The most thoroughly studied intellectuals in the history of the New World are the ministers and political leaders of seventeenth

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问题     The most thoroughly studied intellectuals in the history of the New World are the ministers and political leaders of seventeenth-century New England. According to the standard history of American philosophy, nowhere else in colonial America was "So much importance attached to intellectual pursuits." According to many books and articles, New England’s leaders established the basic themes and preoccupations of an unfolding, dominant Puritan tradition in American intellectual life.
    To take this approach to the New Englanders normally mean to start with the Puritans’ theological innovations and their distinctive ideas about the church—important subjects that we may not neglect. But in keeping with our examination of southern intellectual life, we may consider the original Puritans as carriers of European culture, adjusting to New world circumstances. The New England colonies were the scenes of important episodes in the pursuit of widely understood ideals of civility and virtuosity.
    The early settlers of Massachusetts Bay included men of impressive education and influence in England. Besides the ninety or so learned ministers who came to Massachusetts churches in the decade after 1629, there were political leaders like John Winthrop, an educated gentleman, lawyer, and official of the Crown before he journeyed to Boston. These men wrote and published extensively, reaching both New World and Old World audiences, and giving New England an atmosphere of intellectual earnestness.
    We should not forget, however, that most New Englanders were less well educated. While few craftsmen or farmers, let alone dependents and servants, left literary compositions to be analyzed, it is obvious that their views were less fully intellectualized. Their thinking often had a traditional superstitious quality. A tailor named John Dane, who emigrated in the late 1630s, left an account of his reasons for leaving England that is filled with signs. Sexual confusion, economic frustrations, and religious hope—all came together in a decisive moment when he opened the Bible, told his father the first line he saw would settle his fate, and read the magical words: "come out from among them, touch no unclean thing, and I will be your God and you shall be my people." One wonders what Dane thought of the careful sermons explaining the Bible that he heard in puritan churches.
    Meanwhile, many settles had slighter religious commitments than Dane’s, as one clergyman learned in confronting folk along the coast who mocked that they had not come to the New world for religion. "Our main end was to catch fish."
The text suggests that early settlers in New England

选项 A、were mostly engaged in political activities.
B、were motivated by an illusory prospect.
C、came from different backgrounds.
D、left few formal records for later reference.

答案C

解析 推断题。第三段首句提到,马萨诸塞湾的早期移民中包括在英国受过良好教育并具有相当影响力的人;第四段第一句和第三句提到,大多数新英格兰人并未受过良好的教育,他们的思想常常带有传统的宗教迷信色彩;第五段首句提到,还有很多移民没有虔诚的宗教信仰。因此可推知C项正确,intellectual backgrounds是对文中提到的教育、宗教背景的概括。A项“政治活动”在文中没有涉及。第二、三段提到早期移民被视为欧洲文化的使者,他们中包括著书广泛、具有相当影响力的人。因此排除B项和D项。
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