中国社会科学院研究生院 QbF!V%+a's
2015 年攻读博士学位研究生入学考试试卷 qoNVp7uv
英 语 igoXMsifT+
2015 年 3 月 14 日 Dlc=[kf9
8:30 – 11:30 9q?\F
1 v<*ga7'S
PART I: Vocabulary and Grammar xKilTh_.6
Section A (10 points) H`js1b1n
Directions: Choose the answer that best fills in the blank.
H %Cb
1. Even the president is not really the CEO. No one is. Power in a corporation is concentrated and .|[5*-
vertically structured. Power in Washington is ______________ and horizontally spread out. ]kJinXHW
a. prudent b. reversible c. diffuse d. mandatory E>/kNl
2. In describing the Indians of the various sections of the United States at different stages in their #].n0[
history , some of the factors which account for their similarity amid difference can be readily aV^wTs#2I
accounted for, others are difficult to _______________. *rY@(|
a. refine b. discern c. embed d. cluster DNARe!pK
3. The partial transfer of legislative powers from Westminster, implemented by Tony Blair, was 8"d0Su4r
designed to give the other members of the club a bigger ______________ and to counter ~Rs_ep'+Q2
centrifugal forces that seemed to threaten the very idea of the union. \#(3r1(
a. say b. transmission c. decay d. contention z9@Tg=#i
4. It can hardly be denied the proliferation of so-called dirty books and films has, to date, reached C'HW`rh.^
almost a saturation point. People do not acknowledge the _______________ fact that children %J*z!Fe8s
are bound to be exposed to ―dirty words‖ in a myriad of ways other than through the public V3<baxdE
airwaves. .hYrE5\-
a. irrefutable b. concrete c. inevitable d. haphazard 6g/ <FM
5. A condition is an essential term of the contract. If a contract is not performed, it may constitute a 0KW@j>=jK
substantial breach of contract and allow the other party to _______________ the contract, that is, 0]x g E
treat the contract as discharged or terminated. taS2b#6\+
a. repudiate b. spurn c. decline d. halt }gk37_}X\I
6. Each of us shares with the community in which we live a store of words as well as agreed 0 mJvoz\j8
conventions ______________ these words should be arranged to convey a particular message. X!} t``
a. as the way by which b. by the way in which 7M#eR8*[se
c. as to the way in which d. in the way of which -WDU~VSU
7. Rarely ______________ a technological development _______________ an impact on many 7
Jxhn!
aspects of social, economic, and cultural development as greatly as the growth of electronics. 7H$0NM
P
a. has… had b. had…had c. has…has d. have…had }T@^wY_Ow
8. If early humans ______________ as much as they did, they probably ______________ to evolve ~F?vf@k
into different species. ].W)eMC*c(
a. did not move and intermingle…would continue p.{M s n
b. would not move and intermingle…had continued 3;M7^DM
c. had not moved and intermingled…would have continued k)Y}X)\36
d. were not to move and intermingle…could have continued a;=)`
2 ;x 9_
9. It was ______________ the last time around the track ______________ I really kicked it <Fkm7ME]
in--passing the gossiping girlfriends, blocking out the whistles of boys who had already pGQP9r%
completed their run and now were hanging out on the grassy hill, I ran--pushing hard, breathing %+\ PN
shallowly, knowing full well that I was going to have to hear about it from my disapproving `Gct_6
friends for the next few days. Y ^s_v_s
a. not until…when b. not until…that c. until…when d. until…that |Ai/q6u
10.One impediment ______________ the general use of a standard in pronunciation is the fact 3NI3b-7
______________ pronunciation is learnt naturally and unconsciously, while orthography is
q|An
learnt deliberately and consciously. N?xZ]?T
a. in…which b. of …in which c. on…that d. to…that $;kFuJF
Section B (5 points) qOA+ao
Directions: Choose the word that is the closest in meaning with the underlined word. sK)fEx
11. It is some 15 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims swept up in a tumultuous shuffle of citizens
;E Z5/"T
between India and Pakistan after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. bW"bkA80
a. division b. turmoil c. fusion d. consolidation {{hp;&x
12. Concerning speculation, philosophy looks upon things from the broadest possible perspective; f`ro{p
for criticism, it has the twofold role of questioning and judging everything that pertains either {1 VHz])I
to the foundations or to the superstructure of human thinking. H1?t2\V4
a. inebriates b. forsakes c. relates d. emaciates S
M57bN
13. Meeting is, in fact, a necessary though not necessarily productive psychological side show. u/wWP4'$J@
Perhaps it is our civilized way to moderating,if not preventing, change. k|C~qe3E
a. promoting b. impeding c. tempering d. arresting {e'P*j
14. The truth about alliances and their merit probably lies somewhere between the travel utopia w=NM==cLj
