2. 考研
  3. Whenever two or more unusual traits or situations are found in the same place, it is tempting to look for more than a coincident

Whenever two or more unusual traits or situations are found in the same place, it is tempting to look for more than a coincident

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问题     Whenever two or more unusual traits or situations are found in the same place, it is tempting to look for more than a coincidental relationship between them. The high Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau certainly have extraordinary physical characteristics and the cultures which are found there are also unusual, though not unique. However there is no intention of adopting Montesquieu’s view of climate and soil as cultural determinants. The ecology of a region merely poses some of the problems faced by the inhabitants of the region, and while the problems facing a culture are important to its development, they do not determine it.
    The appearance of the Himalayas during the late Tertiary Period and the accompanying further raising of the previously established rages had a marked effect on the climate of the region. Primarily, of course, it blocked the Indian monsoon from reaching Central Asia at all. Secondarily, air and moisture from other directions were also reduced.
    Prior to the raising of the Himalayas, the land now forming the Tibetan uplands had a dry, continental climate with vegetation and animal life similar to that of much of the rest of the region on the same parallel, but somewhat different from that of the areas farther north, which were already drier. With the coming of the Himalayas and the relatively sudden drying out of the region, there was a severe thinning out of the animal and plant population. The ensuing incomplete Pleistocene glaciations had a further thinning effect, but significantly did not wipe out life in the area. Thus after the end of the glaciation there were only a few varieties of life extant from the original continental species. Isolated by the Kunlun range from the Tarim basin and Turf an depression, species which had already adapted to the dry steppe climate, and would otherwise have been expected to flourish in Tibetan, the remaining native fauna and flora multiplied. Armand describes the Tibetan fauna as not having great variety, but being "striking" in the abundance of the particular species that are present. The plant life is similarly limited in variety, with some observers finding no more than seventy varieties of plants in even the relatively fertile Eastern Tibetan valleys, with fewer than ten food crops. Tibetan "tea" is a major staple, perhaps replacing the unavailable vegetables.
    The difficulties of living in an environment at once dry and cold, and populated with species more usually found in more hospitable climates, are great. These difficulties may well have influenced the unusual polyandrous societies typical of the region. Lattimore sees the maintenance of multiple-husband households as being preserved from earlier forms by the harsh conditions of the Tibetan uplands, which permitted no experimentation and "froze" the cultures which came there. Kawakita, on the other hand, sees the polyandry as a way of easily permitting the best householder to become the head husband regardless of age. His detailed studies of the Bhotea village of Tsumje do seem to support this idea of polyandry as a method of talent mobility is a situation where even the best talent is barely enough for survival.
    In sum, though arguments can be made that a pre-existing polyandrous system was strengthened and preserved (insofar as it has been) by the rigors of the land, it would certainly be an overstatement to lay causative factors of any stronger nature to the ecological influences in this case.
The purpose of the passage is to________.
选项 A、analyze the possible causal links between Tibetan ecology and society
B、describe the social organization of typical Tibetan villages
C、describe Tibetan fauna and flora
D、analyze the mysteries of the sudden appearance of the Himalayas
答案A
解析 主旨大意题。第一段指出，一个地区的生态会给该地区居民带来一些问题，这些问题对该地区的发展很重要，但并不能决定该地区的发展；第二到四段阐述了西藏生态和社会的特点以及出现这些特点的原因；最后一段指出，把影响西藏社会结构的决定因素归因于生态问题实际上是夸大其词。由此可知，文章旨在分析西藏生态和社会之间可能存在的因果关系，故答案为A项。B项和C项是西藏高原的特点，第二、三段提到了喜马拉雅山脉，但只是为了表述西藏的气候和生态，故排除此三项。
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