GRE阅读练习每日一篇(四十八)

　　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。

　　One of the questions of interest in the study of the evolution of spiders is whether the weaving of orb webs evolved only once or several times. About half the 35,000 known kinds of spiders make webs; a third of the web weavers make orb webs. Since most orb weavers belong either to the Araneidae or the Uloboridae families, the origin of the orb web can be determined only by ascertaining whether the families are related.

　　Recent taxonomic analysis of individuals from both families indicates that the families evolved from different ancestors, thereby contradicting Wiehle s theory. This theory postulates that the families must be related, based on the assumption that complex behavior, such as web building, could evolve only once. According to Kullman, web structure is the only characteristic that suggests a relationship between families. The families differ in appearance, structure of body hair, and arrangement of eyes. Only Uloborids lack venom glands. Further identification and study of characteristic features will undoubtedly answer the question of the evolution of the orb web.

　　17. The primary purpose of the passage is to

　　settle the question of whether orb webs evolved once or more than once

　　describe scientific speculation concerning an issue related to the evolution of orb webs

　　analyze the differences between the characteristic features of spiders in the Araneidae and Uloboridae families

　　question the methods used by earlier investigators of the habits of spiders

　　demonstrate that Araneidae spiders are not related to Uloboridae spiders

　　18. It can be inferred from the passage that all orb-weaving spiders belong to types of spiders that

　　lack venom glands

　　are included either in the Uloboridae or Araneidae families

　　share few characteristic features with other spider types

　　comprise less than a third of all known types of spiders

　　are more recently evolved than other types of spiders

　　19. According to the passage, members of the Araneidae family can be distinguished from members of the Uloboridae family by all of the following EXCEPT:

　　the presence of venom glands

　　the type of web they spin

　　the structure of their body hair

　　the arrangement of their eyes

　　their appearance

　　20. Which of the following statements, if true, most weakens Wiehle s theory that complex behavior could evolve only once?

　　Horses, introduced to the New World by the Spaniards, thrived under diverse climatic conditions.

　　Plants of the Palmaceae family, descendants of a common ancestor, evolved unique seed forms even though the plants occupy similar habitats throughout the world.

　　All mammals are descended from a small, rodentlike animal whose physical characteristics in some form are found in all its descendants.

　　Plants in the Cactaceae and Euphorbiaceae families, although they often look alike and have developed similar mechanisms to meet the rigors of the desert, evolved independently.

　　The Cuban anole, which was recently introduced in the Florida wilds, is quickly replacing the native Florida chameleon because the anole has no competitors.

　　Popular art has a number of meanings, impossible to define with any precision, which range from folklore to junk. The poles are clear enough, but the middle tends to blur. The Hollywood Western of the 1930 s, for example, has elements of folklore, but is closer to junk than to high art or folk art. There can be great trash, just as there is bad high art. The musicals of George Gershwin are great popular art, never aspiring to high art. Schubert and Brahms, however, used elements of popular music folk themes in works clearly intended as high art. The case of Verdi is a different one: he took a popular genre bourgeois melodrama set to music and, without altering its fundamental nature, transmuted it into high art. This remains one of the greatest achievements in music, and one that cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing the essential trashiness of the genre.

　　As an example of such a transmutation, consider what Verdi made of the typical political elements of nineteenth-century opera. Generally in the plots of these operas, a hero or heroine usually portrayed only as an individual, unfettered by class is caught between the immoral corruption of the aristocracy and the doctrinaire rigidity or secret greed of the leaders of the proletariat. Verdi transforms this naive and unlikely formulation with music of extraordinary energy and rhythmic vitality, music more subtle than it seems at first hearing. There are scenes and arias that still sound like calls to arms and were clearly understood as such when they were first performed. Such pieces lend an immediacy to the otherwise veiled political message of these operas and call up feelings beyond those of the opera itself.

　　Or consider Verdi s treatment of character. Before Verdi, there were rarely any characters at all in musical drama, only a series of situations which allowed the singers to express a series of emotional states. Any attempt to find coherent psychological portrayal in these operas is misplaced ingenuity. The only coherence was the singer s vocal technique: when the cast changed, new arias were almost always substituted, generally adapted from other operas. Verdi s characters, on the other hand, have genuine consistency and integrity, even if, in many cases, the consistency is that of pasteboard melodrama. The integrity of the character is achieved through the music: once he had become established, Verdi did not rewrite his music for different singers or countenance alterations or substitutions of somebody else s arias in one of his operas, as every eighteenth-century composer had done. When he revised an opera, it was only for dramatic economy and effectiveness.

　　21. The author refers to Schubert and Brahms in order to suggest

　　that their achievements are no less substantial than those of Verdi

　　that their works are examples of great trash

　　the extent to which Schubert and Brahms influenced the later compositions of Verdi

　　a contrast between the conventions of nineteenth-century opera and those of other musical forms

　　that popular music could be employed in compositions intended as high art

　　22. According to the passage, the immediacy of the political message in Verdi s operas stems from the

　　vitality and subtlety of the music

　　audience s familiarity with earlier operas

　　portrayal of heightened emotional states

　　individual talents of the singers

　　verisimilitude of the characters

　　23. According to the passage, all of the following characterize musical drama before Verdi EXCEPT:

　　arias tailored to a particular singer s ability

　　adaptation of music from other operas

　　psychological inconsistency in the portrayal of characters

　　expression of emotional states in a series of dramatic situations

　　music used for the purpose of defining a character

　　24. It can be inferred that the author regards Verdi s revisions to his operas with

　　regret that the original music and texts were altered

　　concern that many of the revisions altered the plots of the original work

　　approval for the intentions that motivated the revisions

　　puzzlement, since the revisions seem largely insignificant

　　enthusiasm, since the revisions were aimed at reducing the conventionality of the operas plots

　　25. According to the passage, one of Verdi s achievements within the framework of nineteenth-century opera and its conventions was to

　　limit the extent to which singers influenced the musical compositions and performance of his operas

　　use his operas primarily as forums to protest both the moral corruption and dogmatic rigidity of the political leaders of his time

　　portray psychologically complex characters shaped by the political environment surrounding them

　　incorporate elements of folklore into both the music and plots of his operas

　　introduce political elements into an art form that had traditionally avoided political content

　　26. Which of the following best describes the relationship of the first paragraph of the passage to the passage as a whole?

　　It provides a group of specific examples from which generalizations are drawn later in the passage.

　　It leads to an assertion that is supported by examples later in the passage.

　　It defines terms and relationships that are challenged in an argument later in the passage.

　　It briefly compares and contrasts several achievements that are examined in detail later in the passage.

　　It explains a method of judging a work of art, a method that is used later in the passage.

　　27. It can be inferred that the author regards the independence from social class of the heroes and heroines of nineteenth-century opera as

　　an idealized but fundamentally accurate portrayal of bourgeois life

　　a plot convention with no real connection to political reality

　　a plot refinement unique to Verdi

　　a symbolic representation of the position of the bourgeoisie relative to the aristocracy and the proletariat

　　a convention largely seen as irrelevant by audiences

　　答案：17-27：BDBDEAECABB