King Juan Carlos of Spain once insisted "kings don"t abdicate, they die in their sleep." But embarrassing scandals and the popularity of the republican left in the recent Euro-elections have forced him to eat his words and stand down. So, does the Spanish crisis suggest that monarchy is seeing its last days? Does that mean the writing is on the wall for all European royals, with their magnificent uniforms and majestic lifestyles? The Spanish case provides arguments both for and against monarchy. When public opinion is particularly polarised, as it was following the end of the Franco regime, monarchs can rise above "mere" politics and "embody" a spirit of national unity. It is this apparent transcendence of politics that explains monarchs, continuing popularity as heads of state. And so, the Middle East excepted, Europe is the most monarch-infested region in the world, with 10 kingdoms(not counting Vatican City and Andorra). But unlike their absolutist counterparts in the Gulf and Asia, most royal families have survived because they allow voters to avoid the difficult search for a non-controversial but respected public figure. Even so, kings and queens undoubtedly have a downside. Symbolic of national unity as they claim to be, their very history—and sometimes the way they behave today—embodies outdated and indefensible privileges and inequalities. At a time when Thomes Piketty and other economists are warning of rising inequality and the increasing power of inherited wealth, it is bizarre that wealthy aristocratic families should still be the symbolic heart of modern democratic states. The most successful monarchies strive to abandon or hide their old aristocratic ways. Prince and princesses have day-jobs and ride bicycles, not horses(or helicopters). Even so, these are wealthy families who party with the international 1%, and media intrusiveness makes it increasingly difficult to maintain the right image. While Europe" s monarchies will no doubt be smart enough to strive for some time to come, it is the British royals who have most to fear from the Spanish example. It is only the Queen who has preserved the monarchy" s reputation with her rather ordinary(if well-healed)granny style. The danger will come with Charles, who has both an expensive taste of lifestyle and a pretty hierarchical view of the world. He has failed to understand that monarchies have largely survived because they provide a service—as non-controversial and non-political heads of state. Charles ought to know that as English history shows, it is kings, not republicans, who are the monarchy" s worst enemies.
单选题
According to the first two paragraphs, King Juan Carl of Spain
单选题
Monarchs are kept as heads of state in Europe mostly
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第三段。该段末句意为“但不同于海湾地区和亚洲等同于君主的专制主义者，大部分王室家族幸存下来，这是因为他们让选民避免了在寻找一个无争议但受尊重的公众人物时的困难”，其中non-controversial but respected public figure正是A项中undoubted and respectable status的同义置换，故A项是正确答案。B项“在传统和现实中寻求平衡”，C项“给选民更多的公众人物去崇拜”和D项“因为他们永恒的政治体现”均不符合题意。
单选题
Which of the following is shown to be odd, according to Paragraph 4?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第四段。该段第二句提到“奇怪的是富有的贵族家庭仍然是现代民主国家的象征核心”，其中bizarre是题干中odd的同义替换，the symbolic heart of modern democratic states是C项the role of the nobility in modern democracies的同义替换。故C项为正确答案。A项“贵族们过度依赖继承的财富”，B项“贵族家庭简单的生活方式”和D项“贵族对他们特权的坚持”，均不符合题意。
单选题
The British royals "have most to fear" because Charles