GRE阅读 撞墙

Destroy_2010UID: 2889106

Jean Wagner‘s most enduring contribution to the study of Afro-American poetry is his insistence that it be analyzed in a religious, as well as secular, frame of Line reference. The appropriateness of such an approach may seem self-evident for a tradition commencing with spirituals and owing its early forms, rhythms, vocabulary, and evangelical fervor to Wesleyan hymnals. But before Wagner a secular outlook that analyzed Black poetry solely within the context of political and social protest was dominant in the field.
      It is Wagner who first demonstrated the essential fusion of racial and religious feeling in Afro-American poetry. The two, he argued, form a symbiotic union in which religious feelings are often applied to racial issues and racial problems are often projected onto a metaphysical plane. Wagner found this most eloquently illustrated in the Black spiritual, where the desire for freedom in this world and the hope for salvation in the next are inextricably intertwined.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) contrast the theories of Jean Wagner with those of other contemporary critics

(B) document the influence of Jean Wagner on the development of Afro-American poetry

(C) explain the relevance of Jean Wagner‘s work to the study of Afro-American religion

(D) indicate the importance of Jean Wagner‘s analysis of Afro-American poetry

(E) present the contributions of Jean Wagner to the study of Black spirituals
这题怎么不选E呢，从红色的地方我感觉应该可以看出答案了，虽然D跟红色的地方也有些沾边，但是我很难说服自己D选项比好。但现在仔细看看怎么发现E选项着重说的是Black spirituals，这好像跟文章的主题并不是很符合，会不会这就是E选项败北的原因所在啊？！
看第二题：
2. All of the following aspects of Afro-American
poetry are referred to in the passage as having been
influenced by Wesleyan hymnals EXCEPT
(A) subject matter
(B) word choice
(C) rhythm
(D) structure
(E) tone
灰色的短语词组说的是“传递福音的热情”，而根据文章前面也说过的作者是从宗教方面入手的，所以我就想到了应该这应该就是跟A选项有关，因为作者的影响力比较大，而且又是在宗教方面比较有代表性，所以肯定对主题的风向有很大的影响。所以就选择了E，但是答案却是A。无语……

3. It can be inferred from the passage that, before Wagner, most students of Afro-American poetry did which of the following?
(A) Contributed appreciably to the transfer of political protest from Afro-American poetry to direct political action.

(B) Ignored at least some of the historical roots of Afro-American poetry.

(C) Analyzed fully the aspects of social protest to be found in such traditional forms of Afro- American poetry as the Black spiritual.

(D) Regarded as unimportant the development of fervent emotionalism in a portion of Afro-American poetry.

(E) Concentrated on the complex relations between the technical elements in Afro-American poetry and its political content.
这题的话应该是根据粉红色加粗的那句话来推断，其实选择C也是迫于无奈，A选项吧transfer of political protest from Afro-American poetry to direct political action是子虚乌有的，D跟E也是没有什么问题，立马排除，B我看不出端倪，也果断放弃，C选项虽然我选了，但是fully the aspects 跟文章中solely是相冲的，后来看了答案说是B，我就蒙了，我到现在还没知道这是怎么来的。
希望各位高手能够慷慨解囊。谢谢……

swordman1911UID: 3044946

得承认，第三道问题确实高明。根据原文，before Wagner, 研究者们注重的是对现状——黑人们对政治和社会的不满（political and social protest ）——的研究，而根据题干种的infer，可以判定这道问题并非就事论事，而是需要我们去理解潜台词（infer），那就是，之前的研究者们忽视了什么。根据原文，他们忽视了种族及宗教问题，这些问题属于根本的历史范畴。
第二道题的难度在于对tone的理解。
第一道题我觉得楼主自己找到了答案。

Destroy_2010UID: 2889106

哦，第三题的solely原来就是你所说的忽视的方面的潜台词，我根本就没注意到这个层面的含义：那些作者仅仅在社会和政治方面有涉及，却忽视别的方面。这样我就知道了答案B的用意了。谢谢啊。 2# swordman1911