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LSAT第16套 SECTION I
时间:2011/9/21

  Time 35 minutes 27 Questions

  Directions: Each passage in this section is followed by a group of questions to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For some of the questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, you are to choose the best answer, that is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question, and blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.

  Until the 1980s, most scientists believed that noncatastrophic geological processes caused the extinction of dinosaurs that occurred approximately 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period. Geologists argued that a dramatic drop in sea level coincided with the extinction of the dinosaurs and could have caused the climatic changes that resulted in this extinction as well as the extinction of many ocean species.

  This view was seriously challenged in the 1980s by the discovery of large amounts of iridium in a layer of clay deposited at the end of the Cretaceous period. Because iridium is extremely rare in rocks on the Earth’s surface but common in meteorites, researchers theorized that it was the impact of a large meteorite that dramatically changed the earth’s climate and thus triggered the extinction of the dinosaurs.

  Currently available evidence, however, offers more support for a new theory, the volcanic-eruption theory. A vast eruption of lava in India coincided with the extinctions that occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period, and the release of carbon dioxide from this episode of volcanism could have caused the climatic change responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs. Such outpourings of lava are caused by instability in the lowest layer of the Earth’s mantle, located just above the Earth’s core. As the rock that constitutes this layer is heated by the Earth’s core, it becomes less dense and portions of it eventually escape upward as blobs or molten rock, called “diapirs (diapir: [地]底辟,挤入构造),” that can, under certain circumstances, erupt violently through the Earth’s crust.

  Moreover, the volcanic-eruption theory, like the impact theory, accounts for the presence of iridium in sedimentary deposits; it also explains matters that the meteorite-impact theory does not. Although iridium is extremely rare on the Earth’s surface, the lower regions of the Earth’s mantle have roughly the same composition as meteorites and contain large amounts of iridium, which in the case of a diapir eruption would probably be emitted as iridium hexafluoride, a gas that would disperse more uniformly in the atmosphere than the iridium-containing matter thrown out from a meteorite impact. In addition, the volcanic-eruption theory may explain why the end of the Cretaceous period was marked by a gradual change in sea level. Fossil records indicate that for several hundred thousand years prior to the relatively sudden disappearance of the dinosaurs, the level of the sea gradually fell, causing many marine organisms to die out. This change in sea level might well have been the result of a distortion in the Earth’s surface that resulted from the movement of diapirs upward toward the Earth’s crust, and the more cataclysmic extinction of the dinosaurs could have resulted from the explosive volcanism that occurred as material from the diapirs erupted onto the Earth’s surface.

  1. The passage suggests that during the 1980s researchers found meteorite impact a convincing explanation for the extinction of dinosaurs, in part because

  (A) earlier theories had failed to account for the gradual extinction of many ocean species at the end of the Cretaceous period

  (B) geologists had, up until that time, underestimated the amount of carbon dioxide that would be released during an episode of explosive volcanism

  (C) a meteorite could have served as a source of the iridium found in a layer of clay deposited at the end of the Cretaceous period

  (D) no theory relying on purely geological processes had, up until that time, explained the cause of the precipitous drop in sea level that occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period(C)

  (E) the impact of a large meteorite could have resulted in the release of enough carbon dioxide to cause global climatic change

  2. According to the passage, the lower regions of the Earth’s mantle are characterized by

  (A) a composition similar to that of meteorites

  (B) the absence of elements found in rocks on the Earth’s crust

  (C) a greater stability than that of the upper regions

  (D) the presence of large amounts of carbon dioxide(A)

  (E) a uniformly lower density than that of the upper regions

  3. It can be inferred from the passage that which one of the following was true of the lava that erupted in India at the end of the Cretaceous period?

  (A) It contained less carbon dioxide than did the meteorites that were striking the Earth’s surface during that period.

  (B) It was more dense than the molten rock, located just above the Earth’s core.

  (C) It released enough iridium hexafluoride into the atmosphere to change the Earth’s climate dramatically.

