Theradiois________astrangesignal.What’swrongwithit?

Bernard Bailyn has recentlyreinterpretedthe early historyof the United States by applyingnew socialresearchfindingson theexperiencesofEuropean migrants.Inhisreinterpretation,migrationbecomes the organizingprinciplefor rewritingthe historyofpreindustrial North America. His approach rests on four separate propositions.The firstof these asserts that residentsof early modern England moved regularlyabouttheir countryside; migrating to the New World was simply a natural spillover. Although atfirstthe colonies held littlepositiveattractionfor the English D they would rather havestayed home D by the eighteenth century people increasingly migrated to America becausethey regarded it as the land of opportunity. Secondly, Bailyn holds that, contrary to thenotion that used to flourish in America history textbooks, there was never a typical NewWorld community.For example, the economic and demographiccharacterof early New Englandtowns varied considerably.Bailyn's third proposition suggest two general patterns prevailing among the manythousands of migrants:one group came as indenturedservants,another came to acquire land.Surprisingly,Bailyn suggests that those who recruitedindentured servants were the drivingforces of transatlanticmigration.These colonialentrepreneurshelped determine the socialcharacterof people who came to preindustrialNorth America.At first,thousands ofunskilled laborers were recruited; by the 1730's, however, American employers demandedskilled artisans.Finally, Bailyn argues that the colonies were a half-civilized hinterland of theEuropean culture system. He is undoubtedly correct to insist that the colonies were partof an Anglo-American empire. But to divide the empire into English core and colonialperiphery, as Bailyn does, devalues the achievements of colonial culture. It is true, asBailyn claims, that high culture in the colonies never matched that in England. But whatof seventeenth-century New England, where the settlers created effective laws, built adistinguished university, and published books Bailyn might respond that New England wasexceptional. However, the ideas and institutions developed by New England Puritans hadpowerful effects on North American culture.Although Bailyn goes on to apply his approach to some thousands of indenturedservantswho migrated just prior to the revolution, he fails to link their experience with thepolitical development of the United States. Evidence presented in his work suggests howwe might make such a connection. These indentured servants were treated as slaves for theperiod during which they had sold their time to American employers. It is not surprisingthat as soon as they served their time they passed up good wages in the cities and headedwest to ensure theirpersonal independence by acquiringland. Thus, it is in the west thata peculiarly American political culture began, among colonists who were suspicious ofauthority and intensely anti-aristocratic.

1.Which of the followingstatements about migrants to colonialNorth America is supportedby information in the text

[A] A larger percentage of migrants to colonial North America came as indenturedservants than as free agents interested in acquiring land.

[B] Migrants who came to the colonies as indentured servants were more successful atmaking a livelihood than were farmers and artisans.

[C] Migrants to colonialNorth America were more successfulat acquiringtheir own landduring the eighteenth century than during the seventeenth century.

[D] By the 1730's,migrants already skilled in a trade were in more demand by Americanemployers than were unskilled laborers.

2.The author of the text states that Bailyn failed to

[A] Give sufficient emphasis to the cultural and political interdependence of thecolonies and England.

[B] Describe carefully how migrants of different ethnic backgrounds preserved theirculture in the United States.

[C] Take advantage of social research on the experiences of colonists who migrated tocolonial North America specifically to acquire land.

[D] Relate the experience of the migrants to the politicalvalues that eventuallyshapedthe character of the United States.

3.Which of the following best summarizes the author's evaluation of Bailyn's fourthproposition

[A] It is totally implausible.

[B] It is partially acceptable.

[C] It is highly admirable.

[D] It is controversial though persuasive.

4.According to the text,Bailyn and the author agree on which of the followingstatementsabout the culture of colonial New England

[A] High culture in New England never equaled the high culture of England.

[B] The culturalachievements of colonialNew England have generallybeen unrecognizedby historians.

[C] The colonistsimitatedthe high cultureof England ， and did not develop a culturethat was uniquely their own.

[D] The southern colonies were greatly influenced by the high culture of New England.

5.The author of the text would be most likely to agree with which of the followingstatements about Bailyn's work

[A] Bailyn underestimates the effects of Puritan thought on North American culture.

[B] Bailyn overemphasizes the economic dependence of the colonies on Great Britain.

