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  3. The railroads played a key role in the settlement of the West. They provided relatively easy access to the region for the first

The railroads played a key role in the settlement of the West. They provided relatively easy access to the region for the first

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问题     The railroads played a key role in the settlement of the West. They provided relatively easy access to the region for the first time, and they also actively recruited farmers to settle there. The railroads are criticized for their part in settling the West too rapidly, with its resultant economic unrest.  (After the Civil War the vast Great Plains area was settled all at once. ) Of course there were abuses connected with building and operating the railroads, but it must be pointed out that they performed a useful service in extending the frontier and helping to achieve national unity.
    The real tragedy of the rapid settlement of the Great Plains was the shameful way in which the American Indians were treated. Threatened with the destruction of their whole mode of life, the Indians fought back savagely against the white man’s final assault. Justice was almost entirely on the Indians’ side. The land was clearly theirs. The Indians, however, lacked the military force and the political power to protect this right. Not only did white men possess the Indians’ hunting grounds, but they rapidly destroyed the Indians’ principal means ofexistence-the buffalo(北美野牛). It has been estimated that there are 15 million buffalo in the plains in the 1860s. By 1869 the railroads had cut the herd in half, and by 1875 the southern herd was all but eliminated. By the middle of the 1880s the northern herd was also a thing to the past. Particularly annoying to the Indians was the fact that the white man frequently killed the buffalo merely for sport, leaving the valuable dead body to rot in the sun. Theoretically, at least, the government tried to be fair to the Indians, but all too often the Indian agents were either too indifferent or corrupt to carry out the government’s promises conscientiously, the army frequently ignored the Indian Bureau and failed to coordinate its policies with the civilians who were normally in charge of Indian affairs.  The settlers hated and feared the Indians and wanted them exterminated. This barbaric attitude is certainly not excusable, but it is understandable in the context of the times.
The word "barbaric"(para.3) probably means ______.
选项 A、cruel
B、subjective
C、aggressive
D、advanced
答案A
解析 通览全文可知 the white man 对待 the Indians的态度是野蛮和粗鲁的。
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