  (D) It was richer in iridium than rocks usually found on the Earth’s surface.(D)

  (E) It was richer in iridium than were the meteorites that were striking the Earth’s surface during that period.

  4. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with doing which one of the following?

  (A) describing three theories and explaining why the latest of these appears to be the best of the three

  (B) attacking the assumptions inherent in theories that until the 1980s had been largely accepted by geologists

  (C) outlining the inadequacies of three different explanations of the same phenomenon

  (D) providing concrete examples in support of the more general assertion that theories must often be revised in light of new evidence(A)

  (E) citing evidence that appears to confirm the skepticism of geologists regarding a view held prior to the 1980s

  5. The author implies that if the theory described in the third paragraph is true, which one of the following would have been true of iridium in the atmosphere at the end of the Cretaceous period?

  (A) Its level of concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere would have been high due to a slow but steady increase in the atmospheric iridium that began in the early Cretaceous period.

  (B) Its concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere would have increased due to the dramatic decrease in sea level that occurred during the Cretaceous period.

  (C) It would have been directly responsible for the extinction of many ocean species.

  (D) It would have been more uniformly dispersed than iridium whose source had been the impact of a meteorite on the Earth’s surface.(D)

  (E) It would have been more uniformly dispersed than indium released into the atmosphere as a result of normal geological processes that occur on Earth.

  6. The passage supports which one of the following claims about the volcanic-eruption theory?

  (A) It does not rely on assumptions concerning the temperature of molten rock at the lowest pan of the Earth’s mantle.

  (B) It may explain what caused the gradual fall in sea level that occurred for hundreds of thousands of years prior to the more sudden disappearance of the dinosaurs.

  (C) It bases its explanation on the occurrence of periods of increased volcanic activity similar to those shown to have caused earlier mass extinctions.

  (D) It may explain the relative scarcity of iridium in rocks on the Earth’s surface compared to its abundance in meteorites.(B)

  (E) It accounts for the relatively uneven distribution of iridium in the layer of clay deposited at the end of the Cretaceous period.

  7. Which one of the following, if true, would cast the most doubt on the theory described in the last paragraph of the passage?

  (A) Fragments of meteorites that have struck the Earth are examined and found to have only minuscule amounts of iridium hexafluoride trapped inside of them.

  (B) Most diapir eruptions in the geological history of the Earth have been similar in size to the one that occurred in India at the end of the Cretaceous period and have not been succeeded by periods of climatic change.

  (C) There have been several periods in the geological history of the Earth, before and after the Cretaceous period, during which large numbers of marine species have perished.

  (D) The frequency with which meteorites struck the Earth was higher at the end of the Cretaceous period than at the beginning of the period.(B)

  (E) Marine species tend to be much more vulnerable to extinction when exposed to a dramatic and relatively sudden change in sea level than when they are exposed to a gradual change in sea level similar to the one that preceded the extinction of the dinosaurs.

  It has become something of a truism in folklore studies that until recently the lore was more often studied than the folk. That is, folklorists concentrated on the folklore—the songs, tales, and proverbs themselves—and ignored the people who transmitted that lore as part of their oral culture. However, since the early 1970s, folklore studies have begun to regard folk performers as people of creativity who are as worthy of attention as are artists who transmit their ideas in writing. This shift of emphasis has also encouraged a growing interest in women folk performers.

  Until recently, folklorists tended to collect folklore from women on only a few topics such as health and games. In other areas, as Weigle and Farrer have noted, if folklorists “had a choice between a story as told by a man or as told by a woman, the man’s version was chosen.” It is still too early to tell how profoundly this situation has changed, but one can point to several recent studies in which women performers play central roles. Perhaps more telling is the focus of the most recently published major folklore textbook, The Dynamics of Folklore. Whereas earlier textbooks gave little attention to women and their folklore, this book devotes many pages to women folk performers.

