GMAT考试阅读资料(三)b
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Passage 16
  In 1896 a Georgia couple suing for damages in theaccidental death of their two year old was told that sincethe child had made no real economic contribution to thefamily, there was no liability for damages. In contrast,(5) less than a century later, in 1979, the parents of a threeyear old sued in New York for accidental-death damagesand won an award of $750,000.
  The transformation1 in social values implicit2 in juxta-posing these two incidents is the subject of Viviana(10) Zelizer‘s excellent book, Pricing the Priceless Child.During the nineteenth century, she argues, the conceptof the “useful” child who contributed to the familyeconomy gave way gradually to the present-day notionof the “useless” child who, though producing no income(15) for, and indeed extremely costly3 to, its parents, is yetconsidered emotionally “priceless.” Well establishedamong segments of the middle and upper classes by themid-1800’s, this new view of childhood spread through-out society in the iate-nineteenth and early-twentieth(20) centuries as reformers introduced child-labor4 regulationsand compulsory5 education laws predicated in part on theassumption that a child‘s emotional value made childlabor taboo6.
  For Zelizer the origins of this transformation were(25) many and complex. The gradual erosion of children‘sproductive value in a maturing industrial economy,the decline in birth and death rates, especially in childmortality, and the development of the companionatefamily (a family in which members were united by(30) explicit7 bonds of love rather than duty) were all factorscritical in changing the assessment8 of children’s worth.Yet “expulsion of children from the ‘cash nexus,’……although clearly shaped by profound changes in theeconomic, occupational, and family structures,” Zelizer(35) maintains. “was also part of a cultural process ‘of sacral-ization’ of children‘s lives. ” Protecting children from thecrass business world became enormously important forlate-nineteenth-century middle-class Americans, shesuggests; this sacralization was a way of resisting what(40) they perceived as the relentless9 corruption10 of humanvalues by the marketplace.
  In stressing the cultural determinants of a child‘sworth. Zelizer takes issue with practitioners11 of the new“sociological economics,” who have analyzed12 such tradi-(45) tionally sociological topics as crime, marriage, educa-tion, and health solely13 in terms of their economic deter-minants. Allowing only a small role for cultural forcesin the form of individual “preferences,” these sociologiststend to view all human behavior as directed primarily by(50) the principle of maximizing economic gain. Zelizer ishighly critical of this approach, and emphasizes insteadthe opposite phenomenon: the power of social values totransform price. As children became more valuable inemotional terms, she argues, their “exchange” or “ sur-(55) render” value on the market, that is, the conversion14 oftheir intangible worth into cash terms, became muchgreater.

  1. It can be inferred from the passage that accidental-death damage awards in America during the nineteenth century tended to be based principally on the
   (A) earnings15 of the person at time of death
   (B) wealth of the party causing the death
   (C) degree of culpability16 of the party causing the death
   (D) amount of money that had been spent on the person killed
   (E) amount of suffering endured by the family of the person killed

  2. It can be inferred from the passage that in the early 1800‘s children were generally regarded by their families as individuals who
   (A) needed enormous amounts of security and affection
   (B) required constant supervision17 while working
   (C) were important to the economic well-being18 of a family
   (D) were unsuited to spending long hours in school
   (E) were financial burdens assumed for the good of society

  3. which of the following alternative explanations of the change in the cash value of children would be most likely to be put forward by sociological economists19 as they are described in the passage?
   (A) The cash value of children rose during the nineteenth century because parents began to increase their emotional investment in the upbringing of their children.
   (B) The cash value of children rose during the nineteenth century because their expected earnings over the course of a lifetime increased greatly.
   (C) The cash value of children rose during the nineteenth century because the spread of humanitarian20 ideals resulted in a wholesale21 reappraisal of the worth of an individual
   (D) The cash value of children rose during the nineteenth century because compulsory education laws reduced the supply, and thus raised the costs,of available child labor.
   (E) The cash value of children rose during the nineteenth century because of changes in the way negligence22 law assessed damages in accidental-death cases.

  4. The primary purpose of the passage is to
   (A) review the literature in a new academic subfield
   (B) present the central thesis of a recent book
   (C) contrast two approaches to analyzing23 historical change
   (D) refute a traditional explanation of a social phenomenon
   (E) encourage further work on a neglected historical topic

  5. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following statements was true of American families over the course of the nineteenth century?
   (A) The average size of families grew considerably24
   (B) The percentage of families involved in industrial work declined dramatically.
   (C) Family members became more emotionally bonded25 to one another.
   (D) Family members spent an increasing amount of time working with each other.
   (E) Family members became more economically dependent on each other.

