GRE阅读真题机经及答案解析系列：Passage 53 -GRE阅读真题免费下载

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GRE阅读真题机经Passage 53

The manuscripts of the eight extant Latin tragedies identify the plays as the Marci Lucii Annei Senecae Tragoediae. Since nobody of that name is known, modern scholars believe the dramas to be the work of Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, the well- known philosopher, orator and politician. Clearly the tragedies were written during Seneca’s lifetime: internal references to earlier poets, most notably Ovid, indicate that the dramas cannot have been composed prior to the second decade C.E., and the plays must have been written by 96 C.E., when Quintilian quotes Medea, one of the tragedies. It is remarkable, however, that Seneca himself never mentions the plays, since there are certain passages in them that could be used to illustrate points of his philosophy. There are at least two possible explanations. In the early Roman Empire, playwrights were sometimes exiled or executed for line construed as directed against the emperor; thus, Seneca’s silence may be simple prudence. But if anyone could safely attach his name to dramas, surely it would be Seneca, the emperor’s tutor. And although Herrmann offers Seneca’s modesty as an explanation, Seneca is not averse to referring to his other writings. The evidence for equating Seneca with the author of the tragedies seems circumstantial.

GRE阅读文章解析

第一部分：

The manuscripts of the eight extant Latin tragedies identify the plays as the Marci Lucii Annei Senecae Tragoediae. Since nobody of that name is known, modern scholars believe the dramas to be the work of Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, the well- known philosopher, orator and politician. Clearly the tragedies were written during Seneca’s lifetime: internal references to earlier poets, most notably Ovid, indicate that the dramas cannot have been composed prior to the second decade C.E., and the plays must have been written by 96 C.E., when Quintilian quotes Medea, one of the tragedies. 白话版讲解： 至今存世的八个用拉丁文写的悲剧剧本手稿（内的线索）指明这八个剧本是《Marci Lucii Annei Senecae悲剧剧本集》。由于历史上并没有Marci Lucii Annei Senecae这个人的相关记载，所以现在学者都认为这个Marci Lucii Annei Senecae，就是著名哲学家、演说家、政治家Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger。这八个悲剧的剧本中有些地方提到了一些年代更早的诗人（尤其是提到了诗人Ovid），说明这八个悲剧创作的年代最早不可能早过公元0020年，因为诗人Ovid大概是0020年出生的。这8个剧本不可能提到还没有出生的人。一位名叫Quintilian的人，在他写的书中，引用过《Medea》（上述八个悲剧中的一个）的句子，所以这八个悲剧创作的年代最晚不可能晚过公元0096年，因为Quintilian是0096年去世的。他不可能看过他死后才写出来的剧本。所以这八个剧本创作的年代是在0020年至0096年之间，这个年代正是著名哲学家、演说家、政治家Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger生活的年代，所以写这八个悲剧剧本的人，可能就是Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger。

注解：identify vt.指出……是谁 establish or indicate who or what (someone or something) is: 例句1：The judge ordered that the girl not be identified.法官下令，不要指明哪个女孩是谁。例句2：The contact would identify himself simply as Cobra.那个线人想用“眼镜蛇”这样的简单称呼称呼自己。

第二部分：

It is remarkable, however, that Seneca himself never mentions the plays, since there are certain passages in them that could be used to illustrate points of his philosophy. There are at least two possible explanations. In the early Roman Empire, playwrights were sometimes exiled or executed for line construed as directed against the emperor; thus, Seneca’s silence may be simple prudence. But if anyone could safely attach his name to dramas, surely it would be Seneca, the emperor’s tutor. And although Herrmann offers Seneca’s modesty as an explanation, Seneca is not averse to referring to his other writings. The evidence for equating Seneca with the author of the tragedies seems circumstantial. 白话版讲解： 但有一件事值得引起注意，就是Seneca本人（在他的其他作品中）从来没有提到过这八个戏剧。为什么这件事值得引起注意呢？这八个戏剧中有些段落是可以用来当例子来解释Seneca提倡的哲学的一些观点的。那Seneca为什么从来没有提过呢？（学界）至少有两种解释。第一种解释是，在罗马帝国早期，剧作家有时候会因为写的剧本中有些字句被人解读为是在针对皇帝发表批评（direct something at/to/against），而被流放或处决；所以Seneca不提自己的写的戏剧，也许是出于谨慎。但Seneca其实是那个时代最不怕说那八个悲剧剧本是自己写的人，因为Seneca是皇帝的老师，他批评皇帝，（皇帝即使心里不爽），一般也不会把他流放或处决。所以说“Seneca是因为怕皇帝处罚而不敢提自己写的戏剧”，这个解释有点牵强。第二种解释是，有个叫Herrmann的（古文献学家）说的，他说Seneca不愿提到自己写的这八个剧本，是因为谦虚。这种解释也站不住脚，因为Seneca还写了其他东西，但他好像蛮愿意提到自己写的其他东西，就是不愿提那八个悲剧剧本。那Seneca为什么有时候谦虚，有时候就不谦虚呢？综上所述，两种解释都站不住脚。所以仅仅凭那八个剧本创作年代和Seneca生活的年代重合，就判断其作者就是Seneca，是有问题的。“那八个剧本创作年代和Seneca生活的年代重合”，这只是个间接的（circumstantial）证据。注解：circumstantial adj.（证据，案件）间接指认罪行但不能确证的(of evidence or a legal case) pointing indirectly towards someone's guilt but not conclusively proving it