  Recognition of women as important bearers of folklore is not entirely a recent phenomenon. As early as 1903, a few outstanding women folk performers were the focus of scholarly attention. Bur the scholarship devoted to these women tended to focus primarily on presenting the performer’s repertoire. Recent works about women folk artists, however, have been more biographically oriented. Juha Pentikainen’s study of Marina Tokalo, a Finnish healer and narrator of folktales, is especially extensive and probing. Though interested in the problems of repertoire analysis, Pentikainen gives considerable attention to the details of Tokalo’s life and cultural background, so that a full picture of a woman and her folklore emerges. Another notable work is Roger Abraham’s book, which presents a very clear picture of the significance of traditional singing in the life of noted ballad singer Almeda Riddle. Unfortunately, unlike Pentikainen’s study, Abraham’s study contains little repertoire analysis.

  These recent books reflect the current interest of folklorists in viewing folklore in context and thus answering questions about what folklore means to the people who use it. One unexpected result of this line of study has been the discovery that women may use the same folklore that men use, but for very different purposes. This realization has potential importance for future folklore studies in calling greater attention to the type of study required if a folklorist wants truly to understand the role folklore plays in a particular culture.

  8. Which one of the following best describes the main point of the passage?

  (A) It is only since the early 1970s that folklore studies have begun to recognize women as important bearers of folklore.

  (B) A careful analysis of the repertoires of women folk performers has led to a new discovery with important implications for future folklore studies.

  (C) Recent studies of women folk performers have focused primarily on the problems of repertoire analysis to the exclusion of a discussion of the culture within which the folklore was developed.

  (D) The emphasis in folklore studies has shifted from a focus on the life and the cultural background of the folk performers themselves to a broader understanding of the role folklore plays in a culture.(E)

  (E) A change in the focus of folklore studies has led to increased interest in women folk performers and to a new understanding of the importance of the context in which folklore is produced.

  9. The author of the passage refers to The Dynamics of Folklore primarily in order to

  (A) support the idea that it is too soon to tell whether or not folklorists are giving greater attention to women’s folklore

  (B) refute Weigle and Farrer’s contention that folklorists prefer to collect folklore from men rather than from women

  (C) support the assertion that scholarship devoted to women folk performers tends to focus primarily on repertoire

  (D) present an example of the new emphasis in folklore studies on the performer rather than on the folklore(E)

  (E) suggest that there are some signs that women folk performers are gaining increased critical attention in the field of folklore

  10. The focus of which one of the following books would most clearly reflect the current interest of the folklorists mentioned in the last paragraph?

  (A) an anthology of tales and songs collected exclusively from women in different cultures

  (B) a compilation of tales and songs from both men and women covering a great variety of traditional and nontraditional topics

  (C) a study of the purpose and meaning of a tale or song for the men and women in a particular culture

  (D) an analysis of one particular tale or song that documents changes in the text of the folklore over a period of time(C)

  (E) a comparison of the creative process of performers who transmit folklore with that of artists who transmit their ideas in writing

  11. According to the passage, which one of the following changes has occurred in the field of folklore since the early 1970s?

  (A) increased recognition of the similar ways in which men and women use folklore

  (B) increased recognition of folk performers as creative individuals

  (C) increased emphasis on the need for repertoire analysis

  (D) less emphasis on the relationship between cultural influences and folklore(B)

  (E) less emphasis on the individual performers and more emphasis on the meaning of folklore to a culture

  12. It can be inferred from the passage that early folklorists assumed that which one of the following was true?

  (A) The people who transmitted the folklore did not play a creative role in the development of that folklore.

  (B) The people who transmitted the folklore were not consciously aware of the way in which they creatively shaped that folklore.

  (C) The text of a song or tale did not change as the folklore was transmitted from one generation to another.

  (D) Women were not involved in transmitting folklore except for songs or tales dealing with a few traditional topics.(A)

  (E) The meaning of a piece of folklore could differ depending on whether the tale or song was transmitted by a man or by a woman.

  13. Based on the information in the passage, which one of the following is most closely analogous to the type of folklore studies produced before the early 1970s?