presented by the players and the evil empires portrayed by their critics. a
~s:f5S>
a. collaboration b. worth c. triumph d. defect :;Lt~:0b~
15. But Naifeh and Smith reveal a keen intellect, an avid reader and a passionate observer of other qPI\Y3ZU
artists’ work who progressed from labored figure studies to inspired outbursts of creative energy. {Ad4H[]|]
Far from an artistic flash in the pan, he pursued his calling with dogged determination against PK C}!>2
nearly insurmountable odds. ?*oBevUnCY
a. insuperable b. unsurpassable c. uncountable d. invaluable y4\(ynk
Section C (5 points) *5|;eN
Directions: Choose the letter that indicates the error in the sentence. \ltbiDP2
16. One of the most important non-legislative functions of the U.S. Congress is the power to yL
2sce[
3 q8m
{zSr
investigate, which is usually delegated to committees—either standing committees, special u%t/W0xi
A B M]Kxg;
committees set for a specific purpose, or joint committees consisting of members of both I cJy$+
C D `49: !M$i
houses. {PGiNY%q
17. One of the important corollaries to the investigative power is the power to publicize Cs!z3QU
investigations and their results. Most committee hearings are open to public and are reported Y>J$OA:
A B n 3eLIA{
widely in the mass media. Congressional investigations thus represent one important tool <r>1W~bp.q
C `{oFdvL~)
available to lawmakers to inform the citizenry and to arouse public interest in national issues. s![Di
D MJ\^i4
18. It is not a voice we recognize at once, whereas our own handwriting is something which we
|F}6Zv
A B [g/ &%n0^
almost always know. We begin the natural learning of pronunciation long before we start E%b*MU
C zhC#<
learning to read or write, and in our early years we go on unconsciously imitating and
tLE7s_^
D <"hq}B
practicing the pronunciation of those around us for many hours everyday. Leu93f2
19. It had happened too often that the farmers sold their wheat soon after harvest when farm debts _x` oab0@
A <WiyM[ep
were coming due, only to see prices rising and speculators getting rich. On various occasions, j5:
/Gl8
B >ufL RGL>
producer groups, asked firmer control, but the government had no wish to become involved, at ?mp}_x#=
C (|2:^T+
least not until wartime when wheat prices threatened to run wild. ^Q#g-"b
D BhzcimC)
20. Detailed studies of the tribe by the food scientists at the University of London showed that 0sP*ChY5S
A S}3?
gathering is a more productive source of food than is hunting. An hour of hunting yields on 2{xf{)hO?
B C Rd;^ fBx
average about 100 edible calories as an hour of gathering produces 240. u#+Is4Vh
D -KL5sK
PART II: Reading comprehension (30 points) q\G7T{t$.
Directions: Choose the best answers based on the information in the passages below. EX/{W$
&K
Passage 1 tx$`1KA
Plato’s Republic has been the source of great consternation, especially in literary circles, for its P]
0/ S
4 Xd@ d$
attack on the poets. Socrates in fact asserts that they should have no place in the ideal state. Eric f~?kx41dq
Havelock suggests that there are several misunderstandings in this regard, and in his Preface to T2}X~A
Plato he identifies the issues, explains the historical context. GGU>={D)
Havelock opens his discussion by suggesting that the very title of the Republic is the source of 2-%9k)KH
much confusion. The book is commonly understood to be a treatise on the ideal political entity, but !8*7 {7
even a casual analysis will show that only one-third of the text is concerned with statecraft. The cDq*B*e
other two-thirds cover a variety of subjects, but the thrust of Plato’s argument amounts to an attack h,ipQ>
on the traditional Greek approach to education. O$7r)B6Cs
The educational methods still in use in the 4th century BC had their origins in what has been b/d1(B@
called the Greek Dark Age beginning around 1200 BC when the Mycenaean era collapsed. Very =@P]eK
/
little is known about the whys and wherefores of this collapse, but it wasn’t until around 700 BC Eih6?Lpu
that the Phoenician alphabet began to be adapted and used in the Greek-speaking world. During the ub]s>aqy
intervening centuries, all knowledge concerning Greek history, culture, mores and laws were orally p^s:s-"f\
transmitted down through the generations. The most effective device in aid of memorizing vast t]hfq~Ft
amounts of information was rhyme. The epic form we see in Homer’s Iliad grew out of the need to |`' WEe2
preserve the Greek cultural memory. Havelock takes the reader through Book 1 of The Iliad and O jH"qi
dissects it in detail to show how this cultural, historical and ethical heritage was conveyed. The };g<|v*o
Iliad takes on new and significant meaning to the reader of this minute examination.
