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  3. The beginning of what was to become the United States was characterized by inconsistencies in the values and behavior of its pop

The beginning of what was to become the United States was characterized by inconsistencies in the values and behavior of its pop

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问题    The beginning of what was to become the United States was characterized by inconsistencies in the values and behavior of its population, inconsistencies that were reflected by its spokesmen, who took conflicting stances in many areas; but on the subject of race, the conflicts were particularly vivid. The idea that the Caucasian(白种人) race and European civilization were superior was well entrenched in the culture of the colonists at the very time that the "egalitarian" (主张平等的) republic was founded. Voluminous historical evidence indicates that, in the mind of the average colonist, the African was a heathen, he was black, and he was different in crucial philosophical ways.  As time progressed, he was also increasingly captive, adding to the conception of deviance. The African, therefore, could be justifiably (and even philanthropically) treated as property according to the reasoning of slave trader and slave-holders.
   Although slaves were treated as Objects, bountiful evidence suggests that they did not view themselves similarly. There are many published autobiographies of salves; Afro-American scholars are beginning to know enough about West African culture to appreciate the existential climate in which the early captives were raised and which therefore could not be totally destroyed by the enslavement experience. This was a climate that defined individuality in collective terms. Individuals were members of a tribe, within which they had prescribed roles determined by the history of their family within the tribe. Individuals were inherently a part of the natural elements on which they depended, and they were actively related to those tribal members who once lived and to those not yet born.
   The colonial plantation system, which was established and into which Africans were thrust did virtually eliminate tribal affiliations. Individuals were separated from kin: interrelationships among kin kept together were often transient because of sales. A new identification with those slaves working and living together in a given place could satisfy what was undoubtedly a natural tendency to be a member of a group. New family units became the most important attachments of individual slaves. Thus, as the system of slavery was gradually institutionalized, West African affiliation tendencies adapted to it.
   This exceedingly complex dual influence is still reflected in black community life, and the double consciousness of black Americans is the major characteristic of Afro-American mentality. DuBois articulated this divided consciousness as follows:
   The history the American Negro is the history of this strife--this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging, he wishes neither of the older selves to be best...
   Several black political movements have looked upon this duality as destructively conflictual and have variously urged its reconciliation. Thus, the integrationists and the black nationalists, to be crudely general, have both been concerned with resolving the conflict, but in opposite directions.
Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the passage?
选项 A、The history of Black People in the United States.
B、West African Tribal Relations.
C、The Origin of Modern Afro-American Consciousness.
D、Slavery: A Democratic Anomaly.
答案C
解析 主旨题，C的标题最合适。文章将白种人对待黑人的态度和黑人对待自己的态度加以对照，然后表达了文化历史的矛盾在现代美国黑人身上的体现。A的内容太广泛了。文章的内容不可能包含整个美国历史，所以是错的。B的内容则是太狭义了。文章尽管提及非洲黑人的清苦，但这不是该文的主题。D也是错的，因为文章不是主要讲slavery和democracy之间的关系。
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