阅读理解
In 1854 my great-grandfather, Morris Marable, was sold on an auction block in Georgia for ＄500. For his white slave master, the sale was just “business as usual.” But to Morris Marable and his heirs, slavery was a crime against our humanity. This pattern of human rights violations against enslaved African-Americans continued under racial segregation for nearly another century.
The fundamental problem of American democracy in the 21st century is the problem of “structural racism” the deep patterns of socio-economic inequality and accumulated disadvantage that are coded by race, and constantly justified in public speeches by both racist stereotypes and white indifference. Do Americans have the capacity and vision to remove these structural barriers that deny democratic rights and opportunities to millions of their fellow citizens?
This country has previously witnessed two great struggles to achieve a truly multicultural democracy.
The First Reconstruction (1865-1877) ended slavery and briefly gave black men voting rights, but gave no meaningful compensation for two centuries of unpaid labor. The promise of “40 acres and a mule (骡子)”was for most blacks a dream deferred (尚未实现的).
The Second Reconstruction (1954-1968), or the modern civil rights movement, ended legal segregation in public accommodations and gave blacks voting rights . But these successes paradoxically obscure the tremendous human costs of historically accumulated disadvantage that remain central to black Americans’ lives.
The disproportionate wealth that most whites enjoy today was first constructed from centuries of unpaid black labor. Many white institutions, including some leading universities, insurance companies and banks, profited from slavery. This pattern of white privilege and black inequality continues today.
Demanding reparations (赔偿) is not just about compensation for slavery and segregation. It is, more important, an educational campaign to highlight the contemporary reality of “racial deficits” of all kinds, the unequal conditions that impact blacks regardless of class. Structural racism’s barriers include “equity inequity.” the absence of black capital formation that is a direct consequence of America’s history. One third of all black households actually have negative net wealth. In 1998 the typical black family’s net wealth was ＄16,400, less than one fifth that of white families. Black families are denied home loans at twice the rate of whites.
Blacks remain the last hired and first fired during recessions. During the 1990-91 recession. African-Americans suffered disproportionately. At Coca-Cola, 42 percent of employees who lost their jobs were blacks. At Sears, 54 percent were black, Blacks have significantly shorter life spans, in part due to racism in the health establishment. Blacks are statistically less likely than whites to be referred for kidney transplants or early-stage cancer surgery.
In 1854 my great-grandfather, Morris Marable, was sold on an auction block in Georgia for ＄500. For his white slave master, the sale was just “business as usual.” But to Morris Marable and his heirs, slavery was a crime against our humanity. This pattern of human rights violations against enslaved African-Americans continued under racial segregation for nearly another century.
The fundamental problem of American democracy in the 21st century is the problem of “structural racism” the deep patterns of socio-economic inequality and accumulated disadvantage that are coded by race, and constantly justified in public speeches by both racist stereotypes and white indifference. Do Americans have the capacity and vision to remove these structural barriers that deny democratic rights and opportunities to millions of their fellow citizens?
This country has previously witnessed two great struggles to achieve a truly multicultural democracy.
The First Reconstruction (1865-1877) ended slavery and briefly gave black men voting rights, but gave no meaningful compensation for two centuries of unpaid labor. The promise of “40 acres and a mule (骡子)”was for most blacks a dream deferred (尚未实现的).
The Second Reconstruction (1954-1968), or the modern civil rights movement, ended legal segregation in public accommodations and gave blacks voting rights . But these successes paradoxically obscure the tremendous human costs of historically accumulated disadvantage that remain central to black Americans’ lives.
The disproportionate wealth that most whites enjoy today was first constructed from centuries of unpaid black labor. Many white institutions, including some leading universities, insurance companies and banks, profited from slavery. This pattern of white privilege and black inequality continues today.
Demanding reparations (赔偿) is not just about compensation for slavery and segregation. It is, more important, an educational campaign to highlight the contemporary reality of “racial deficits” of all kinds, the unequal conditions that impact blacks regardless of class. Structural racism’s barriers include “equity inequity.” the absence of black capital formation that is a direct consequence of America’s history. One third of all black households actually have negative net wealth. In 1998 the typical black family’s net wealth was ＄16,400, less than one fifth that of white families. Black families are denied home loans at twice the rate of whites.
Blacks remain the last hired and first fired during recessions. During the 1990-91 recession. African-Americans suffered disproportionately. At Coca-Cola, 42 percent of employees who lost their jobs were blacks. At Sears, 54 percent were black, Blacks have significantly shorter life spans, in part due to racism in the health establishment. Blacks are statistically less likely than whites to be referred for kidney transplants or early-stage cancer surgery.
文章大意：议论文。本文分三部分，文章思路为：引出问题(Para．1-Para．2)；介绍历史上对该问题的解决(Para．3-Para．5)；分析问题的现状(Para．6-Para．8)。Para．1-Para．2为引出问题：通过祖父被作为奴隶拍卖一事引出美国黑人人权问题，指出美国民主的根本问题是“结构种族主义”。Para．3-Para．5为历史上对该问题的解决：两次争取黑人平等民权的斗争取得了一定成果，但没有从根本上解决问题。Para．6-Para．8为问题的现状：美国黑人仍然遭受不平等待遇，解决该问题任重道远。
单选题
To the author, the auction of his great-grandfather is a typical example of_____.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】题干中的To the author对应文中的to … his heirs(作者即是“his heirs”之一)，对作者而言slavery was a crime against our humanity，其祖父被拍卖正是奴隶制的恶果，所以应算为crime against humanity“对人权的犯罪”的典型事例，故[A]正确。[B]为依据第二段socio-economic inequality设计的干扰项；[c]在文中未提及。由首段末句可知，racial segregation(种族隔离)是新时期美国人权问题的表现形式，与盛行奴隶拍卖的“奴隶制”不属于同一时期，故排除[D]。
单选题
The barrier to democracy in 21st century America is______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[A]为依据文中the deep patterns of…constantly…by both racist stereotypes设计的干扰项；本文涉及的只是黑人的平等权问题，而minority groups所指代的范围要比blacks广得多，故排除[B]；选项[C]是对原文the deep patterns of socio-economic inequality的同义转述，deep-rooted对应文中的deep patterns。[D]项内容是由the deep patterns of economic inequality…and…，and…引起的结果that deny democratic rights and opportunities…为修饰barriers的定语从句，而不是barriers的同位语从句，这表明denial of legal rights to…不是[C]barrier本身。
单选题
What problem remains unsolved in the two Reconstructions?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】由第四段第一句中but后内容可知，[B]项为The First Reconstruction存留的未解决的问题；而由第五段第二句中but后内容可知，在the Second Reconstruction中该问题仍然没有得到解决，故[B]为答案。[A]与原文内容不符。[C]根据第四段中的The First Reconstruction…briefly gave black men voting rights和第五段中的The Second Reconstruction…gave blacks voting rights可排除该项。[D]根据第五段中的The second Reconstruction…ended legal segregation in public accommodations可排除。
单选题
It is clear that the wealth enjoyed by most whites_____.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】结合第六段中的was first constructed from centuries of unpaid black labor及profited from slavery可知，大多数白人享有的财富都是几代黑人奴隶用血汗劳动积聚而来的，故[D]为答案。
单选题
What does the author think of the current situation regarding racial discrimination?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】题干中的racial discrimination对应文中的white privilege and black inequality。选项[B]中的remains virtually untouched对应文中的continues today。接下来的两段中列举了很多黑人所遭受的不平等待遇，故[B]为答案。[A]根据最后一段的内容可排除；[C]与作者的观点相反；[D]为依据第二段末句设计的干扰项，civil rights≠democratic rights。