Antonia Castaneda has utilized scholarship from women’s studies and Mexican-American history to examine nineteenth-century liter

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问题 Antonia Castaneda has utilized scholarship from women’s studies and Mexican-American history to examine nineteenth-century literary portrayals of Mexican women. As Castaneda notes, scholars of women’s history observe that in the United States, male novelists of the period—during which, according to these scholars, women’s traditional economic role in home-based agriculture was threatened by the transition to a factory-based industrial economy— define women solely in their domestic roles of wife and mother. Castaneda finds that during the same period that saw non-Hispanic women being economically displaced by industrialization, Hispanic law in territorial California protected the economic position of "Californianas" (the Mexican women of the territory) by ensuring them property rights and inheritance rights equal to those of males.
For Castaneda, the laws explain a stereotypical plot created primarily by male, non-Hispanic novelists: the story of an ambitious non-Hispanic merchant or trader desirous of marrying an elite Californiana. These novels’ favorable portrayal of such women is noteworthy, since Mexican-American historians have concluded that unflattering literary depictions of Mexicans were vital in rallying the United States public’s support for the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). The importance of economic alliances forged through marriages with Californianas explains this apparent contradiction. Because of their real-life economic significance, the Californianas were portrayed more favorably than were others of the same nationality.
Which of the following, if true, would provide the most support for Castaneda’s explanation of the "stereotypical plot" mentioned in the lines 18-19?

选项 A、Non-Hispanic traders found business more profitable in California while it was a territory than when it became a state.
B、Very few marriages between Hispanic women and non-Hispanic men in nineteenth-century territorial California have actually been documented.
C、Records from the nineteenth century indicate that some large and valuable properties were owned by elite Californianas in their own right.
D、Unmarried non-Hispanic women in the nineteenth-century United States were sometimes able to control property in their own right.
E、Most of the property in nineteenth-century territorial California was controlled by Hispanic men.

答案C

解析 Evaluation
Castaneda explains the stereotypical plot of a non-Hispanic merchant seeking to marry an elite Californiana based on economics: these women had property and inheritance rights equal to men. Novelists based their plots on the women’s real-life economic power, which resulted in men’s wishing to build economic alliances with them. Supporting this explanation requires supporting these economic ideas in some way.
A The profitability of non-Hispanic traders’ business is not an issue in Castaneda’s explanation; thus the change described has no significant relevance to that explanation.
B The lack of the type of documentation described, rather than providing support for Castaneda’s explanation, signifies a deficit in documentary support for that explanation.
C Correct. If elite Californianas did in fact own valuable properties, Castaneda’s economic explanation gains force. The women did have the real economic significance upon which Castaneda suggests the novelists drew.
D If it were true that some non-Hispanic women controlled property in this way, Castaneda’s explanation of Californianas’ uniqueness would be somewhat undermined.
E If most of the property in nineteenth-century territorial California was controlled by Hispanic men, that suggests that Californianas were less likely to possess the kind of economic power described in Castaneda’s argument.
The correct answer is C.
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