GRE阅读练习每日一篇(四十四)

　　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。

　　Since the Hawaiian Islands have never been connected to other land masses, the great variety of plants in Hawaii must be a result of the long-distance dispersal of seeds, a process that requires both a method of transport and an equivalence between the ecology of the source area and that of the recipient area.

　　There is some dispute about the method of transport involved. Some biologists argue that ocean and air currents are responsible for the transport of plant seeds to Hawaii. Yet the results of flotation experiments and the low temperatures of air currents cast doubt on these hypotheses. More probable is bird transport, either externally, by accidental attachment of the seeds to feathers, or internally, by the swallowing of fruit and subsequent excretion of the seeds. While it is likely that fewer varieties of plant seeds have reached Hawaii externally than internally, more varieties are known to be adapted to external than to internal transport.

　　17. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

　　discussing different approaches biologists have taken to testing theories about the distribution of plants in Hawaii

　　discussing different theories about the transport of plant seeds to Hawaii

　　discussing the extent to which air currents are responsible for the dispersal of plant seeds to Hawaii

　　resolving a dispute about the adaptability of plant seeds to bird transport

　　resolving a dispute about the ability of birds to carry plant seeds long distances

　　18. The author mentions the results of flotation experiments on plant seeds most probably in order to

　　support the claim that the distribution of plants in Hawaii is the result of the long-distance dispersal of seeds

　　lend credibility to the thesis that air currents provide a method of transport for plant seeds to Hawaii

　　suggest that the long-distance dispersal of seeds is a process that requires long periods of time

　　challenge the claim that ocean currents are responsible for the transport of plant seeds to Hawaii

　　refute the claim that Hawaiian flora evolved independently from flora in other parts of the world

　　19. It can be inferred from information in the passage that the existence in alpine regions of Hawaii of a plant species that also grows in the southwestern United States would justify which of the following conclusions?

　　The ecology of the southwestern United States is similar in important respects to the ecology of alpine regions of Hawaii.

　　There are ocean currents that flow from the southwestern United States to Hawaii.

　　The plant species discovered in Hawaii must have traveled from the southwestern United States only very recently.

　　The plant species discovered in Hawaii reached there by attaching to the feathers of birds migrating from the southwestern United States.

　　The plant species discovered in Hawaii is especially well adapted to transport over long distances.

　　20. The passage supplies information for answering which of the following questions?

　　Why does successful long-distance dispersal of plant seeds require an equivalence between the ecology of the source area and that of the recipient area?

　　Why are more varieties of plant seeds adapted to external rather than to internal bird transport?

　　What varieties of plant seeds are birds that fly long distances most likely to swallow?

　　What is a reason for accepting the long-distance dispersal of plant seeds as an explanation for the origin of Hawaiian flora?

　　What evidence do biologists cite to argue that ocean and air currents are responsible for the transport of plant seeds to Hawaii?

　　A long-held view of the history of the English colonies that became the United States has been that England s policy toward these colonies before 1763 was dictated by commercial interests and that a change to a more imperial policy, dominated by expansionist militarist objectives, generated the tensions that ultimately led to the American Revolution. In a recent study, Stephen Saunders Webb has presented a formidable challenge to this view. According to Webb, England already had a military imperial policy for more than a century before the American Revolution. He sees Charles II, the English monarch between 1660 and 1685, as the proper successor of the Tudor monarchs of the sixteenth century and of Oliver Cromwell, all of whom were bent on extending centralized executive power over England s possessions through the use of what Webb calls garrison government. Garrison government allowed the colonists a legislative assembly, but real authority, in Webb s view, belonged to the colonial governor, who was appointed by the king and supported by the garrison, that is, by the local contingent of English troops under the colonial governor s command.

　　According to Webb, the purpose of garrison government was to provide military support for a royal policy designed to limit the power of the upper classes in the American colonies. Webb argues that the colonial legislative assemblies represented the interests not of the common people but of the colonial upper classes, a coalition of merchants and nobility who favored self-rule and sought to elevate legislative authority at the expense of the executive. It was, according to Webb, the colonial governors who favored the small farmer, opposed the plantation system, and tried through taxation to break up large holdings of land. Backed by the military presence of the garrison, these governors tried to prevent the gentry and merchants, allied in the colonial assemblies, from transforming colonial America into a capitalistic oligarchy.

