【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】Listen to part of a lecture in a history class. Professor: Now that we have discussed the origins of World War I, let’s look at European society on the eve of war and, in particular, what were called the six Great Powers: Germany, Austria- Hungary, Italy, France, Russia, and Great Britain. These were the six nations that faced each other in the alliances before the war, with the Germans, Austro-Hungarians, and Italians on one side, and the French, Russians, and British on the other. However, when war came, the Italians decided to, uh, stay out of it and eventually joined the Allied side with the British, French, and Russians. But I’m getting, ah, how can I say, a little ahead of myself. I wanted to talk about society, which means that everyone had a place and knew what it was, and most stayed in their place. In Britain, for example, one could easily distinguish between the working classes and the upper classes by their clothing, what they ate and drank, and their leisure activities. The upper classes drank wine, went to the horse races, and played cricket, golf, and tennis while the lower classes drank beer and cheap gin and enjoyed boxing, football, and gambling. There was rarely any intermingling of social classes, with the upper classes serving as the leaders in politics, business, universities, and so on while the vast majority labored in the factories and fields. The Western European nations were more industrialized and richer than the Eastern or Southern states, which were more agrarian and had vast peasant populations, especially Russia, the most backward of the great powers. Italy, which suffered a series of drastic economic upheavals prior to war, lost a great many people, perhaps as many as four millions, to migration to other countries, most often America. Austria-Hungary was further divided by nationalities, with the German-speaking Austrians and Magyars of Hungary dominating the empire, leaving the Slavic peoples of Czechoslovakia, Bosnia, and the old state of Poland without much say in affairs. This was one of the leading causes of the war. Britain and Germany were undoubtedly the wealthiest and had much in common, with the kings of both nations being grandsons of Queen Victoria. The British relied on their navy, merchant fleet, and far-flung empire for wealth while the Germans, those industrious Germans, had a huge population, massive army, and great wealth built on heavy industry. Education was available to all children in most Western European nations, but going to university took money and, uh, connections. In Eastern and Southern Europe, universal education was not the norm, and many people, quite the majority actually, was illiterate, uh, that is, they couldn’t read or write. Almost all of our great literature of the way years comes from the university classes, almost always officers. The common soldiers wrote letters to their families, but there are very few cases of fighting men writing of their experiences after the war, unless, of course, they were officers. Women, who would bear much of the burden of the war at home, taking the place of the men at the front in the factories and farms, were not even allowed to vote. In recognition of the work the women did in the war, in 1916, the British government passed a law that would allow women the vote, but not until after the war was over. Imagine that ! I guess they were afraid the women would vote to end the war. It is without doubt that the war helped to speed the cause of woman’s suffrage, and women were not to be denied a vote in most nations in the future. Unfortunately, with all their education and class consciousness, the elites of Europe could not stop the war from coming. In fact, many of them and the common people rejoiced when war was declared. There were parades in the streets and marching bands, with beautiful girls kissing the soldiers goodbye and throwing flowers at their feet. Everyone thought it would be a quick war, and no one wanted to miss the excitement. Of course, no one knew it would take four years, ten million lives, and the destruction of the European order to end the war. The upper class officers led the lower class men to a great slaughter. Their unwavering dedication to duty is very shocking for our society today. Why did all those men charge shocking for our society today. Why did all those men charge the enemy in such futile battles? I think we could never have such a war again. The people were innocent of war, not having experienced a major one prior to 1914. That’s more than forty years. The unquestioning obedience to their leaders, even in the face of death, the belief that they had to do their duty for their country, was a part of the times. 请听一段历史课讲座。教授：我们已经讨论过了第一次世界大战的起因，现在我们来谈谈战争前夕的欧洲社会，尤其是所谓的六大强国：德国、奥匈帝国、意大利、法国、俄国和英国。战争前夕，这六个国家处于对立的联盟，德国人、奥匈帝国人和意大利人是一方，法国人、俄国人和英国人是另一方。然而，战争来临时，意大利人决定，嗯，脱离原来的联盟，并最终加入了英、法、俄这一方。但我，啊，怎么说呢，有点言之过早了。我想说的是欧洲的社会。这是一个等级意识很强的社会，就是说每个人都属于自己熟知的一个阶层，并且大多数人都生活在他们的阶层里。举个例子，在英国，可以通过穿着、饮食和娱乐活动来区分一个人是工人阶级还是上层阶级。上层阶级喝葡萄酒，看赛马，打板球、高尔夫，而下层阶级喝啤酒和便宜的杜松子酒，喜欢拳击、足球和赌博。几乎不存在混合的社会阶层，上层社会在政界、商界、大学等当领导，而大部分人在工厂和农场做劳工。比起有较多耕地及农业人口的东欧、南欧国家，尤其是强国中最弱的俄国，西欧国家更加工业化，更加富裕。意大利在战前就遭受了一系列经济剧变，许多百姓，也许多达四百万人，都迁往了其他国家，去美国的居多。奥匈帝国进一步民族分化，由讲德语的奥地利人和匈牙利的马扎尔人统治，抛弃了捷克斯洛伐克、波斯尼亚和波兰旧政府的斯拉夫民族，并对此没有作过多的解释。这是战争的主要原因之一。毫无疑问，英国和德国是最富有的国家并有很多共同点，两国国王都是维多利亚女王的孙子。英国靠他们的海军、商业舰队和辽阔的土地致富，而德国人口众多，人民勤劳，军队庞大，以重工业致富。在多数西欧国家，教育面向所有儿童，但上大学要花钱，托关系。在东欧和南欧，普及教育并不规范，许多人，大部分人是文言，嗯，就是说，他们不识字。战争年代里，几乎所有文学巨著都来自大学阶层，几乎都是官员所著。普通士兵给家里写信，但战后几乎没有参战土兵描写他们的经历，当然，除非他们是官员。妇女在家承受着战争的负担，她们取代男人的位置在工厂及农场里劳动，却不允许她们投票。意识到妇女在战争中的作用后，1916年，英国政府通过了一项法律，允许妇女投票，但直到战争结束才开始实行。设想一下!我猜可能是英国怕妇女投票结束战争。毫无疑问，是战争加速了妇女选举权的产生，以至于后来妇女在大部分国家都拥有投票的权利。不幸的是，有着教育背景及阶级意识的欧洲精英们却没能阻止战争的到来。事实上，他们中的大多数人和普通市民在听到宣战后都十分欣喜。大街上，游行队伍中漂亮的女孩和士兵们亲吻道别，抛撒鲜花。每个人都认为战争很快就能结束，没人想要错过这么令人兴奋的事。当然，没人想到这场战争持续了四年，以千万人的生命和欧洲秩序的毁灭告终。上层官员领导着下层人民进行了一场大屠杀。他们那种坚定的使命感在今天看来令我们非常震惊。为什么那些人在那场无用的战争中都能猛攻敌人?我想我们再也不会有这种战争了。人民对战争是无知的，在1914年以前，已经四十多年没有经历过大战了。人民对长官绝对服从，甚至在面临死亡的时候，他们都坚信国家使命，这是那个时代的一部分。 29．教授讨论了欧洲在“一战”前的哪些方面？ A.欧洲社会的特征 B.战争如此漫长和血腥的原因 C.强国的优势和弱势 D.教育和妇女在社会中的作用解析教授在讲第一次世界大战爆发的背景的同时也讲解了以六大强国为首的欧洲社会的特征。