A widespread concern in early eighteenth-century Britain that the institution of marriage was deteriorating into a mere business

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问题     A widespread concern in early eighteenth-century Britain that the institution of marriage was deteriorating into a mere business agreement, a cynical means of increasing wealth, was reflected in the media of the time. In the theater, for example, the Restoration comedy of manners, with its celebration of libertinism and portrayal of marriage as a social, and therefore artificial, institution, gave way to sentimental comedies like The Conscious Lovers, which celebrated the pure, instinctive love of its central characters while downplaying matters of wealth and status. New periodicals, such as the wildly popular Spectator, devoted many issues to the evils of mercenary marriages and to the glories of choosing love over money.
    However, the very popularity of such works calls into question the existence of any real trend toward mercenary marriage. Admittedly, the growing use and complexity of marriage settlements (the transfer of family property from one generation to the next upon a daughter’s marriage) during this period meant that among the elite, at least, marriage contracts looked increasingly like business contracts. However, it should be noted that marriage had long been used by the elite to cement political or social bonds and to enhance family wealth.
The author of the passage mentions The Conscious Lovers in order to

选项 A、give a representative example of a Restoration comedy of manners
B、show how a particular concern was reflected in the media
C、provide support for the assertion that marriage had become a mercenary institution
D、suggest that certain anxieties were exacerbated by the media
E、provide an example of a theatrical work that challenged the institution of marriage

答案B

解析 本题定位到第一段第二句。其前一句说关于婚姻的担忧在媒体中被反映出来,肾接着出现了这句话的例子,因此这部作品就是一个例子来说明关于婚姻的担忧被反映了出来,选项B正确。A项这部作品是伤感喜剧。C项这只是一部喜剧,提及这个例子并不能为婚姻变得商业化这一观点提供支持。如果要支持这一观点,作者应该给出具体的乐观例子或数据来说明,但是这只是一部剧,充其量反映了这一可能存在的趋势。反映这种趋势的存在无法支持这一观点。D项文中未提及。E项文中未提及。
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本试题收录于: GRE VERBAL题库GRE分类
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