XDF blue cover－P33－Q2/Q4 Frontier Thesis

Jeanwell

The settlement of the United States has occupied　traditional historians since 1893 when Frederick Jackson　Turner developed his Frontier Thesis， a thesis that　explained American development in terms of westward（5） expansion. From the perspective of women‘s history，　Turner’s exclusively masculine assumptions constitute a　major drawback： his defenders and critics alike have　reconstructed men‘s， not women’s， lives on the frontier.　However， precisely because of this masculine orientation，（10）revising the Frontier Thesis by focusing on women‘s　experience introduces new themes into women’s　history-woman as lawmaker and entrepreneur-and，　consequently， new interpretations of women‘s relation-　ship to capital， labor， and statute.
　　（15）Turner claimed that the frontier produced the indivi-dualism that is the hallmark of American culture， and　that this individualism in turn promoted democratic　institutions and economic equality. He argued for the　frontier as an agent of social change. Most novelists and（20） historians writing in the early to midtwentieth century　who considered women in the West， when they consid-　ered women at all， fell under Turner‘s spell. In their　works these authors tended to glorify women’s contribu-　tions to frontier life. Western women， in Turnerian tradi-（25） tion， were a fiercely independent， capable， and durable　lot， free from the constraints binding their eastern sisters.　This interpretation implied that the West provided a　congenial environment where women could aspire to　their own goals， free from constrictive stereotypes and（30） sexist attitudes. In Turnerian terminology， the frontier　had furnished “a gate of escape from the bondage of the　past.”
　　By the middle of the twentieth century， the Frontier Thesis fell into disfavor among historians. Later， Reac-（35） tionist writers took the view that frontier women were　 lonely， displaced persons in a hostile milieu that intensi-　 fied the worst aspects of gender relations. The renais-　 sance of the feminist movement during the 1970‘s led to　 the Stasist school， which sidestepped the good bad（40） dichotomy and argued that frontier women lived lives　similar to the live of women in the East. In one now-　standard text， Faragher demonstrated the persistence of　the “cult of true womanhood” and the illusionary qual-　ity of change on the westward journey. Recently the（45） Stasist position has been revised but not entirely　 discounted by new research.
2. Which of the following can be inferred about the novelists and historians mentioned in lines 19-20？
　　　（A） They misunderstood the powerful influence of constrictive stereotypes on women in the East.
　　　（B） They assumed that the frontier had offered more opportunities to women than had the East.
　　　（C） They included accurate information about women‘s experiences on the frontier.
　　　（D） They underestimated the endurance and fortitude of frontier women.
　　　（E） They agreed with some of Turner‘s assumptions about frontier women， but disagreed with other assumptions that he made.
B从文中怎么看出有对比东西方女性？
4. According to the passage， Turner makes which of the　following connections in his Frontier Thesis？
　　Ⅰ. A connection between American individualism andeconomic equality
　　Ⅱ. A connection between geographical expansion andsocial change
　　Ⅲ. A connection between social change and financialprosperity
　　　（A） I only
　　　（B） Ⅱonly
　　　（C） Ⅲ only
　　　（D） Ⅰand Ⅱ only
　　　（E） Ⅰ，Ⅱ and Ⅲ
ⅡWHY?

Jeanwell

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2. In their　works these authors tended to glorify women’s contribu-　tions to frontier life. Western women， in Turnerian tradi-（25） tion， were a fiercely independent， capable， and durable　lot， free from the constraints binding their eastern sisters. 以及free from the constraints binding their eastern sisters. 文中给的这些信息是认为这些学者支持Frederick Jackson　的观点，认为西方的好~~因为是推断题，就可以认为推出西方比东方的好。

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4. geographical expansion 指的是“westward expansion”，“He argued for the　frontier as an agent of social change” 可以推出