Prep Test2- essay10

[kaijen]

Essay #10. 247 (22730-!-item-!-188;#058&00247-00)

The Black Death, a severe epidemic that ravaged fourteenth-century Europe, has intrigued scholars ever since Francis Gasquet's 1893 study contending that this epidemic greatly intensified the political and religious upheaval that ended the Middle Ages. Thirty-six years later, historian George Coulton agreed but, paradoxically, attributed a silver lining to the Black Death: prosperity engendered by diminished competition for food, shelter, and work led survivors of the epidemic into the Renaissance and subsequent rise of modern Europe.

In the 1930s, however, Evgeny Kosminsky and other Marxist historians claimed the epidemic was merely an ancillary factor contributing to a general agrarian crisis stemming primarily from the inevitable decay of European feudalism. In arguing that this decline of feudalism was economically determined, the Marxist asserted that the Black Death was a relatively insignificant factor. This became the prevailing view until after the Second World War, when studies of specific regions and towns revealed astonishing mortality rates ascribed to the epidemic, thus restoring the central role of the Black Death in history.

This central role of the Black Death (traditionally attributed to bubonic plague brought from Asia) has been recently challenged from another direction. Building on bacteriologist John Shrewsbury's speculations about mislabeled epidemics, zoologist Graham Twigg employs urban case studies suggesting that the rat population in Europe was both too sparse and insufficiently migratory to have spread plague. Moreover, Twigg disputes the traditional trade-ship explanation for plague transmissions by extrapolating from data on the number of dead rats aboard Nile sailing vessels in 1912. The Black Death, which he conjectures was anthrax instead of bubonic plague, therefore caused far less havoc and fewer deaths than historians typically claim.

Although correctly citing the exacting conditions needed to start or spread bubonic plague, Twigg ignores virtually a century of scholarship contradictory to his findings and employs faulty logic in his single-minded approach to the Black Death. His speculative generalizations about the numbers of rats in medieval Europe are based on isolated studies unrepresentative of medieval conditions, while his unconvincing trade-ship argument overlooks land-based caravans, the overland migration of infected rodents, and the many other animals that carry plague.

Question #32. 247-01 (22776-!-item-!-188;#058&000247-01)

The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) demonstrating the relationship between bubonic plague and the Black Death
(B) interpreting historical and scientific works on the origins of the Black Death
(C) employing the Black Death as a case study of disease transmission in medieval Europe
(D) presenting aspects of past and current debate on the historical importance of the Black Death
(E) analyzing the differences between capitalist and Marxist interpretations of the historical significance of the Black Death

Ans:(D)

Question #33. 247-02 (22822-!-item-!-188;#058&000247-02)

The passage suggests that Twigg believes that rats could not have spread the Black Death unless which of the following were true?

(A) The rats escaped from ships that had been in Asia.
(B) The rats were immune to the diseases that they carried.
(C) The rat population was larger in medieval Europe than Twigg believes it actually was.
(D) The rat population primarily infested densely populated areas.
(E) The rats interacted with other animals that Twigg believes could have carried plague.

Ans:(C)

Question #34. 247-04 (22868-!-item-!-188;#058&000247-04)

Which of the following statements is most compatible with Kosminsky's approach to history, as it is presented in the passage?

(A) The Middle Ages were ended primarily by the religious and political upheaval in fourteenth-century Europe.
(B) The economic consequences of the Black Death included increased competition for food, shelter, and work.
(C) European history cannot be studied in isolation from that of the rest of the world.
(D) The number of deaths in fourteenth-century Europe has been greatly exaggerated by other historians.
(E) The significance of the Black Death is best explained within the context of evolving economic systems.

Ans:(E)

Question #35. 247-06 (22914-!-item-!-188;#058&000247-06)

The "silver lining to the Black Death" (the highlighted text) refers to which of the following?

(A) The decay of European feudalism precipitated by the Black Death
(B) Greater availability of employment, sustenance, and housing for survivors of the epidemic
(C) Strengthening of the human species through natural selection
(D) Better understanding of how to limit the spread of contagious diseases
(E) Immunities and resistance to the Black Death gained by later generations

Ans:(B)

[kaijen]

36. Question #32. 247-01 (22776-!-item-!-188;#058&000247-01)

The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) demonstrating the relationship between bubonic plague and the Black Death
(B) interpreting historical and scientific works on the origins of the Black Death
(C) employing the Black Death as a case study of disease transmission in medieval Europe
(D) presenting aspects of past and current debate on the historical importance of the Black Death
(E) analyzing the differences between capitalist and Marxist interpretations of the historical significance of the Black Death

Ans:(D)

請問(B)(D)如何判別?

[dibert8]

(B) 文章沒有提黑死病的起源(提到推測它如何散佈 =/= 起源),就可以把這個選項排除了.

[pimi]

Question #34. 247-04 (22868-!-item-!-188;#058&000247-04)

Which of the following statements is most compatible with Kosminsky's approach to history, as it is presented in the passage?

(A) The Middle Ages were ended primarily by the religious and political upheaval in fourteenth-century Europe.
(B) The economic consequences of the Black Death included increased competition for food, shelter, and work.
(C) European history cannot be studied in isolation from that of the rest of the world.
(D) The number of deaths in fourteenth-century Europe has been greatly exaggerated by other historians.
(E) The significance of the Black Death is best explained within the context of evolving economic systems.

