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  3. The beginning of what was to become the United States was characterized by inconsistencies in the values and behavior of its pop

The beginning of what was to become the United States was characterized by inconsistencies in the values and behavior of its pop

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问题   The beginning of what was to become the United States was characterized by inconsistencies in the values and behavior of its population, inconsistencies that were reflected by its spokesmen, who took conflicting stances in many areas; but on the subject of race, the conflicts were particularly vivid. The idea that the Caucasian (白种人) race and European civilization were superior was well entrenched in the culture of the colonists at the very time that the "egalitarian" (主张平等的) republic was founded. Voluminous historical evidence indicates that, in the mind of the average colonist, the African was a heathen, he was black, and he was different in crucial philosophical ways. As time progressed, he was also increasingly captive, adding to the conception of deviance. The African, therefore, could be justifiably (and even philanthropically) treated as property according to the reasoning of slave trader and slave-holders.
  Although slaves were treated as objects, bountiful evidence suggests that they did not view themselves similarly. There are many published autobiographies of salves; Afro-American scholars are beginning to know enough about West African culture to appreciate the existential climate in which the early captives were raised and which therefore could not be totally destroyed by the enslavement experience. This was a climate that defined individuality in collective terms. Individuals were members of a tribe, within which they had prescribed roles determined by the history of their family within the tribe. Individuals were inherently a part of the natural elements on which they depended, and they were actively related to those tribal members who once lived and to those not yet born.
  The colonial plantation system, which was established and into which Africans were thrust did virtually eliminate tribal affiliations. Individuals were separated from kin: interrelationships among kin kept together were often transient because of sales. A new identification with those slaves working and living together in a given place could satisfy what was undoubtedly a natural tendency to be a member of a group. New family units became the most important attachments of individual slaves. Thus, as the system of slavery was gradually institutionalized, West African affiliation tendencies adapted to it.
  This exceedingly complex dual influence is still reflected in black community life, and the double consciousness of black Americans is the major characteristic of Afro-American mentality. DuBois articulated this divided consciousness as follows:
The history the American Negro is the history of this strife-this longing to attain self-conscious
  manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging, he wishes neither of the older selves to be best...
  Several black political movements have looked upon this duality as destructively conflictual and have variously urged its reconciliation. Thus, the integrationists and the black nationalists, to be crudely general, have both been Concerned with resolving the conflict, but in opposite directions.  
Which of the following can be inferred about the viewpoint expressed in the second paragraph of the passage?
选项 A、It is a reinterpretation of slave life based on new research done by Afro-American scholars.
B、It is based entirely on recently published descriptions of slave life written by slaves themselves.
C、It is biased and overly sympathetic to the views of white, colonial slaveholders.
D、It is highly speculative and supported by little actual historical evidence.
答案A
解析 推论题。要注意第二段中的关键处: Afro-American scholars are beginning to know。这句话意味着一些新的东西促使学者改变他们以前有关奴隶制度的想法。换句话说，学者们开始反对传统的奴隶制观点，所以我们可以推断文章最后两段的立场是一种新的观点，A就是正确的。B是错的，因为作者提及的证据不是黑人的自传。C错在第二段中没有涉及奴隶主的观点。D也是错的，因为作者提供了两方面的材料，即new research and autobiographies来支持他的观点。
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