新GRE中短篇阅读真题精选
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Passage 1
A divide between aesthetic and technical considerations has played a crucial role in mapmaking and cartographic scholarship. Since nineteenth century cartographers, for instance, understood themselves as technicians who did not care about visual effects, while others saw themselves as landscape painters. That dichotomy structured the discipline of the history of cartography. Until the 1980s, in what Blakemore and Harley called “the Old is Beautiful Paradigm,” scholars largely focused on maps made before 1800, marveling at their beauty and sometimes regretting the decline of the pre-technical age. Early mapmaking was considered art while modern cartography was located within the realm of engineering utility. Alpers, however, has argued that this boundary would have puzzled mapmakers in the seventeenth century, because they considered themselves to be visual engineers.
1. According to the passage, Alpers would say that the assumptions underlying the “paradigm” were
A. inconsistent with the way some mapmakers prior to 1800 understand their own work
B. dependent on a seventeenth-century conception of mapmaking visual engineering
C. unconcerned with the difference between the aesthetic and technical questions of mapmaking
D. insensitive to divisions among cartographers working in the period after 1800
E. supported by the demonstrable technical superiority of mapmaking made after 1800
2. It can be inferred from the passage that, beginning in the 1980s, historians of cartography
A. placed greater emphasis on the beauty of maps made after 1800
B. expanded their range of study to include more material created after 1800
C. grew more sensitive to the way mapmakers prior to 1800 conceived of their work
D. came to see the visual details of maps as aesthetic objects rather than practical cartographic aids
E. reduced the attention they paid to the technical aspects of mapmaking
答案：A B
Passage 2
Some researchers claim that cetaceans—whales and dolphins—have culture, which the researchers define as the ability to learn from one another. Skeptics, however, demand clear evidence that cetaceans can acquire new behaviors through some form of social learning, preferably clear-cut instances of imitation or teaching. But such evidence is difficult to obtain. While few people doubt that captive cetaceans are adept at imitation or that they reproduce behaviors taught by researchers, biologists seeking insight into cetaceans’ behavior in their natural habitats must rely on deduction rather than experiments. If members of a particular group share behaviors that do not result from genetic inheritance or environmental variation, then they have almost certainly learned them by watching, following, or listening to other animals.
1. Which of the following best describe the function of the highlighted sentence?
A. It identifies a factor that complicates biologists’ ability to draw conclusions about the behavior of cetaceans in their natural environments.
B. It illustrates the kind of deduction mentioned in the preceding sentence.
C. It explains why skeptics have remained unpersuaded by evidence that has been put forward in support of the claim that cetaceans have culture.
D. It introduces a claim that would be dismissed by both supporters and opponents of the view that cetaceans have culture.
E. It notes a previously overlooked factor that might shed light on the question of whether cetaceans have culture.
2. The passage suggests which of the following about captive cetaceans?
A. Whether they are engaged in social learning is a subject of disagreement among biologists.
B. Their ability to imitate new behaviors is more extensive than that of noncaptive cetaceans.
C. They exhibit few behaviors that have not also been observed in cetaceans in their natural habitats.
D. They appear to adopt new behaviors more quickly than noncaptive cetaceans.
E. They exhibit tendencies that suggest a capacity for the kind of behavior that qualifies as cultural.
答案：B E
Passage 3
Analyzing levels of proportional representation of American Indians in state and local government jobs is important for several reasons. First, the basic idea underlying the theory of representative bureaucracy is that the demographic composition of bureaucracy should mirror the demographic composition of the general public. This is because in addition to its symbolic value, increased access to managerial position may lead to greater responsiveness on the part of policy makers to the policy interests of traditionally disadvantaged groups such as American Indians. Second, the focus on higher level jobs in bureaucracies (as opposed to non-managerial positions) is especially important because managerial positions represent a major source of economic progress for members of traditionally disadvantaged groups, as these jobs confer good salaries, benefits, status, security, and mobility. Third, it is important to know if there has been growth in the American Indian share of more desirable public sector positions over the last two decades. For instance, Peterson and Duncan argue that the population and power of American Indians have been growing in certain states. Peterson and Duncan also suggest that this growth may reflect the possibility that American Indian population are becoming more active in nontraditional areas of politics, assimilating into mainstream culture, and securing with greater frequency leadership positions in non-tribal government.