2. 外语
  3. The questions in this group are based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each que

The questions in this group are based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each que

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问题 The questions in this group are based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions following the passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.
   Of all aspects of Indian culture, the caste system is perhaps the most bewildering to outsiders. For visitors unaccustomed to this system of hereditary social divisions, the complex and mostly unwritten rules governing whom a person can marry, what kind of work she can do, and even what kind of food she can eat may seem puzzling and mysterious. One reason for this confusion is that the concept of caste is actually divided into two separate but related concepts in Indian culture: varna and jati.
   Varna, which literally means "color," is the most basic social division. There are four varna: the Brahmans, the traditional priest class; the Kshatriya, the warrior class; the Vaishya, the skilled workers and merchants; and the Sudra, laborers whose role is to serve the three higher classes. Below the Sudra are a class known as the Untouchables, who technically fall outside of the varna system because they are supposedly "unclean" in a ritual sense. The Untouchables are the lowest class in India, but they make life possible for everyone else because they take care of the jobs that would "pollute" the higher classes, such as working with dead animals or cleaning sewage. The Indian statesman Mohandas Gandhi, in an effort to promote social equality, encouraged people to refer to Untouchables as the Harijan, which means "Children of God."
   Each varna is then divided into hundreds or thousands of jati, a term that literally means "birth." The jati are kinship groups with hereditary roles and professions, such as leatherworker or brick-maker. Observant Hindus have traditionally married within their varna and jati.
   The origins of the caste system are obscure. The prevailing theory among anthropologists is that the Varna system emerged shortly after the so-called Aryan Invasion of the second millennium B.C. According to this theory, a population of Indo-European invaders conquered northern India around 1500 B.C. The Indo-Europeans placed themselves in the three highest rungs of society (Brahman, Kshatriya, and Vaishya), corresponding to the traditional division of Indo-European societies into priests, warriors, and commoners, while placing the conquered local populations into the worker classes of the Sudra and the Untouchables. This theory does not account for the jati system, however, which has parallels in no other Indo-European society. Most anthropologists suggest that the jati system predates the varna system, and that it might have originated in the Harappan civilization that prevailed in northern India prior to the Aryan Invasion.
What is the primary purpose of the passage?
选项 A、To compare and contrast two theories on the origin of the caste system in India
B、To shed some light on an aspect of Indian society that can be confusing to outsiders
C、To highlight the social injustices still faced by the Untouchable caste in India today
D、To discredit the theory that the "Aryan Invasion" brought an end to the Harappan civilization
E、To explain to the reader the distinction between the Brahman and Kshatriya castes
答案B
解析 The passage explains some basic elements of the caste system of India, which is identified in the first sentence as being "bewildering" to outsiders. The passage is not concerned with comparing and contrasting theories as in A, and C, D, and E all address limited aspects of the passage. B is the most comprehensive answer.
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