When you think of a typical American, who do you picture? A pretty blond (金发的) white American like Taylor Swift? Or a handsome black American like basketball star Kobe Bryant? In fact, there was a time when the average American looked like neither of these people.
Back in the year 1500, the average American was a brown-skinned hunter-gatherer who probably rode a horse and wore clothing made from animal skins.Today, the ancestors of these people— who usually identify themselves based on their individual tribes (部族) such as Iroquois, Apache and Navajo— are broadly referred to as “Native Americans”, “American Indians” or simply “Indians”.
There’s a chance that you’ve never even heard of American Indians.That’s because there aren’t very many left.When the European settlement of North America began, there was intense (激烈的) conflict between settlers from overseas and these native people.After the British government and military (军队) were expelled (赶走) in the Revolutionary War, conflicts with natives continued as the states were created that would later make up the US.In these conflicts, millions of natives were killed.
In 1830, former US President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act.This act required all Indians to migrate (迁往) to west of the Mississippi River to allow for the expansion (扩张) of the US.American Indians were treated as a military “enemy” until 1924, when the few Indians still alive at that point were granted (准予) US citizenship.That was the first time that the US government formally recognized the rights of Indians.
While the story of the American Indians has been a sad one, their legacy (遗产) is still felt every day in the US.Many US geographical names come from Indian languages, such as Ohio, Topeka, Kansas, and the Potomac River.At the same time, there are many successful academics and other important US leaders who are descended (是……的后裔) from Indians.And nowadays, more and more history classes in US public schools are educating students about how Indians suffered during the settlement of the US.
Although what happened cannot be undone, we can learn at least one thing from the sad history of the Indians: If we want a better future, we must look carefully and honestly at the past.
1.What is the article mainly about?
A.The history of the settlement of the US. B.What a typical American is like.
C.The sad story of American Indians. D.American Indians’ economic impact on the US.
2.It can be inferred from the article that in the middle of the 19th century, American Indians .
A.were expelled from the US by the British government
B.were regarded as a military “enemy” of the US
C.were finally granted US citizenship
D.were required to live along the Mississippi River
3.What can we learn about American Indians from the article?
A.There are few influential American Indians in US history.
B.Some of their languages are still used today.
C.The majority of them lived in the states of Ohio and Kansas.
D.American youths are becoming more informed of the suffering of the Indians.
4.What is the author’s attitude toward the history of American Indians?
A.It’s miserable to be reminded of it. B.It’s important to learn from it.
C.He doesn’t have much interest in it. D.Every school should teach classes about it.
语篇解读:这是一篇回顾美国历史上土著印第安人悲惨遭遇的文章。
答案及剖析:
1.C 主旨大意题。本文主要回顾了美国历史上土著印第安人的悲惨遭遇,故选C。
2.B 推理判断题。由第四段可知,1830年《印第安人迁移法》的颁布要求印第安人迁移到密西西比河以西,以扩张美国领土。在1924年印第安人获得公民权以前,也就是20世纪初以前,他们都被认为是军队的敌人,所以可以推知B为正确答案,而C、D不对。根据第三段中的“After the British government and military (军队) were expelled (赶走) in the Revolutionary War, conflicts with natives continued”,所以A项不对。
3.D 推理判断题。由倒数第二段的“And nowadays, more and more history classes in US public schools are educating students about how Indians suffered during the settlement of the US.”可推知D为正确答案。由倒数第二段的“At the same time, there are many successful academics and other important US leaders who are descended from Indians.”可知A不对;倒数第二段提到了美国很多地名源自印第安人语言,例如Ohio,Topeka, Kansas,这不等同于说他们的语言仍然在被使用,所以B项不对;C项文中没有提及。
4.B 推理判断题。由最后一段可以看出作者认为美国人应该正视历史,好好学习这段历史有利于建设更好的未来。
