考研英语阅读命题思路透析和真题揭秘(37)

In 1784, five years before he became president of the United States, George Washington, 52, was nearly toothless. So he hired a dentist to transplant nine teeth into his jaw- having extracted them from the months of his slaves.

That's far different image from the cherry-tree-chopping George most people remember from their history books. But recently, many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in the lives of the founding generation. They have been spurred in part by DNA evidence made available in 1998, which almost certainly proved Thomas Jefferson had fathered at least one child with his slave Sally Hemings. And only over the past 30 years have scholars examined history from the bottom up. Works of several historians reveal the moral compromises made by the nation's early leaders and the fragile nature of the country's infancy. More significantly, they argue that many of the Founding Fathers knew slavery was wrong and yet most did little to fight it.

More than anything, the historians say, the founders were hampered by the culture of their time. While Washington and Jefferson privately expressed distaste for slavery, they also understood that it was part of the political and economic bedrock of the country they helped to create.

For one thing, the South could not afford to part with its slaves. Owning slaves was "like having a large bank account," says Wiencek, author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America. The southern states would not have signed the Constitution without protections for the "peculiar institution," including a clause that counted a slave as three fifths of a man for purposes of congressional representation.

And the statesmen's political lives depended on slavery. The three-fifths formula handed Jefferson his narrow victory in the presidential election of 1800 by inflating the votes of the southern states in the Electoral College. Once in office, Jefferson extended slavery with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; the new land was carved into 13 states, including three slave states.

Still, Jefferson freed Hemings's children- though not Hemings herself or his approximately 150 other slaves. Washington, who had begun to believe that all men were created equal after observing the bravery of the black soldiers during the Revolutionary War, overcame the strong opposition of his relatives to grant his slaves their freedom in his will. Only a decade earlier, such an act would have required legislative approval in Virginia.

36. George Washington's dental surgery is mentioned to
[A] show the primitive medical practice in the past.
[B] demonstrate the cruelty of slavery in his days.
[C] stress the role of slaves in the U.S. history.
[D] reveal some unknown aspect of his life.

[答案] C

[解题思路]

文章第一段是关于华盛顿换牙的例子，文章第二段随即指出"That's far different image from the cherry-tree-chopping George most people remember from their history books. But recently, many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in the lives of the founding generation"（相比人们在历史书本中学到的那个坎樱桃树的乔治，这是一个截然不同的形象。但是近来很多历史学家都开始关注奴隶制在美国开国的那一代人中所扮演的角色），因此显然只有C选项符合原文。A、B选项可以比较容易地排除，而D选项具有一定的干扰性。这句话是对第二段第一句话的表面理解，但是不如C选项更加具体和有针对性。

[题目译文]

乔治·华盛顿的牙科手术用来
[A] 说明过去的落后医术
[B] 说明在他的时候奴隶制的残酷
[C] 强调奴隶在美国历史中所扮演的角色
[D] 揭示他不为人知的一面

40. Washington's decision to free slaves originated from his
[A] moral considerations.
[B] military experience.
[C] financial conditions.
[D] political stand.

[答案] B

[解题思路]

本题对应于文章最后一段第二句话指出"Washington, who had begun to believe that all men were created equal after observing the bravery of the black soldiers during the Revolutionary War, overcame the strong opposition of his relatives to grant his slaves their freedom in his will"（华盛顿在目睹了黑人们在革命战争中的勇敢之后，开始相信所有人生来都是平等的，于是他不顾亲戚的反对，坚持给予他的所有奴隶自由），很显然正确答案是B。

[题目译文]

华盛顿解放其奴隶的决定源自他的
[A] 道德考虑
[B] 军事经历
[C] 财政状况
[D] 政治立场