black slaves in the English colonies of North America to be

　　ambitious but misguided

　　valid but limited

　　popular but suspect

　　anachronistic and controversial

　　premature and illogical

　　27. With which of the following statements regarding the reason for the introduction of legal slavery in the English colonies of North America would the author be most likely to agree?

　　The introduction is partly to be explained by reference to the origins of slavery, before the 1660 s, in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies.

　　The introduction is to be explained by reference to a growing consensus beginning in the 1630 s about what were the attributes of true slavery.

　　The introduction is more likely to be explained by reference to a decline than to an improvement in the position of White servants in the colonies during and after the 1660 s.

　　The introduction is more likely to be explained by reference to the position of Black servants in the colonies in the 1630 s than by reference to their position in the 1640 s and 1650 s.

　　The introduction is more likely to be explained by reference to the history of Black people in the colonies before 1660 than by reference to the improving position of White servants during and after the 1660 s.

　　答案：17-27：DECBDDACCBE