单选题 Is it possible that the ideas we have today about ownership and property rights have been so universal in the human mind that it is truly as if they had sprung from the mind of God? By no means. The idea of owning and property emerged in the mists of unrecorded history. The ancient Jews, for one, had a very different outlook on property and ownership, viewing it as something much more temporary and' tentative than we do.
The ideas we have in America about the private ownership of productive property as a natural and universal right of mankind, perhaps of divine origin, are by no means universal and must be viewed as an invention of man rather than an order of God. Of course, we are completely trained to accept the idea of ownership of the earth and its products, raw and transformed. It seems not at all strange; in fact, it is quite difficult to imagine a society without such arrangements. If someone, some individuals, didn't own that plot of land, that house, that factory, that machine, that tower of wheat, how would we function? What would the rules be? Whom would we buy from and how would we sell?
It is important to acknowledge a significant difference between achieving ownership simply by taking or claiming property and owning what we tend to call the "fruit of labor." If I, alone or together with my family, work on the land and raise crops, or if I make something useful out of natural material, it seems reasonable and fair to claim that the crops or the objects belong to me or my family, are my property, at least in the sense that I have first claim on them. Hardly anyone would dispute that. In fact, some of the early radical workingmen's movements made (an ownership) claim on those very grounds. As industrial organization became more complex, however, such issues became vastly more intricate. It must be clear that in modem society the social heritage of knowledge and technology and the social organization of manufacture and exchange account for far more of the productivity of industry and the value of what is produced than can be accounted for by the labor of any number of individuals. Hardly any person can now point and say, "That--that right there--is the fruit of my labor." We can say, as a society, as a nation--as a world, really--that what is produced is the fruit of our labor, the product of the whole society as a collectivity.
We have to recognize that the right of private individual ownership of property is man-made and constantly dependent on the extent to which those without property believe that the owner can make his claim, dependent on the extent to which those without stick.

单选题 According to the passage, the concept of ownership probably ______.
A. resulted from the concept of property right
B. stemmed from the uncovered prehistoric ages
C. arose from the generous blessing of the Creator
D. originated from the undetected Middle Ages
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】这是一道细节题。题干中的信号词为ownership,出自于文章第一段第一句话中。文章第一段指出:如今,我们有关所有权与财产权的观念已经太普遍,这种观念有没有可能是来自于上帝的意识呢?决不可能。有关所有权与财产的概念出现于模模糊糊的未被记载的历史中。古代的犹太人对所有权和财产权有着不同的观念,与我们相比,他们将财产和所有权看成是更加具有暂时性的东西。这说明,有关所有权的观念可能来自于远古时代。B说“来自于未被渲染的史前时代”,这与文章的意思相符。A明显与文章的意思不符;文中已经否定C,所以不对;文中没有提到中世纪,所以D不对。
单选题 The author thinks private ownership to be ______.
A. a necessary invention of mankind
B. an inherent right of a human being
C. a permanent arrangement for society
D. an explicit idea of some individuals
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】这是一道细节题。题干中的信号词为private ownership,出自于文章第二段第一句话中。文章第二段指出:作为一种人类自然、普遍的权利,也许是神所赐予一种自然和普遍的权利,我们美国有关生产资财的私有权决不是普遍的,应该被看作是人类的一种创造,而不是上帝的旨意。这说明,作者认为,私有权是人类的发明。A说“一定是人类的一种创造发明”,这与文章的意思相符。B、C和D都与作者的观点不符。
单选题 We learn by inference that private property may ______.
A. be viewed as a design of inventive powers
B. be treated as a discovery of our ancestors
C. function as the universal rule of trading
D. serve as the basis of market economy
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】这是一道推论题。文章第二段后半部分指出:我们被培养去接受有关土地及其土地上的产物的所有权观念;这看上去一点儿都不奇怪;事实上,很难想象没有这种协定的社会将是什么样子;如果某人、某些个体不拥有那片土地、那栋房子、那个工厂,我们将如何行使职责?规则会是什么?我们将向谁购买这些东西,又如何去销售?由此可知,私有权是人们经商的基础。D说“充当市场经济的基础”,这与文章的意思相符。A和B是文中明确指出的,所以不对;文中没有提到C。
单选题 It is reasonable to claim one's own fruit of labor because ______.
A. his labor accounts for the product and its value
B. he has the priority to lay claim on the product
C. his labor is widely recognized and respected
D. he has the grounds for making claims first
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】这是一道细节题。题干中的信号词为fruit of labor,出自于文章第三段第一句话中。文章第三段指出:要承认单凭获得或声称具有财产来得到所有权与拥有我们所谓的“劳动果实”之间的差别,这一点很重要;如果我独自一人,或者与家人一起在土地上耕作、收获,或者如果我利用自然材料做成了有用的物品,那么,我声称那些属于我或我家庭的庄稼或物品是我的财产,这似乎合理,也公平,至少我最先声明对它们有所有权;不会有人对此产生异议。这说明,声称自己的劳动果实属于自己是合理的,因为是你创造的。A说“他的劳动创造出了产品与价值”,这与文章的意思相符。文中是说“如果我利用自然材料做成了有用的物品,那么,我声称那些属于我或我家庭的庄稼或物品是我的财产,这似乎合理,也公平,至少我最先声明对它们有所有权”,这说明B和D不对;文中没有提到C。
单选题 Private ownership of property is described at the end of the passage as ______.
A. a production of early man's manual work
B. a demand for greater productivity in industry
C. varying with the shift in human agreements
D. denied by socialized production and exchange
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】这是一道细节题。题干中的信号词为the end of the passage,也就是文章的最后一段。文章最后一段指出:我们必须认识到,财产的私人所有权是人为的,而且总是取决于无产者承认所有者能够提出所有权要求的程度,取决于无产者坚持的程度。这说明,财产的私人所有权被认为是不断变化的。C说“随着人类协定的变化而变化”,这与文章的意思相符。A明显与文章的意思不符;文中没有提到B和D。