t;}`~B
The Iliad and presumably other poetic vehicles were taught to children from an early age. The qb$M.-\ne
whole of the Greek-speaking world was immersed in the project of memorizing, and out of the SNC)cq+{
masses arose those individuals with superior memories and theatrical skills who became the next 8(]q/g"O
generation of minstrels and teachers. Education was thus comprised of memorization and rote
= Atyy
learning, and the people enjoyed constant reminders through public readings and festivals.
E-deXY
Plato’s focus in the Republic and elsewhere is on Homer and Hesiod and to some extent the ^;[^L=}8$
dramatists which at the time were the centerpieces of the educational regime. Their works presented (gUVZeVFP
gods and heroes as fundamentally immoral and thus bad examples for youth. The overall result is %zN~%mJG
that the Greek adolescent is continually conditioned to an attitude which at bottom is cynic al. It is sj&1I.@,>
more important to keep up appearances than to practice the reality. Decorum and decent behavior Y+gNi_dE
are not obviously violated, but the inner principle of morality is. Once the Republic is viewed as a eC@b-q
critique of the educational regime, Havelock says that the logic of its total organization becomes zh5ovA%
clear. 2LS91
What Plato was railing against was an ―oral state of mind‖ which seems to have persisted even 2p~G][
though the alphabet and written documentation had been in use for three centuries. Illiteracy was 7 iQa)8,
thus still a widespread problem in Plato’s time, and the poetic state of mind was the main obstacle P&Wf.qr{:
to scientific rationalism and analysis. This is why Plato regarded the poetic or oral state of mind as QC(ce)Y
the arch-enemy. In his teachings he did the opposite. He asked his students to ―think about what vBV_aB1{
they were saying instead of just saying it.‖ The epic had become, in Plato’s view, not ―an act of (d['f]S+
&
creation but an act of reminder and recall‖ and contributed to what Havelock terms ―the Homeric 91UC>]}H
state of mind.‖ It was Socrates’ project (and by extension Plato’s) to reform Greek education to A27!I+M
encourage thinking and analysis. Thus all the ranting and railing about the ―poets‖ in Plato’s L$?YbQo7
Republic was limited basically to Homer and Hesiod because of what he viewed as a wholly EJ(z]M`f
inadequate approach to education of which these particular poets were an integral part. IO"q4(&;P4
Unfortunately, Western culture has misconstrued what Plato and Socrates meant by ―the :/6u*HwZh
poets.‖ And because we view poetry as a highly creative and elevated form of expression, our juMHc$d17
5 ~n%]u! 6
critics have failed to recognize that Plato’s diatribe had a very specific and limited target which had LAuaowE\v
nothing to do with high-minded creativity, of which there is plenty, by the way, in the proscribed {m"I-VF
poets. It wasn’t really the poets who were the problem; it was the use of them that was deemed GK{~n
unacceptable. 7|<-rjz^
Post-Havelock, we can now read the Republic with the scales lifted from our eyes and see it ySHio;g9
for what it really was: an indictment of an antiquated educational regime which had no place in a ?Skv2!X|
democratic society. -Zqw[2Q4
Comprehension Questions: /U="~{*-R
21. The mistaken understanding of Plato's Republic consists in the widespread belief that it consists 3A3WD+[L
of _______________. 2,p= %
a. literary criticism b. a treatise on the ideal polity +XAM2uN5_.