  (A) An anthropologist studies the implements currently used by an isolated culture, but does not investigate how the people of that culture designed and used those implements.

  (B) A manufacturer hires a consultant to determine how existing equipment in a plant might be modified to improve efficiency, but does not ask employees for their suggestions on how to improve efficiency.

  (C) A historian studies different types of documents dealing with a particular historical event, but decides not to review newspaper accounts written by journalists who lived through that event.

  (D) An archaeologist studies the artifacts of an ancient culture to reconstruct the life-style of that culture, but does not actually visit the site where those artifacts were unearthed.(A)

  (E) An architect designs a private home for a client, but ignores many of the client’s suggestions concerning minor details about the final design of the home.

  14. The author of the passage uses the term “context” (line 50) to refer to

  (A) a holistic assessment of a piece of folklore rather than a critical analysis of its parts

  (B) a study that examines a piece of folklore in light of earlier interpretations provided by other folklorists

  (C) the parts of a piece of folklore that can shed light on the meaning of the entire piece

  (D) the environment and circumstances in which a particular piece of folklore is used(D)

  (E) the location in which the story line of a piece of folklore is set

  15. The author’s attitude toward Roger Abraham’s book can best be described as one of

  (A) wholehearted approval

  (B) qualified admiration

  (C) uneasy ambivalence

  (D) extreme skepticism(B)

  (E) trenchant criticism

  J. G. A. Pocock’s numerous investigations have all revolved around the fruitful assumption that a work of political thought can only be understood in light of the linguistic constraints to which its author was subject, for these prescribed both the choice of subject matter and the author’s conceptualization of this subject matter. Only the occasional epic theorist, like Machiavelli or Hobbes, succeeded in breaking out of these bonds by redefining old terms and inventing new ones. The task of the modern commentator is to identify the “language” or “vocabulary” with and within which the author operated. While historians of literature have always been aware that writers work within particular traditions, the application of this notion to the history of political ideas forms a sharp contrast to the assumptions of the 1950s, when it was naively thought that the close reading of a text by an analytic philosopher was sufficient to establish its meaning, even if the philosopher had no knowledge of the period of the text’s composition.

  The language Pocock has most closely investigated is that of “civic humanism.” For much of his career he has argued that eighteenth-century English political thought should be interpreted as a conflict between rival versions of the “virtue” central to civic humanism. On the one hand, he argues, this virtue is described by representatives of the Tory (a member or supporter of a major British political group of the 18th and early 19th centuries favoring at first the Stuarts and later royal authority and the established church and seeking to preserve the traditional political structure and defeat parliamentary reform compare WHIG) opposition using a vocabulary of public spirit (public spirit: n. 公益心,公德心,热心公益的精神) and self-sufficiency. For these writers the societal ideal is the small, independent landowner in the countryside. On the other hand, Whig (a member or supporter of a major British political group of the late 17th through early 19th centuries seeking to limit the royal authority and increase parliamentary power compare TORY) writers describe such virtue using a vocabulary of commerce and economic progress; for them the ideal is the merchant.

  In making such linguistic discriminations Pocock has disassociated himself from historians like Namier, who deride all eighteenth-century English political language as “cant.” But while Pocock’s ideas have proved fertile when applied to England, they are more controversial when applied to the late-eighteenth-century United States. Pocock’s assertion that Jefferson’s attacks on the commercial policies of the Federalists simply echo the language of the Tory opposition in England is at odds with the fact that Jefferson rejected the elitist implications of that group’s notion of virtue and asserted the right of all to participate in commercial society. Indeed, after promptings by Quentin Skinner, Pocock has admitted that a counterlanguage—one of rights and liberties—was probably as important in the political discourse of the late-eighteenth-century United States as the language of civic humanism. Fortunately, it is not necessary to rank the relative importance of all the different vocabularies in which eighteenth-century political argument was conducted. It is sufficient to recognize that any interesting text is probably a mixture of several of these vocabularies, and to applaud the historian who, though guilty of some exaggeration, has done the most to make us aware of their importance.

