Despite their many differences of temperament and of literary perspective, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman sh

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问题 Despite their many differences of temperament and of literary perspective, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman shared certain beliefs. Common to all these writers is their humanistic perspective. Its basic premises are that humans are the spiritual center of the universe and that in them alone is the clue to nature, history, and ultimately the cosmos. Without denying outright the existence of a deity, this perspective explains humans and the world in terms of humanity.
    This common perspective is almost always universalized. It emphasizes the human as universal, freed from the accidents of time, space, birth, and talent. Thus, for Emerson, the "American Scholar" turns out to be simply "Man Thinking," while, for Whitman, the "Song of Myself" merges imperceptibly into a song of all the "children of Adam," where "every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. "
    Also common to all five writers is the belief that self-realization depends on the harmonious reconciliation of two universal psychological tendencies: first, the self-asserting impulse of the individual to be responsible only to himself or herself, and second, the self-transcending impulse of the individual to know and become one with that world. These conflicting impulses can be seen in the democratic ethic. Democracy advocates individualism, the preservation of the individual’s freedom and self-expression. But the democratic self is torn between the duty to self, which is implied by the concept of liberty, and the duty to society, which is implied by the concepts of equality and fraternity.
    A third assumption common to the five writers is that intuition and imagination offer a surer road to truth than does abstract logic or scientific method. It is illustrated by their emphasis upon introspection— their belief that the clue to external nature is to be found in the inner world of individual psychology—and by their interpretation of experience as, in essence, symbolic. Both these stresses presume an organic relationship between the self and the cosmos of which only intuition and imagination can properly take account. These writers’ faith in the imagination and in themselves led them to conceive of the writer as a seer.  
The author quotes Whitman primarily in order to

选项 A、show that the poet does not agree with Emerson
B、indicate the way the poet uses the humanist ideal to praise himself
C、suggest that the poet adapts the basic premises of humanism to his own individual outlook on the world
D、illustrate a way the poet expresses the relationship of the individual to the humanistic universe
E、demonstrate that the poet is concerned with the well-being of all humans

答案D

解析 The second paragraph stresses that these five writers emphasize the human as universal, freed from the accidents of time, space, birth, and talent; they see this idea as falling within the general notion that humans are the spiritual center of the universe.
In this second paragraph the author presents two examples of writing, one from Emerson and one from Whitman, which demonstrate this emphasis. Answering the question requires recognizing that Whitman’s statement illustrates the idea that each individual human has such a general relationship with the universe.
A     The quotations from Emerson and Whitman are intended to illustrate the same idea—namely, the human as universal—not to show how these two writers differ.
B      The author quotes Whitman to illustrate a general idea shared by the five writers rather than to indicate how Whitman uses the humanist ideal to praise himself. Furthermore, this choice is incorrect because the quotation itself indicates something true of all the "children of Adam"—all of humanity—rather than something true of Whitman specifically.
C      Once again, the author’s quotation of Whitman is not meant to indicate anything distinctive about Whitman, but rather to illustrate a perspective he shared with the other four writers.
D      Correct. The author quotes Whitman to illustrate how Whitman expresses— as do each of the other writers under consideration—the relationship of each individual to a humanistic universe.
E      The quotation illustrates Whitman’s view of the relationship of the individual to the universe. Even though Whitman may in fact be concerned with the well-being of all humans, the quotation itself in no way suggests this.
The correct answer is D.
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本试题收录于: GMAT VERBAL题库GMAT分类
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