Gre阅读真题200篇 brief contents

Some modern anthropologists hold

Unhappily, some of those frailties—our need for ever-increasing security among them—are presently maladaptive. Yet beneath the overlay of cultural detail, they, too, are said to be biological in direction, and therefore as natural to us as are our appendixes. We would need to comprehend thoroughly their adaptive origins in order to understand how badly they guide us now. And we might then begin to resist their pressure.

24. The primary purpose of the passage is to present

(A) a position on the foundations of human behavior and on what those foundations imply

(B) a theory outlining the parallel development of human morphology and of human behavior

(C) a diagnostic test for separating biologically determined behavior patterns from culture-specific detail

(D) a practical method for resisting the pressures of biologically determined drives（A）

(E) an overview of those human emotions and motives that impose constraints on human behavior

25. The author implies that control to any extent over the “frailties” that constrain our behavior is thought to presuppose

(A) that those frailties are recognized as currently beneficial and adaptive

(B) that there is little or no overlay of cultural detail that masks their true nature

(C) that there are cultures in which those frailties do not “come naturally” and from which such control can be learned

(D) a full understanding of why those frailties evolved and of how they function now（D）

(E) a thorough grasp of the principle that cultural detail in human behavior can differ arbitrarily from society to society

26. Which of the following most probably provides an appropriate analogy from human morphology for the “details” versus “constraints” distinction made in the passage in relation to (in relation to: adv.关于, 涉及, 与…相比) human behavior?

(A) The ability of most people to see all the colors of the visible spectrum as against most people’s inability to name any but the primary colors

(B) The ability of even the least fortunate people to show compassion as against people’s inability to mask their feelings completely

(C) The ability of some people to dive to great depths as against most people’s inability to swim long distances

(D) The psychological profile of those people who are able to delay gratification as against people’s inability to control their lives completely（E）

(E) The greater lung capacity of mountain peoples that helps them live in oxygen-poor air as against people’s inability to fly without special apparatus

27. It can be inferred that in his discussion of maladaptive frailties the author assumes that

(A) evolution does not favor the emergence of adaptive characteristics over the emergence of maladaptive ones

(B) any structure or behavior not positively adaptive is regarded as transitory in evolutionary theory

(C) maladaptive characteristics, once fixed, make the emergence of other maladaptive characteristics more likely

(D) the designation of a characteristic as being maladaptive must always remain highly tentative（E）

(E) changes in the total human environment can outpace evolutionary change

13. Islamic law is a particularly instructive example

Both Jewish law and canon law are more uniform than Islamic law. Though historically there is a discernible break between Jewish law of the sovereign state of ancient Israel and of the Diaspora (the dispersion of Jewish people after the conquest of Israel), the spirit of the legal matter in later parts of the Old Testament is very close to that of the Talmud, one of the primary codifications of Jewish law in the Diaspora. Islam, on the other hand, represented a radical breakaway from the Arab paganism that preceded it; Islamic law is the result of an examination, from a religious angle, of legal subject matter that was far from uniform, comprising as it did the various components of the laws of pre-Islamic Arabia and numerous legal elements taken over from the non-Arab peoples of the conquered territories. All this was unified by being subjected to the same kind of religious scrutiny, the impact of which varied greatly, being almost nonexistent in some fields, and in others originating novel institutions. This central duality of legal subject matter and religious norm is additional to the variety of legal, ethical, and ritual rules that is typical of sacred law.

In its relation to the secular state, Islamic law differed from both Jewish and canon law. Jewish law was buttressed by the cohesion of the community, reinforced by pressure from outside; its rules are the direct expression of this feeling of cohesion, tending toward the accommodation of dissent. Canon and Islamic aw, on the contrary, were dominated by the dualism of religion and state, where the state was not, in contrast with Judaism, an alien power but the political expression of the same religion. But the conflict between state and religion took different forms; in Christianity it appeared as the struggle for political power on the part of a tightly organized ecclesiastical hierarchy, and canon law was one of its political weapons. Islamic law, on the other hand, was never supported by an organized institution; consequently, there never developed an overt trial of strength. There merely existed discordance between application of the sacred law and many of the regulations framed by Islamic states; this antagonism varied according to place and time.

20. The author’s purpose in comparing Islamic law to Jewish law and canon law is most probably to

(A) contend that traditional legal subject matter does not play a large role in Islamic law

(B) support his argument that Islamic law is a unique kind of legal phenomenon

(C) emphasize the variety of forms that can all be considered sacred law

(D) provide an example of how he believes comparative institutional study should be undertaken（B）

(E) argue that geographical and historical proximity does not necessarily lead to parallel institutional development

21. The passage provides information to answer which of the following questions?

(A) Does Islamic law depend on sources other than Arab legal principles?

(B) What secular practices of Islamic states conflicted with Islamic law?

(C) Are Jewish law and canon law the most typical examples of sacred law?

(D) Is Jewish law more uniform than canon law?（A）

(E) What characterized Arab law of the pre-Islamic era?

22. According to the passage, which of the following statements about sacred law is correct?

(A) The various systems of sacred law originated in a limited geographical area.

(B) The various systems of sacred law have had marked influence on one another.

(C) Systems of sacred law usually rely on a wide variety of precedents.

(D) Systems of sacred law generally contain prescriptions governing diverse aspects of human activity.（D）

(E) Systems of sacred law function most effectively in communities with relatively small populations.

23. It can be inferred from the passage that the application of Islamic law in Islamic states has

(A) systematically been opposed by groups who believe it is contrary to their interests

(B) suffered irreparably from the lack of firm institutional backing

(C) frequently been at odds with the legal activity of government institutions

(D) remained unaffected by the political forces operating alongside it（C）

(E) benefited from the fact that it never experienced a direct confrontation with the state

24. Which of the following most accurately describes the organization of the passage?

(A) A universal principle is advanced and then discussed in relation to a particular historical phenomenon.

(B) A methodological innovation is suggested and then examples of its efficacy are provided.

(C) A traditional interpretation is questioned and then modified to include new data.

(D) A general opinion is expressed and then supportive illustrations are advanced.（D）

(E) A controversial viewpoint is presented and then both supportive evidence and contradictory evidence are cited.

25. The passage implies that the relationship of Islamic, Jewish, and canon law is correctly described by which of the following statements?

I. Because each constitutes an example of sacred law, they necessarily share some features.

II. They each developed in reaction to the interference of secular political institutions.

III. The differences among them result partly from their differing emphasis on purely ethical rules.

(A) I only

(B) III only

(C) I and II only

(D) II and III only（A）

(E) I, II, and III

26. The passage suggests that canon law differs from Islamic law in that only canon law

(A) contains prescriptions that nonsacred legal systems might regard as properly legal

(B) concerns itself with the duties of a person in regard to the community as a whole

(C) was affected by the tension of the conflict between religion and state

(D) developed in a political environment that did not challenge its fundamental existence（E）

(E) played a role in the direct confrontation between institutions vying for power

27. All of the following statements about the development of Islamic law are implied in the passage EXCEPT:

(A) Pre-Islamic legal principles were incorporated into Islamic law with widely differing degrees of change.

(B) Diverse legal elements were joined together through the application of a purely religious criterion.

(C) Although some of the sources of Islamic law were pagan, its integrity as a sacred law was not compromised by their incorporation.

(D) There was a fundamental shared characteristic in all pre-Islamic legal matter taken over by Islamic law.（D）

(E) Although Islam emerged among the Arabs, Islamic law was influenced by ethnically diverse elements.