[求助]大全81

三脚猫

Passage 81 (18/22)

For over 300 years, one of the most enduring beliefs among historians of England has been that the character of English society has been shaped by the unique openness of its ruling elite to entry by self-made entrepreneurs (especially newly wealthy merchants) able to buy their way into the ranks of elite society. This upward mobility (upward mobility: 上进心, 向上倾向), historians have argued, allowed England to escape the clash between those with social/political power and those with economic power, a conflict that beset the rest of Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Upward mobility was also used to explain England’s exceptional stability since the late seventeenth century (no revolutions, for example), as well as such major events as the development of the most efficient agricultural system in Europe, the making of the first industrial revolution, and the onset of severe economic decline.

But is the thesis true? Recent work on the supposed consequences of an open elite has already produced some doubts. Little credence, for example, is now accorded the idea that England’s late nineteenth-century economic decline resulted from absentee business owners too distracted by the demands of elite life to manage their firms properly. But, although the importance of an open elite to other major events has been severely questioned, it is only with a new work by Lawrence and Jeanne Stone that the openness itself has been confronted. Eschewing the tack (An approach, especially one of a series of changing approaches. 方法，方针一种方法，尤指一系列变化方法中的一种;a course or method of action; especially: one sharply divergent from that previously followed) of tracing the careers of successful entrepreneurs to gauge the openness of the elite, the Stones chose the alternative approach of analyzing the elite itself, and proceeded via the ingenious route of investigating country-house ownership.

Arguing that ownership of a country house was seen as essential for membership in the ruling elite, the Stones analyze the nature of country-house ownership in three counties for the period 1540-1880. Their critical findings are provocative: there was strikingly little change in the ownership of such houses throughout the period. Instead, even in the face of a demographic crisis (fewer marriages, declining fertility, rising infant mortality), the old elite was able to maintain itself, and its estates, intact for centuries through recourse to various marriage and inheritance strategies. The popular picture of venerable elite families overcome by debt and selling out to merchants is simply not borne out (bear out: v.证实) by the Stones’ findings. Rather, the opportunities for entrepreneurs to buy their way into the elite, the Stones show, were extremely limited. If further studies of country-house ownership attest to (attest to: v.证实, 证明) the representativeness and accuracy of their data, then the Stones’ conclusion that the open elite thesis cannot be maintained may, indeed, prove true.

3.     Traditional historians of England, as they are described in the passage, would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements regarding open elites?

(A) They develop more easily in agricultural rather than industrial societies.

(B) They develop in response to particular sets of economic conditions.

(C) They tend to unite some of the powerful groups in a society.

(D) They tend to reduce class distinctions based on income in a society.（B）

(E) They tend to insure adequate distribution of material goods in a society.

最近问题有点多，ＮＮ们别烦我啊

我根据allowed England to escape the clash between those with social/political power and those with economic power,选了Ｃ，但答案是Ｂ，从哪里可以看出来啊？？

wangyu73cn

For over 300 years, one of the most enduring beliefs among historians of England has been that the character of English society has been shaped by the unique openness of its ruling elite to entry by self-made entrepreneurs (especially newly wealthy merchants) able to buy their way into the ranks of elite society.
This upward mobility (upward mobility: 上进心, 向上倾向), historians have argued, allowed England to escape the clash between those with social/political power and those with economic power, a conflict that beset the rest of Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Upward mobility was also used to explain England’s exceptional stability since the late seventeenth century (no revolutions, for example), as well as such major events as the development of the most efficient agricultural system in Europe, the making of the first industrial revolution, and the onset of severe economic decline.

我考虑：

1、选项BThey develop in response to particular sets of economic conditions的意思是说，open elites相应于economic conditions的趋势(黑体部分所表示的这些经济现象)，或在economic conditions的背景条件下，而发展。B并不一定强调因为这些趋势，open elites才获得发展。而是表达其同时性。

2、C：They tend to unite some of the powerful groups in a society的意思是说，open elites倾向于团结社会有权势的人群。文章中只是说，open elites的这种晋升产生了消除政/社和经济势力之间矛盾的作用，而不是表达C的意思。C表达的是open elites的特点，而文章中没有说open elites的特性如何。

供参考，请指正。

三脚猫

open elites 让有些富有的商人buy their way into the ranks of elite society，由此减少了social/political power and those with economic power的冲突，这不就是Ｃ吗？

还是有点别扭，我再体会体会

wangyu73cn

再补充一下，open elites是指富人们进入上层社会而组成的精英们。

三脚猫

多谢，明白了，起码Ｂ比Ｃ更好

boGodhuan

为什么第二题选d？我选的是a

2.     The author suggests that
which of the following was true of most European elites during the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries?   

(A)
The ranks of these elites were generally closed to most business entrepreneurs.

(B)
The elites generally dominated industrial development.

(C)
Status within these elites was generally determined by the amount of land
owned.

(D)
These elites generally were able to maintain their power unchallenged.（D）

(E)
The power of these elites generally forestalled the development of a large
class of self-made entrepreneurs.

jimmyskean

同意wangyu的分析 思路最重要

boGodhuan

自己顶