  6. Zelizer refers to all of the following as important influences in changing the assessment of children‘s worth EXCEPT changes in
   (A) the mortality rate
   (B) the nature of industry
   (C) the nature of the family
   (D) attitudes toward reform movements
   (E) attitudes toward the marketplace

  7.Which of the following would be most consistent with the practices of sociological economics as these practices are described in the passage?
   (A) Arguing that most health-care professionals enter the field because they believe it to be the most socially useful of any occupation
   (B) Arguing that most college students choose majors that they believe will lead to the most highly paid jobs available to them
   (C) Arguing that most decisions about marriage and divorce are based on rational assessments of the likelihood that each partner will remain committed to the relationship
   (D) Analyzing changes in the number of people enrolled in colleges and universities as a function of changes in the economic health of these institutions 
   (E) Analyzing changes in the ages at which people get married as a function of a change in the average number of years that young people have lived away from their parents



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1 transformation SnFwO     
n.变化;改造;转变
参考例句:
  • Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
  • He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。
2 implicit lkhyn     
a.暗示的,含蓄的,不明晰的,绝对的
参考例句:
  • A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
  • Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。
3 costly 7zXxh     
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
参考例句:
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。
4 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
5 compulsory 5pVzu     
n.强制的,必修的;规定的,义务的
参考例句:
  • Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗?
  • Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。
6 taboo aqBwg     
n.禁忌,禁止接近,禁止使用;adj.禁忌的;v.禁忌,禁制,禁止
参考例句:
  • The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
  • Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里,婚前的性行为犯禁吗?
7 explicit IhFzc     
adj.详述的,明确的;坦率的;显然的
参考例句:
  • She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
  • He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。
8 assessment vO7yu     
n.评价;评估;对财产的估价,被估定的金额
参考例句:
  • This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
  • What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何?
9 relentless VBjzv     
adj.残酷的,不留情的,无怜悯心的
参考例句:
  • The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
  • Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。
10 corruption TzCxn     
n.腐败,堕落,贪污
参考例句:
  • The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
  • The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。
11 practitioners 4f6cea6bb06753de69fd05e8adbf90a8     
n.习艺者,实习者( practitioner的名词复数 );从业者(尤指医师)
参考例句:
  • one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
  • The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的,但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句
12 analyzed 483f1acae53789fbee273a644fdcda80     
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析
参考例句:
  • The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程,因为对他来说,爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 solely FwGwe     
adv.仅仅,唯一地
参考例句:
  • Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
  • The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。
14 conversion UZPyI     
n.转化,转换,转变
参考例句:
  • He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
  • Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。
15 earnings rrWxJ     
n.工资收人;利润,利益,所得
参考例句:
  • That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
  • Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。
16 culpability e7529dc2faf94dc34775af32bfdda275     
n.苛责,有罪
参考例句:
  • As if the estrangement between them had come of any culpability of hers. 姐弟俩疏远的责任竟仿佛落到了她的身上! 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
  • The offence, as now defined in English law, covers a wide spectrum of culpability. 英国法律规定,违法包括很多种过失行为。 来自互联网
17 supervision hr6wv     
n.监督,管理
参考例句:
  • The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
  • The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。
18 well-being Fe3zbn     
n.安康,安乐,幸福
参考例句:
  • He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
  • My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福,却被误解为多管闲事。
19 economists 2ba0a36f92d9c37ef31cc751bca1a748     
n.经济学家,经济专家( economist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
  • Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 humanitarian kcoxQ     
n.人道主义者,博爱者,基督凡人论者
参考例句:
  • She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业,并作了很大的贡献。
  • The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。
21 wholesale Ig9wL     
n.批发;adv.以批发方式;vt.批发,成批出售
参考例句:
  • The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物,以零售价卖出。
  • Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。
22 negligence IjQyI     
n.疏忽,玩忽,粗心大意
参考例句:
  • They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
  • The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。
23 analyzing be408cc8d92ec310bb6260bc127c162b     
v.分析;分析( analyze的现在分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析n.分析
参考例句:
  • Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据,暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
  • He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然,他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句
24 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上
参考例句:
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
25 bonded 2xpzkP     
n.有担保的,保税的,粘合的
参考例句:
  • The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee.威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
  • This adhesive must be applied to both surfaces which are to be bonded together.要粘接的两个面都必须涂上这种黏合剂。
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