An Irish newspaper editorial encouraging women to participate in the non-importation movement launched in Ireland in 1779 appears consistent with a perception that the political use of the consumer boycott originated in North America and spread eastwards across the Atlantic to Ireland. This is a view that most historians have concurred with. For example, T.H. Breen argued that the consumer boycott was a brilliantly original American invention. Breen did acknowledge that a few isolated boycotts may have taken place in other countries. However, Mary ODowd argues that from the late seventeenth century, Irish political discourse advocated for the nonconsumption of imported goods and support for home manufactures by women in ways that were strikingly similar to those used later in North America.
文章解析
第一句话：
An Irish newspaper editorial encouraging women to participate in the non-importation movement launched in Ireland in 1779 appears consistent with a perception that the political use of the consumer boycott originated in North America and spread eastwards across the Atlantic to Ireland.
This is a view that most historians have concurred with. For example, T.H. Breen argued that the consumer boycott was a brilliantly original American invention.
Breen did acknowledge that a few isolated boycotts may have taken place in other countries.
白话版讲解：
Breen确实也承认，（在美国原创发明“抵制”之前），在美国以外的其他国家，也出现过一些个别（isolated）的“抵制”事件。
这句话只说了一半，后面没说出来的半句话是，Breen坚持认为，那些isolated的“抵制事件”不算发明，只有美国算是真的发明了这种活动。
注解：
isolated adj.个别的；例外的（single; exceptional）
例句：
They were isolated incidents.
那些事都是些个别事件。
第五句话：
However, Mary ODowd argues that from the late seventeenth century, Irish political discourse advocated for the nonconsumption of imported goods and support for home manufactures by women in ways that were strikingly similar to those used later in North America.
1. The passage is primarily concerned with
A.resolving a dispute
B.advocating a course of action
C.tracing the evolution of a practice
D.citing competing views of an issue
E.chronicling a series of events
本题答案：D
白话版讲解：
问文章主要是关于什么的？也就是问文章的修辞功能。
A.“解决一个争议”
B.“提倡采取一种行动”
C.“追溯（查考）一个做法的演进发展”
D.“引用相反的观点”
E.“翔实记载一系列事件”
“爱尔兰的抵制是从美国传过去的，还是比美国早好多年爱尔兰自己就会搞抵制这种运动”，这个问题就是文章的issue。文章第一句话到第三句话，介绍了一个perception，也就是第一种view。第四句话介绍了另一种view及其论据。两种观点是相反的。作者并没有说他自己赞成哪种观点，所以只是引用了两种相反的观点，并没有resolve什么。所以D正确，A错误。如果A改成“介绍一个争议”，那就差不多也可以选。
注解：
issue一般翻译成“问题”，这种译法容易和“question”、“problem”混淆，issue的英文释义是an important topic or problem for debate or discussion，同学们要注意它的准确意思是“所讨论、争论的话题”或“争点”。
E选项中的chronicle的意思是“翔实记载（系列相关事件）”，即record (a related series of events) in a factual and detailed way。
例句：
His work chronicles 20th-century displacement and migration.
他的作品翔实记载了20世纪被迫离境和移居国外的情况
2. In the context of the passage, the highlighted sentence serves to
A.qualify a point made in the preceding sentence
B.correct an erroneous assumption
C.provide evidence in support of a perception cited in the opening sentence
D.provide a rationale for the view expressed in the following sentence
E.establish the popularity of a point of view
本题答案：A
白话版讲解：
问突出显示的那句话的修辞功能是什么？
A.“使前一句话主张的观点（point）不那么绝对”
B.”纠正一个错误的臆断”
C.“给第一句引用的那种观点提供证据”
D.“为下一句话表达的观点提供一套理由（逻辑依据）”
E.“证实一个观点是多么受欢迎”
突出显示的是第四句话：
Breen did acknowledge that a few isolated boycotts may have taken place in other countries.
文章第三句话介绍了一个point，说“抵制”是美国的一个杰出的原创发明。第四句话说，Breen确实也承认，（在美国原创发明“抵制”之前），在美国以外的其他国家，也出现过一些个别的（isolated） “抵制”事件。既然是原创发明，那么在美国原创发明之前，应该没有其他国家有过这种“抵制”。所以第四句话就是说Breen也确实承认，第三句话提到的他说的“杰出的原创发明”不是绝对的原创，这就给之前Breen的那个point加了一些reservations（保留意见）。
A选项中的“qualify”这个单词的意思是“使一项陈述或声称不过于绝对；加一些保留意见” （make a statement or assertion less absolute; add reservations to）
例句：
I'd like to qualify my criticisms of the school's failings, by adding that it's a very happy place.
关于我对这所学校很多缺陷的批评，我想补充一点，就是这是个令人感到愉快的地方。
（刚才我说这个学校有很多failings，还批评了一番，我现在觉得我说得有点太绝对了，我想补充一下，这学校也不是一点优点也没有啊，至少这里是个快乐的地方）。
qualify这个单词是我们中文中没有对应词汇的，准确理解这个单词后，我们可以看出A选项是正确选项。
