Among many historians a belief persists that Cotton Mather’s biographies of some of the settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

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问题     Among many historians a belief persists that Cotton Mather’s biographies of some of the settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (published 1702) are exercises in hagiography, endowing their subjects with saintly piety at the expense of historical accuracy. Yet modern studies have profited both from the breadth of information that Mather provides—in, for example, his discussions of colonial medicine—and from his critical observations of such leading figures as Governor John Winthrop. Mather’s wry humor as demonstrated by his detailed descriptions of events such as Winthrop’s efforts to prevent wood-stealing is overlooked by those charging Mather with presenting his subjects as extremely pious. The charge also obscures Mather’s concern with the settlers’ material, not just spiritual, prosperity. Further, this pejorative view underrates the biographies value as chronicles: Mather amassed all sorts of published and unpublished documents as sources, and his selection of key events shows a marked sensitivity to the nature of the colony’s development.
The primary purpose of the passage is to

选项 A、argue against a theory universally accepted by historical researchers
B、call attention to an unusual approach to documenting a historical era
C、summarize research on a specific historical figure
D、counter a particular view about the work of a biographer
E、point out subtle differences among controversial historical reports

答案D

解析 a biographer对应Mather,a particular view对应历史学家的观点,认为传记是神圣的。本文重点是三四五三句中作者对于历史学家观点的反驳。A项第一句的观点只是many历史学家所持有的,而非universally accepted(universal=an>most>many)。B项all unusual approach在文中没有对应。C项a specific historical figure指John Winthrop。是文中的细节。E项subtle differences在文中没有对应。
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本试题收录于: GRE VERBAL题库GRE分类
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