  16. The main idea of the passage is that

  (A) civic humanism, in any of its manifestations, cannot entirely explain eighteenth-century political discourse

  (B) eighteenth-century political texts are less likely to reflect a single vocabulary than to combine several vocabularies

  (C) Pocock’s linguistic approach, though not applicable to all eighteenth-century political texts, provides a useful model for historians of political theory

  (D) Pocock has more successfully accounted for the nature of political thought in eighteenth-century England than in the eighteenth-century United States(C)

  (E) Pocock’s notion of the importance of language in political texts is a logical extension of the insights of historians of literature

  17. According to the passage, Pocock most clearly associates the use of a vocabulary of economic progress with

  (A) Jefferson

  (B) Federalists

  (C) English Whigs

  (D) English Tories rural(C)

  (E) English landowners

  18. The author’s attitude toward Pocock is best revealed by which of the following pairs of words?

  (A) “fruitful” (line 2) and “cant” (line 39)

  (B) “sharp” (line 16) and “elitist” (line 46)

  (C) “naively” (line 17) and “controversial” (line 41)

  (D) “fertile” (line 40) and “applaud” (line 60)(D)

  (E) “simply” (line 44) and “importance” (line 55)

  19. The passage suggests that one of the “assumptions of the 1950s” (line 17) regarding the meaning of a political text was that this meaning

  (A) could be established using an approach similar to that used by literary historians

  (B) could be definitively established without reference to the text’s historical background

  (C) could be closely read in several different ways depending on one’s philosophic approach

  (D) was constrained by certain linguistic preconceptions held by the text’s author(B)

  (E) could be expressed most clearly by an analytic philosopher who had studied its historical context

  20. The author of the passage would most likely agree that which one of the following is a weakness found in Pocock’s work?

  (A) the use of the term “language” to describe the expressive features of several diverse kinds of discourse

  (B) the overemphatic denigration of the role of the analytic philosopher in establishing the meaning of a political, or indeed any, text

  (C) the emphasis on the overriding importance of civic humanism in eighteenth-century English political thought

  (D) the insistence on a single linguistic dichotomy to account for political thought in eighteenth-century England and the United States(D)

  (E) the assignment of certain vocabularies to particular parties in eighteenth-century England without taking note of how these vocabularies overlapped

  21. Which one of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

  (A) A description of a thesis is offered, specific cases are considered, and an evaluation is given.

  (B) A thesis is brought forward, the thesis is qualified, and evidence that calls the qualification into question is stated.

  (C) A hypothesis is described, examples that suggest it is incorrect are summarized, and supporting examples are offered.

  (D) A series of evaluations are given, concrete reasons are put forward, and a future direction for research is suggested.(A)

  (E) Comparisons and contrasts are made, some categories of evaluation are suggested, and a framework for applying these categories is implied.

  In 1964 the United States federal government began attempts to eliminate racial discrimination in employment and wages: the United States Congress enacted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, prohibiting employers from making employment decisions on the basis of race. In 1965 President Johnson issued Executive Order 11,246, which prohibited discrimination by United States government contractors and emphasized direct monitoring of minority representation in contractors’ work forces.

  Nonetheless, proponents of the “continuous change” hypothesis believe that United States federal law had a marginal impact on the economic progress made by black people in the United States between 1940 and 1975. Instead they emphasize slowly evolving historical forces, such as long-term trends in education that improved segregated schools for black students during the 1940s and were operative during and after the 1960s. They argue that as the quality of black schools improved relative to that of white schools, the earning potential of those attending black schools increased relative to the earning potential of those attending white schools.