[C] Bailyn'sdescriptionof thecoloniesas part of an Anglo-American empireis misleading and incorrect.

[D] Bailyn failedto test his propositionson a specificgroup of migrants to colonialNorth America.

Tom,withhisparents______toAmerica.They_____backintwoweeks.

Roger Rosenblatt ’s book Black Fiction,in attemptingto apply literaryratherthansociopolitical criteria to its subject, successfully alters the approach taken by mostprevious studies. As Rosenblatt notes, criticism of Black writing has often served as apretextfor expounding on Black history.Addison Gayle’s recent work, for example, judgesthe value of Black fiction by overtly political standards, rating each work according tothe notions of Black identity which it propounds.Although fictionassuredly springs from politicalcircumstances ，its authors react tothose circumstances in ways other than ideological, and talking about novels and storiesprimarilyas instrumentsof ideologycircumvents much of the fictional enterprise.Rosenblatt ’s literaryanalysisdisclosesaffinitiesand connections among works of Blackfiction which solely political studies have overlooked or ignored. Writing acceptable criticism ofBlack fiction, however, presupposes giving satisfactory answers to a number of questions.First of all, is there a sufficient reason, other than the facial identity of the authors, to group together works by Black authorsSecond, how does Black fiction make itself distinct from other modern fiction with which it islargely contemporaneous Rosenblatt shows that Black fiction constitutes a distinct bodyof writingthat has an identifiable， coherent literarytradition.Looking at novels writtenby Black over the last eighty years, he discovers recurringconcerns and designs independentof chronology. These structures are thematic, and they spring, not surprisingly, from thecentralfact that the Black charactersin these novels exist in a predominantlywhite culture,whether they try to conform to that culture or rebel against it.Black Fictiondoes leave some aestheticquestions open. Rosenblatt ’s thematic analysispermits considerable objectivity; he even explicitly states that it is not his intentionto judge the merit of the various works D yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especiallysince an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results. For instance, some ofthe novels appear to be structurallydiffuse.Is this a defect,or are the authors workingout of, or trying to forge, a different kind of aesthetic In addition, the style of someBlack novels, like JeanToomey’s Cane, verges on expressionism or surrealism; does thistechnique provide a counterpointto the prevalenttheme that portrays the fate against whichBlack heroes are pitted,a theme usuallyconveyed by more naturalisticmodes of expressionIn spite of such omissions, what Rosenblatt does include in his discussion makes foran astute and worthwhile study. Black Fiction surveys a wide variety of novels, bringingto our attention in the process some fascinating and little-known works like James WeldonJohnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Its argument is tightly constructed, andits forthright, lucid style exemplifies levelheaded and penetrating criticism.

1. The author of the text is primarily concerned with __________.

[A] Evaluating the soundness of a work of criticism.[B] Comparing various critical approaches to a subject.

[C] Discussing the limitations of a particular kind of criticism.

[D] Summarizing the major points made in a work of criticism.

2. The author of the text believes that Black Fiction would have been improved hadRosenblatt __________.

[A] Evaluated more carefully the ideological andhistoricalaspects of Black fiction.

[B] Attempted to be more objective in his approach to novels and stories by Blackauthors.

[C] Explorein greaterdetailthe recurrentthematicconcerns of Black fictionthroughout its history.

[D] Assessed the relative literary merit of the novels he analyzes thematically.

3.author ’s discussion of Black Fiction can be best described as __________.

[A] Pedantic and contentious.

[B] Critical but admiring.

[C] Ironic and deprecating.

[D] Argumentative but unfocused.author of the text employs all of the following in the discussion ofRosenblatt ’s

4.book EXCEPT： __________.

[A] Rhetorical questions.

[B] Specific examples.

[C] Comparison and contrast.

[D] Definition of terms.

5. The author of the text refers to James WeldonJohnson’s Autobiography of anEx-Colored Man most probably in order to __________.

[A] point out affinitiesbetween Rosenblatt ’s method of thematic analysis and earliercriticism.

[B] Clarify the point about expressionistic style made earlier in the passage.

[C] Qualify the assessment ofRosenblatt ’s book made in the first paragraph of thepassage.

[D] give a specific example of one of the accomplishments ofRosenblatt ’s work.

I believe that remark ____ from what you said yesterday.