题目解析

1. The author mentions Medea primarily in order to

A. give an example of a play in which references to certain authors can be used to determine when the Marci Lucii Annei Senecae Tragoediae were composed. B. acknowledge the possibility that the Marci Lucii Annei Senecae Tragoediae may have been written by Quintilian rather than Seneca. C. suggest that certain of the Marci Lucii Annei Senecae Tragoediae may have been written near the end of Seneca’s lifetime. D. argue that Medea may have been one of the last of the eight plays in the Marci Lucii Annei Senecae Tragoediae to be written. E. indicate how the latest possible date for the time period during which the Marci Lucii Annei Senecae Tragordiae were composed might be established. 白话版讲解： 问作者提到Medea这部悲剧，是为了……？根据文章第三句话的后半句话，“一位名叫Quintilian的人，在他写的书中，引用过《Medea》（上述八个悲剧中的一个）的句子，所以这八个悲剧创作的年代最晚不可能晚过公元0096年，因为Quintilian是0096年去世的。他不可能看过他死后才写出来的剧本。” E选项中的the latest possible date与文章内容对应，所以E选项正确。 A选项对应的是文章第三句话的前半句话，讲的是“剧本中提到了以前的某些作者”的事，用来确定剧本创作的年代最早不可能早过哪一年，而本题问的是“以后的某些作者提到了剧本 ”，用来确定剧本创作的年代最晚不可能晚过哪一年。 B选项“承认可能是Quintilian写的”。C选项“暗示是Seneca晚年写的”。D选项说“主张Medea在八个悲剧里是比较晚写出来的一个”。都是无中生有，都是文章没有提到的内容。本题答案：E

2. The author of the passage makes which of the following claims about the eight extant Latin tragedies?

A. There is only circumstantial evidence that the plays were all written by the same author. B. Scholars have persistently attributed the plays to Seneca despite evidence that some of them may have been composed prior to his lifetime. C. Evidence in the manuscripts of the plays identifies them as having been written by Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger. D. The plays contain some lines that have been construed as being directed against the emperor. E. The plays contain material that could illustrate certain aspects of Seneca’s philosophy. 白话版讲解： 问关于那八个悲剧，文章作者做了什么断言？ A“对八个悲剧都是同一人所写这个结论，使用的证据是非直接的” 张冠李戴。文章质疑的结论是“八个悲剧是Seneca写的”。所以A错误。 B“尽管有些证据表明八个戏剧中有几个是在Seneca出生前写的，但是学者们还是坚持说八个戏剧都是Seneca写的” 无中生有。文章没有提到。所以B错误。 C“八个戏剧中的手稿中有证据指出这八个戏剧是Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger写的” 张冠李戴。根据文章第一句话，文章中说是手稿指出这八个戏剧是Marci Lucii Annei Senecae写的。所以C错误。 D“八个戏剧中有些词句被解读为是在针对皇帝发表批评” 张冠李戴。文章是说，有些剧作家写的有些剧本会遇到这种情况，但是没有具体说那八个戏剧有没有遇到这种情况。所以D错误。 E“八个戏剧的有些内容可以用来当例子去解释Seneca提倡的哲学的一些观点” 根据文章第二部分第一句话，所以E正确。本题答案：E

3. The author of the passage would most likely agree that if Seneca had in fact written the tragedies, then Seneca probably would have

A. used the plays as platforms for his philosophical ideas. B. referred to the plays in some of his other writings. C. been in danger of exile or execution for certain line in the plays. D. avoided attaching his name to be the plays out of modesty. E. written the plays during the latter portion of his lifetime. 白话版讲解： 问文章作者会同意：如果确实是Seneca写的，那么他很可能会……？根据文章作者在文章第二部分第一句话，说，大家都发现了一个remarkable的问题， “Seneca没有在其他作品中提到过自己写的那八个戏剧”。可见作者也让认为这是不合常理的，所以作者认为Seneca本来应该提一下的，一点都不提，不太正常。所以B选项正确。本题答案：B

4. The author implies which of the following about Seneca’s status as the emperor’s tutor?

A. It enabled Seneca to illustrate points of his philosophy to the leaders of the early Roman Empire. B. It had more of an effect on Seneca’s career as a dramatist than it did on his career as a philosopher, orator, and politician. C. It might have offered Seneca some protection from certain dangers playwrights typically faced. D. It required Seneca to avoid making references to his various writings. E. It required that Seneca take particular care that his writings could not be construedas being directed against the emperor. 白话版讲解： 问作者暗示，Seneca因为其具有皇帝老师的地位，就怎么样？根据文章第二部分第四句话，“但Seneca其实是那个时代最不怕说那八个悲剧剧本是自己写的人，因为Seneca是皇帝的老师，所以他批评皇帝，（皇帝即使心里不爽），一般不会把他流放或处决。”别的剧作家一般都怕的事，Seneca的地位让他不太怕。所以C选项正确。本题答案：C

5. Each of the following assertions consistent with Seneca’s authorship of the plays appears in the passage EXCEPT

A. There is no known author by the name to which the plays are attributed. B. Playwrights in the early Roman Empire were politically vulnerable. C. There are references in the play to Ovid. D. There are references in the plays to Seneca’s philosophical works. E. There are quotations from the plays in the works of Quintilian. 白话版讲解： 下列说法，哪一个选项不符合文章内容？根据文章第一句话，A符合文章内容。根据文章第二部分第三句话，B选项符合文章内容。根据文章第三句话的前半句话，C选项符合文章内容。文章没有提到说“八个戏剧中提到了Seneca的哲学著作”。所以D选项不符合文章内容。所以选D。根据文章第三句话的后半句话，E选项符合文章内容。本题答案：D