　　Webb s study illuminates the political alignments that existed in the colonies in the century prior to the American Revolution, but his view of the crown s use of the military as an instrument of colonial policy is not entirely convincing. England during the seventeenth century was not noted for its military achievements. Cromwell did mount England s most ambitious overseas military expedition in more than a century, but it proved to be an utter failure. Under Charles II, the English army was too small to be a major instrument of government. Not until the war with France in 1697 did William III persuade Parliament to create a professional standing army, and Parliaments price for doing so was to keep the army under tight legislative control. While it may be true that the crown attempted to curtail the power of the colonial upper classes, it is hard to imagine how the English army during the seventeenth century could have provided significant military support for such a policy.

　　21. The passage can best be described as a

　　survey of the inadequacies of a conventional viewpoint

　　reconciliation of opposing points of view

　　summary and evaluation of a recent study

　　defense of a new thesis from anticipated objections

　　review of the subtle distinctions between apparently similar views

　　22. The passage suggests that the view referred to in lines 1-7 argued that

　　the colonial governors were sympathetic to the demands of the common people

　　Charles II was a pivotal figure in the shift of English monarchs toward a more imperial policy in their governorship of the American colonies

　　the American Revolution was generated largely out of a conflict between the colonial upper classes and an alliance of merchants and small farmers

　　the military did not play a major role as an instrument of colonial policy until 1763

　　the colonial legislative assemblies in the colonies had little influence over the colonial governors

　　23. It can be inferred from the passage that Webb would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements regarding garrison government?

　　Garrison government gave legislative assemblies in the colonies relatively little authority, compared to the authority that it gave the colonial governors.

　　Garrison government proved relatively ineffective until it was used by Charles II to curb the power of colonial legislatures.

　　Garrison government became a less viable colonial policy as the English Parliament began to exert tighter legislative control over the English military.

　　Oliver Cromwell was the first English ruler to make use of garrison government on a large scale.

　　The creation of a professional standing army in England in 1697 actually weakened garrison government by diverting troops from the garrisons stationed in the American colonies.

　　24. According to the passage, Webb views Charles II as the proper successor of the Tudor monarchs and Cromwell because Charles II

　　used colonial tax revenues to fund overseas military expeditions

　　used the military to extend executive power over the English colonies

　　wished to transform the American colonies into capitalistic oligarchies

　　resisted the English Parliament s efforts to exert control over the military

　　allowed the American colonists to use legislative assemblies as a forum for resolving grievances against the crown

　　25. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the author s assertion in lines 54-58?

　　Because they were poorly administered, Cromwell s overseas military expeditions were doomed to failure.

　　Because it relied primarily on the symbolic presence of the military, garrison government could be effectively administered with a relatively small number of troops.

　　Until early in the seventeenth century, no professional standing army in Europe had performed effectively in overseas military expeditions.

　　Many of the colonial governors appointed by the crown were also commissioned army officers.

　　Many of the English troops stationed in the American colonies were veterans of other overseas military expeditions.

　　26. According to Webb s view of colonial history, which of the following was true of the merchants and nobility mentioned in line 30?

　　I. They were opposed to policies formulated by Charles II that would have transformed the colonies into capitalistic oligarchies.

　　II. They were opposed to attempts by the English crown to limit the power of the legislative assemblies.

　　III. They were united with small farmers in their opposition to the stationing of English troops in the colonies.

　　I only

　　II only

　　I and II only

　　II and III only

　　I, II, and III

　　27. The author suggests that if William III had wanted to make use of the standing army mentioned in line 52 to administer garrison government in the American colonies, he would have had to.

　　make peace with France

　　abolish the colonial legislative assemblies

　　seek approval from the English Parliament

　　appoint colonial governors who were more sympathetic to royal policy

　　raise additional revenues by increasing taxation of large landholdings in the colonies

　　答案：17-27：BDADCDABBBC