  However, there is no direct evidence linking increased quality of underfunded segregated black schools to these improvements in earning potential. In fact, even the evidence on relative schooling quality is ambiguous. Although in the mid-1940s term length at black schools was approaching that in white schools, the rapid growth in another important measure of school quality, school expenditures, may be explained by increases in teachers’ salaries, and historically, such increases have not necessarily increased school quality. Finally, black individuals in all age groups, even those who had been educated at segregated schools before the 1940s, experienced post-1960 increases in their earning potential. If improvements in the quality of schooling were an important determinant of increased returns, only those workers who could have benefited from enhanced school quality should have received higher returns. The relative improvement in the earning potential of educated black people of all age groups in the United States is more consistent with a decline in employment discrimination.

  An additional problem for continuity theorists is how to explain the rapid acceleration of black economic progress in the United States after 1964. Education alone cannot account for the rate of change. Rather, the coincidence of increased United States government antidiscrimination pressure in the mid-1960s with the acceleration in the rate of black economic progress beginning in 1965 argues against the continuity theorists’ view. True, correlating federal intervention and the acceleration of black economic progress might be incorrect. One could argue that changing altitudes about employment discrimination sparked both the adoption of new federal policies and the rapid acceleration in black economic progress. Indeed, the shift in national attitude that made possible the enactment of Title VII was in part produced by the persistence of racial discrimination in the southern United States. However, the fact that the law had its greatest effect in the South, in spite of the vigorous resistance of many Southern leaders, suggests its importance for black economic progress.

  22. According to the passage, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act differs from Executive Order 11. 246 in that Title VII

  (A) monitors employers to ensure minority representation

  (B) assesses the work forces of government contractors

  (C) eliminates discriminatory disparities in wages

  (D) focuses on determining minority representation in government(E)

  (E) governs hiring practices in a wider variety of workplaces

  23. Which one of the following statements about schooling in the United States during the mid-1940s can be inferred from the passage?

  (A) School expenditures decreased for white schools.

  (B) The teachers in white schools had more time to cover material during a school year than did teachers in black schools.

  (C) The basic curriculum of white schools was similar to the curriculum at black schools.

  (D) White schools did not change substantially in quality.(B)

  (E) Although the salaries of teachers in black schools increased, they did not keep pace with the salaries of teachers in white schools.

  24. The primary purpose of the passage is to

  (A) explain why an argument about black economic progress is incomplete

  (B) describe the impact of education on black economic progress

  (C) refute an argument about the factors influencing black economic progress

  (D) describe black economic progress before and after the 1960s(C)

  (E) clarify the current view about the factors influencing black economic progress

  25. Which one of the following best states the position of proponents of the “continuous change” hypothesis regarding the relationship between law and racial discrimination?

  (A) Individuals cannot be forced by legal means to behave in nondiscriminatory ways.

  (B) Discriminatory practices in education have been effectively altered by legal means.

  (C) Legislation alone has had little effect on racially discriminatory behavior.

  (D) Legislation is necessary, but not sufficient, to achieve changes in racial altitudes.(C)

  (E) Legislation can only exacerbate conflicts about racially discriminatory behavior.

  26. The author concedes that “correlating federal intervention and the acceleration of black economic progress might be incorrect” (lines 58-60) primarily in order to

  (A) strengthen the overall argument by anticipating an objection

  (B) introduce another factor that may have influenced black economic progress

  (C) concede a point to the continuity theorists

  (D) change the overall argument in light of the views of the continuity theorists(A)

  (E) introduce a discussion about the impact of federal intervention on discrimination

  27. The “continuous change” hypothesis, as it is presented in the passage, can best be applied to which one of the following situations?(强调的是长期的因素,只有D是,其它的都是短期的,临时性的。)

  (A) Homes are found for many low-income families because the government funds a project to build subsidized housing in an economically depressed area.

  (B) A depressed economy does not cause the closing of small businesses in a local community because the government provides special grants to aid these businesses.

  (C) Unemployed people are able to obtain jobs because private contractors receive tax incentives for constructing office buildings in an area with a high unemployment rate.

  (D) A housing shortage is remedied because the changing state of the economy permits private investors to finance construction in a depressed area.(D)

  (E) A community’s sanitation needs are met because neighborhood organizations lobby aggressively for government assistance.

 

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