2008考研英语阅读理解真题解析第四篇“美国元首”.docVIP

*** *** 2008 Text 4 In 1784, five years before he became president of the United States, George Washington, 52, was nearly toothless. So he hired a dentist to transplant nine teeth into his jaw –having extracted them from the mouths of his slaves. 1784 ，52 岁的乔治 ?华盛顿在成为美国总统 5 年前，牙齿就几乎已经掉光了。他专门请牙医从他的 奴隶口中拔出九颗牙齿种在自己的身上。 transplant [tr?nspl ɑ:nt] vt. 移居,移植 ,迁移 vi. 移居 ,移植 n. 移居者 ,移植 【例】 Santillan waited three years for the first transplant. 为了找到合适的心肺进行移植，桑 提连已经等了足足三年。 That ’ sa far different image from the cherry -tree-chopping George most people remember from their history books. But recently, many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in the lives of the founding generation. ①They have been spurred in part by DNA evidence made available in 1998, which almost certainly proved Thomas Jefferson had fathered at least one child with his slave Sally Hemings. And only over the past 30 years have scholars examined history from the bottom up. Works of several historians reveal the moral compromises made by the natio n’ s early leaders and the fragile nature of the country ’insfancy. More significantly, they argue that many of the Founding Fathers knew slavery was wrong –and yet most did little to fight it.. 这跟很多人在历史书上读到过的那个砍樱桃树的华盛顿有点大相径庭。但是最近开始，历史学家开始 越来越关注奴隶制在美国开国一代人的生活中所扮演的角色。他们多半是受了 1998 年 DNA 事件的影响。 那个事件证明托马斯 ?杰弗逊至少和他的奴隶萨利 ?赫明思生过一个孩子。学者们从头至尾地研究历史还是 近三十年的事情。一些历史学家揭示了早期开国者们的道德妥协和早期国家的不稳定性。更重要的是，他 们认为很多开国元勋知道奴隶制是错误的，但是大多数并没有去反抗。 spur [sp ?:] n. 马刺 ,刺激物 ,鼓舞 vt. 刺激 ,激励,用马刺刺 vi. 用马刺驱马 ,疾驰 【例】 Do not spur a willing horse. 君子一言，好马一鞭。 compromise [k ?mpr ? maiz] n. 妥协, 折衷,折衷案 ,和解 vi. 妥协处理 vt. 危害 【例】 Oppose all vacillation and compromise. 反对任何的动摇妥协。 fragile [fr?d ?ail] a. 易碎的 ,脆的 名词： fragility, fragileness 副词： fragilely 【例】 Is anything fragile enclosed? 这包裹里有易破的东西吗？ infancy [inf ? nsi] n. 幼年,初期,幼儿期 【例】 Growth is rapid in infancy. 幼儿期的成长相当快。 1 、They have been spurred in part by DNA evidence made available in 1998, which almost certainly proved Thomas Jefferson had