单选题
In 1896 a Georgia couple suing for damages in the
accidental death of their two year old was told that since the child had made no
real economic contribution to the family, there was no liability for damages. In
contrast, less than a century later, in 1979, the parents of a three year old
sued in New York for accidental-death damages and won an award of
$750,0O0. The transformation in social values implicit in
juxtaposing these two incidents is the subject of Viviana Zelizer's excellent
book, Pricing the Priceless Child. During the nineteenth century, she argues,
the concept of the "useful" child who contributed to the family economy gave way
gradually to the present-day notion of the "useless" child who, though producing
no income for, and indeed extremely costly to, its parents, is yet considered
emotionally "priceless." Well established among segments of the middle and upper
classes by the mid-1800's, this new view of childhood spread throughout society
in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries as reformers introduced
child-labor regulations and compulsory education laws predicated in pan on the
assumption that a child's emotional value made child labor taboo.
For Zelizer the origins of this transformation were many and complex, The
gradual erosion of children's productive value in a maturing industrial economy,
the decline in birth and death rates, especially in child mortality, and the
development of the companionate family (a family in which members were united by
explicit bonds of love rather than duty) were all factors critical in changing
the assessment of children's worth. Yet "expulsion of children from the 'cash
nexus,' ... although clearly shaped by profound changes in the economic,
occupational, and family structures," Zelizer maintains, "was also pan of a
cultural process 'of sacralization' of children's lives." Protecting children
from the crass business world became enormously important for
late-nineteenth-century middle-class Americans, she suggests; this sacralization
was a way of resisting what they perceived as the relentless corruption of human
values by the marketplace. In stressing the cultural
determinants of a child's worth, Zelizer takes issue with practitioners of the
new "sociological economics," who have analyzed such traditionally sociological
topics as crime, marriage, education, and health solely in terms of their
economic determinants. Allowing only a small role for cultural forces in the
form of individual "preferences," these sociologists tend to view all human
behavior as directed primarily by the principle of maximizing economic gain.
Zelizer is highly critical of this approach, and emphasizes instead the opposite
phenomenon: the power of social values to transform price. As children became
more valuable in emotional terms, she argues, their "exchange" or "surrender"
value on the market, that is, the conversion of their intangible worth into cash
terms, became much greater.
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that accidental-death damage awards
in America during the nineteenth century tended to be based principally on the
______.
A. earnings of the person at titan of death
B. wealth of the party causing the death
C. degree of guilt of the party causing the death
D. amount of suffering endured by the family of the person killed
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】推理题，问从文中推断，19世纪时，意外死亡保险在美国一般建立在什么基础上。文中并没有直接提到这方面的内容，但开篇介绍的事例就是一个反例，在这个例子中一个小孩未被赔偿，因为他不能给家里挣钱(since the child had made no real economic contribution to the family, there was no liability for damages.)。所以由此反推，就可以知道当时意外死亡保险的赔付依据是其挣钱的能力。答案A“收入”与此相符。
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that in the early 1800' s children
were generally regarded by their families as individuals who ______.
A. needed enormous amounts of security and affection
B. required constant supervision while working
C. were important to the economic well-being of a family
D. were financial burdens assumed for the good of society
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】细节题，问在19世纪早期孩子们被家庭看作是什么。文章第一段只是一个引出话题的引子，第二段才正式进入话题。第二段的第二句介绍了儿童价值的一个转化过程：“为家庭创造经济财富的‘有用’儿童的概念逐渐转变为……”(the concept of the "useful" child who contributed to the family economy gave way gradually to...)，由此C“对家庭的经济利益很重要”符合。其它选项中，A是价值转变后的特点，注意不要混了。
单选题
Which of the following alternative explanations of the change in the
cash value of children would most likely come from sociological economists?
A. Parents began to increase their emotional investment in the upbringing,
of their children.
B. Children's expected earnings over the course of a lifetime increased
greatly.
C. Compulsory education laws reduced the supply, and thus raised the costs,
of available child labor.
D. Changes in the law made available of indemnity for damages in
accidental-death cases.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】推断题，问几个解释儿童金钱价值变化的选项中，哪个最符合社会经济学家的观点。进行推理前首先需要了解什么是社会经济学家的观点，根据关键词“sociological economists”找到文章第三段的开头，其后(第二句)总结了他们的观点：把人的一切行为都解释为试图获得最大的经济利益(view all human behavior as directed primarily by the principle of maximizing economic gain)，根据这个观点，判断只有B“儿童的预期收入增长很大”符合。 A是Zelizer的观点：C是因果倒置，法是价值转变后的果：D是文章的一个例证，和社会经济学家无关，自然就不能代表其观点。
单选题
Which of the following statements of American families in 19th century
can be inferred from the passage?
A. Family members became more economically dependent on each other.
B. The percentage of families involved in industrial work declined
dramatically.
C. Family members became mom emotionally bonded to one another.
D. Family members spent an increasing amount of time working with each
other.
单选题
Zelizer refers to all of the following as important influences in
changing the assessment of children's worth EXCEPT changes in ______.
A. the nature of industry
B. the nature of the family
C. attitudes toward reform movements
D. attitudes toward the marketplace
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】细节题，问哪个选项不是Zelizer提出的对儿童价值变化起重要影响的因素。排除法，将选项带回原文找出处。根据题干关键字发现第二段讲的是影响因素，仔细看过来：A“工业性质的变化”出在“a maturing industrial economy”、B“家庭性质的变化”出于“development of the companionate family”、D“对市场态度的变化”出于段末“sacralization, a way of resisting... corruption of human values by marketplace”，这体现了对市场的态度。只有 C“对改革运动态度的变化”文中未提。