Ans:(E)

Kosminsky不是覺得黑死病並不是a general agrarian crisis的主要原因, 那為何會選E選項說的黑死病的重要性是最好解釋the context of evolving economic systems~ 實在猜不透阿

[ad264]

Kosminsky不是覺得黑死病並不是a general agrarian crisis的主要原因, 那為何會選E選項說的黑死病的重要性是最好解釋the context of evolving economic systems~ 實在猜不透阿 [/quote]

因為K提到 the decay of European feudalism 也就是在演化中的經濟制度下(the context of evolving economic systems)作討論，抓關鍵字feudalism

[Huang Hsin-Yi]

Question #33. 247-02 (22822-!-item-!-188;#058&000247-02)

The passage suggests that Twigg believes that rats could not have spread the Black Death unless which of the following were true?

(A) The rats escaped from ships that had been in Asia.
(B) The rats were immune to the diseases that they carried
(C) The rat population was larger in medieval Europe than Twigg believes it actually was.
(D) The rat population primarily infested densely populated areas.
(E) The rats interacted with other animals that Twigg believes could have carried plague.

Ans:C

拍細!拍細! 弄錯答案所以問半天

文章指出
Graham Twigg employs urban case studies suggesting that the rat population in Europe was both too sparse and insufficiently migratory to have spread plague.

[Huang Hsin-Yi]

Question #35. 247-06 (22914-!-item-!-188;#058&000247-06)

The "silver lining to the Black Death" (the highlighted text) refers to which of the following?

想請教藍色部份如何翻譯 ?

[Huang Hsin-Yi]

我知道了
attributed a silver lining to the Black Death: prosperity engendered by diminished competition for food, shelter, and work led survivors of the epidemic into the Renaissance and subsequent rise of modern Europe.
看看冒號後的同位語解釋就能得到選項B的選項

[chris8888]

In the 1930s, however, Evgeny Kosminsky and other Marxist historians claimed the epidemic was merely an ancillary factor contributing to a general agrarian crisis stemming primarily from the inevitable decay of European feudalism.
EK and M 史家, 主張流行病僅僅只是造成農業危機的附屬因子. 這農業危機主要是源自於不可避免的歐洲封建制度的式微.
In arguing that this decline of feudalism was economically determined, the Marxist asserted that the Black Death was a relatively insignificant factor.
他們並主張 : 封建制度的衰危是經濟上被決定的(強調經濟才是決定封建制度衰微的最主要因素), M主張 : 黑死病是相對較不重要的因素
This became the prevailing view until after the Second World War, when studies of specific regions and towns revealed astonishing mortality rates ascribed to the epidemic, thus restoring the central role of the Black Death in history.


Question #34. 247-04 (22868-!-item-!-188;#058&000247-04)

Which of the following statements is most compatible with Kosminsky's approach to history, as it is presented in the passage?

(A) The Middle Ages were ended primarily by the religious and political upheaval in fourteenth-century Europe.
只提到feudalism式微, 但是就一定是宗教與政治的動亂嗎? 沒講.
(B) The economic consequences of the Black Death included increased competition for food, shelter, and work.
第二段沒講
(C) European history cannot be studied in isolation from that of the rest of the world.
第二段沒講
(D) The number of deaths in fourteenth-century Europe has been greatly exaggerated by other historians.
第二段沒講
(E) The significance of the Black Death is best explained within the context of evolving economic systems.
這一個答案乍看之下時在很難吃下去, 但是仔細一想 :
K史家認為封建制度的式微主要是經濟上被決定的, 因此K必然認為影響中世紀的歐洲封建制度一定要跟經濟有關, 他認為黑死病不是一個很重要的因素.
題目問說 : 哪一個選項最能夠與K的看法compatible(電腦上叫做相容),
E選 : 在發展中的經濟系統裡, 黑死病的重要影響可以被有效的找出理由 or 說明原因, => 因此, 要是黑死病可以跟經濟發展扯上關係, 那麼就可以和K史家的觀點相容, 黑死病 => 經濟衰退 => 封建制度的式微

[chris8888]

Thirty-six years later, historian George Coulton agreed but, paradoxically, attributed a silver lining to the Black Death: prosperity engendered by diminished competition for food, shelter, and work led survivors of the epidemic into the Renaissance and subsequent rise of modern Europe.

1. 很矛盾地, 但是史學家卻同意將黑暗中的一絲曙光歸因於黑死病 : 受到食物, 住房, 以及工作上逐漸下滑的競爭(暗示競爭壓力遽降), 繁榮與昌盛引領流行病的倖存者進入了文藝復興和後續的現代歐洲的興起.

Question #35. 247-06 (22914-!-item-!-188;#058&000247-06)

The "silver lining to the Black Death" (the highlighted text) refers to which of the following?

(A) The decay of European feudalism precipitated by the Black Death
(B) Greater availability of employment, sustenance, and housing for survivors of the epidemic 就這個啦!!!
(C) Strengthening of the human species through natural selection
(D) Better understanding of how to limit the spread of contagious diseases
(E) Immunities and resistance to the Black Death gained by later generations