美国法学院入学考试LSAT阅读真题4
【简介】：读真题1(含答案)Historiansgenerallyagreethat,ofthegreatmoderninnovations,therailroadhadthemostfar-reachingimpactonmajoreventsintheUnitedStatesinthenineteenth
精品源自教学论文
读真题1(含答案)
Historians generally agree that, of the great modern innovations, the railroad had the most far-reaching impact on major events in the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly on the Industrial Revolution. There is, however, considerable disagreement among cultural historians regarding public attitudes toward the railroad, both at its inception in the 1830s and during the half century between 1880 and 1930, when the national rail system was netpleted and reached the zenith of its popularity in the United States. In a recent book, John Stilgoe has addresd this issue by arguing tha
allbart the “romantic-era distrust” of the railroad that he claims was prent during the 1830s vanished in the decades after 1880. But the argument he provides in support of this position is unconvincing.
What Stilgoe calls “romantic-era distrust” was in fact the reaction of a minority of writers, artistes, and intellectuals who distrusted the railroad not so much for what it was as for what it signified. Thoreau and Hawthorne appreciated, even admired, an improved means of moving things and people from one place to another. What the writers and others were concerned about was not the new machinery as such, but the new kind of economy, social order, and culture that it prefigured. In addition, Stilgoe is wrong to imply that the critical attitude of the writers was typical of the period: their distrust was largely a reaction against the prevailing attitude in the 1830s that the railroad was an unqualified improvement.
Stilgoe’s asrtion that the ambivalence toward the railroad exhibited by writers like Hawthorne and Thoreau disappeared after the 1880s is also misleading. In support of thi
s thesis, Stilgoe has unearthed an impressive volume of material, the work of hitherto unknown illustrators, journalists, and novelists, all devotees of the railroad; but it is not clear what this new material proves except perhaps that the works of popular culture greatly expanded at the time. The volume of the material proves nothing if Stilgoe’s point is that the earlier distrust of a minority of intellectuals did not endure beyond the 1880s, and, oddly, much of Stilgoe’s other evidence indicates that it did. When he glances at the treatment of railroads by writers like Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, or F. Scott Fitzgerald, what netes through in spite of Stilgoe’s analysis is remarkably like Thoreau’s feeling of contrariety and ambivalence. (Had he looked at the work of Frank Norris, Eugene O’Neill, or Henry Adams, Stilgoe’s ca would have been much stronger.) The point is that the sharp contrast between the enthusiastic supporters of the railroad in the 1830s and the minority of intellectual disnters during that period extended into the 1880s and beyond.
7. The passage provides information to answer all of the following questions EXCEPT:
48个英语音标发音
(A) During what period did the railroad reach the zenith of its popularity in the United States?
(B) How extensive was the impact of the railroad on the Industrial Revolution in the United States, relative to that of other modern innovations?
(C) Who are some of the writers of the 1830s who expresd ambivalence toward the railroad?
(D) In what way could Stilgoe have strengthened his argument regarding intellectuals’ attitudes toward the railroad in the years after the 1880s?
花店培训(E) What arguments did the writers after the 1880s, as cited by Stilgoe, offer to justify their support for the railroad?
8. According to the author of the passage, Stilgoe us the phra “romantic-era distrust” (line 13) to imply that the view he is referring to was
(A) the attitude of a minority of intellectuals toward technological innovation that began after 1830
reve(B) a netmonly held attitude toward the railroad during the 1830s
(C) an ambivalent view of the railroad expresd by many poets and novelists between 1880 and 1930
(D) a critique of social and economic developments during the 1830s by a minority of intellectuals
目的地的拼音(E) an attitude toward the railroad that was disminated by works of popular culture after 1880
9. According to the author, the attitude toward the railroad that was reflected in writings of Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, and F. Scott Fitzgerald was
(A) influenced by the writings of Frank Norris, Eugene O’Neill, and Henry Adams
arrive是什么意思(B) similar to that of the minority of writers who had expresd ambivalence toward the railroad prior to the 1880s
(C) consistent with the public attitudes toward the railroad that were reflected in works of popular culture after the 1880s
dldl
(D) largely a reaction to the works of writers who had been verely critical of the railroad in the 1830s
富力桃园幼儿园 (E) consistent with the prevailing attitude toward the railroad during the 1830s
10. It can be inferred from the passage that the author us the phra “works of popular culture” (line 41) primarily to refer to the
顾问英文(A) work of a large group of writers that was published between 1880 and 1930 and that in Stilgoe’s view was highly critical of the railroad
敷衍怎么读(B) work of writers who were heavily influenced by Hawthorne and Thoreau
(C) large volume of writing produced by Henry Adams, Sinclair Lewis, and Eugene O’Neill
(D) work of journalists, novelists, and illustrators who were responsible for creating enthusiasm for the railroad during the 1830s
