2. 外语
  3. Exactly when in the early modern era Native Americans began exchanging animal furs with Europeans for European-made goods is unc

Exactly when in the early modern era Native Americans began exchanging animal furs with Europeans for European-made goods is unc

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问题 Exactly when in the early modern era Native Americans began exchanging animal furs with Europeans for European-made goods is uncertain. What is fairly certain, even though they left no written evidence of having done so, is that the first Europeans to conduct such trade during the modern period were fishing crews working the waters around Newfoundland. Archaeologists had noticed that sixteenth-century Native American sites were strewn with iron bolts and metal pins. Only later, upon reading Nicolas Denys’s 1672 account of seventeenth-century European settlements in North America, did archaeologists realize that sixteenth-century European fishing crews had dismantled and exchanged parts of their ships for furs.
By the time Europeans sailing the Atlantic coast of North America first documented the fur trade, it was apparently well underway. The first to record such trade—the captain of a Portuguese vessel sailing from Newfoundland in 1501—observed that a Native American aboard the ship wore Venetian silver earrings. Another early chronicler noted in 1524 that Native Americans living along the coast of what is now New England had become selective about European trade goods: they accepted only knives, fishhooks, and sharp metal. By the time Cartier sailed the Saint Lawrence River ten years later, Native Americans had traded with Europeans for more than thirty years, perhaps half a century.
It can be inferred from the passage that the author would agree with which of the following statements about the fur trade between Native Americans and Europeans in the early modern era?
选项 A、This trade may have begun as early as the 1480s.
B、This trade probably did not continue much beyond the 1530s.
C、This trade was most likely at its peak in the mid-1520s.
D、This trade probably did not begin prior to 1500.
E、There is no written evidence of this trade prior to the seventeenth century.
答案A
解析 Inference
The question requires determining which statement can most reasonably be inferred from the information in the passage. The passage argues that it is difficult to determine when the fur trade between Native Americans and Europeans began, since the earliest people to participate in that trade apparently left no written records. The second paragraph notes that at the time of the earliest known record in 1501, trade was already well underway. In the final two sentences of the passage, the author mentions an event that occurred in 1534 and then says that by that time the trade may have been going on for perhaps half a century.
A Correct. The next-to-last sentence of the passage cites evidence of fur trade between Native Americans and Europeans in 1524. In the final sentence of the passage, the author mentions an event that happened a decade after that date—thus in 1534—and expresses the opinion that the trade started perhaps half a century (fifty years) before that later date. Fifty years before 1534 would be 1484. This implies that the author accepts that the trade may have begun by the 1480s.
B The passage gives no indication that the author believes trade ended shortly after the 1530s.
C The passage does not discuss when the fur trade was at its peak.
D To the contrary, the passage argues that trade began well before 1501.
E The passage mentions written evidence of the trade from 1501 and 1524.
The correct answer is A.
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