c. a critique of rationalism d. an indictment of an obsolete pedagogy 6\x/Z=}L
22. According to Havelock, Plato’ s anger with the poets arose from: b7HT<$Wg
I: Their representation of gods and heroes as fundamentally immoral and thus bad examples for @e+qe9A|
youth. $HAwd6NI
II: Their transmission of culture, mores and laws. *7C l1o
a. I. b. II. c. Both I and II. d. Neither I nor II. ~(eD 4"
23. Prior to the 4 v&xhS
yZ
th R".*dC,0'B
century BC, recitation was considered the best educational method because p%5(Qqmlk
______________. Ji
GS[tR
a. poetry was seen as a highly creative and elevated form of expression o3.b='HAm
b. rhyme was the most effective device in aid of memorizing vast amounts of information Xliw(B'\a4
c. there was no writing system M2M&L,/O
d. the people enjoyed constant reminders through public readings and festivals jNAboSf2Y
24. In Plato's diatribe the poetic or oral state of mind is the arch-enemy of _______________. FwDEYG
a. democratic society b. the Mycenaean Republic *-s':
('R
c .the Phoenicians d. literacy 8zpTCae^=7
25. A common critique of the present-day Chinese educational system resembles the educational F#|mN0op
system that Plato fulminated against in that it often _______________. Zrq\:KxX
a. asks students to think about what they were saying instead of just saying it Cp#}x1{
b. comprises of memorization and rote learning Kj+TPqXb
c. has a very specific and limited target NZuylQ
)0
d. encourages thinking and analysis Ar`U/ %Cu
Passage 2 sl*&.F,v=
To govern is to choose how the revenue raised from taxes is spent. So far so good, or bad. But A~8-{F 31
some people earn more money than others. Should they pay proportionately more money to the V.w!]{xm
government than those who earn less? And if they do pay more money are they entitled to more /+f3jy:d
services than those who pay less or those who pay nothing at all? And should those who pay IKnXtydeI}
nothing at all because they have nothing get anything? These matters are of irritable concern to our /z4n?&tM
6 c
B7'>L
rulers, and of some poignancy to the rest. =]0AZ
Although the equality of each citizen before the law is the rock upon which the American NJ(H$tB@
Constitution rests, economic equality has never been an American ideal. In fact, it is the one 3NrWt2?
unmentionable subject in our politics, as the senator from South Dakota recently discovered when *YWk
.
he came up with a few quasi-egalitarian tax reforms. The furious and enduring terror of 0y=lf+xA*
Communism in America is not entirely the work of those early cold warriors Truman and Acheson. m"~),QwF9
A dislike of economic equality is something deep-grained in the American Protestant character. I>@Qfc
bG
After all, given a rich empty continent for vigorous Europeans to exploit (the Indians were simply a bYy7Ul6]
disagreeable part of the emptiness, like chiggers), any man of gumption could make himself a good :JzJ(q/
living. With extra hard work, any man could make himself a fortune, proving that he was a better A@n//AZM
man than the rest. Long before Darwin the American ethos was Darwinian. d0-T\\U
The vision of the rich empty continent is still a part of the American unconscious in spite of the ^-K~y
Great Crowding and its attendant miseries; and this lingering belief in the heaven any man can incUa;
make for himself through hard work and clean living is a key to the majority’s prevailing and B@,#,-=
apparently unalterable hatred of the poor, kept out of sight at home, out of mind abroad. E=l^&[dIl
Yet there has been, from the beginning, a significant division in our ruling class. The early ]}BT'fky#
Thomas Jefferson had a dream: a society of honest yeomen, engaged in agricultural pursuits, f_ UwIP
without large cities, heavy industry, banks, military pretensions. The early (and the late) Alexander VY "i>Ae
Hamilton wanted industry, banks, cities, and a military force capable of making itself felt in world ?.,2EC=+
politics. It is a nice irony that so many of today’s laissez-faire conservatives think that they descend YMn_9s7<
from Hamilton, the proponent of a strong federal government, and that so many liberals believe xMo'SpVz:
themselves to be the heirs of the early Jefferson, who wanted little more than a police force and a B0:/7Ld$Ml
judiciary. Always practical, Jefferson knew that certain men would rise through their own good r r(UE
efforts while, sadly, others would fall. Government would do no more than observe this Darwinian D,,
x<JG|
spectacle benignly, and provide no succor. *gN)a%9
In 1800 the Hamiltonian view was rejected by the people and their new President Thomas S{c;n*xf
Jefferson. Four years later, the Hamiltonian view had prevailed and was endorsed by the reelected aKC3vR0
Jefferson. Between 1800 and 1805 Jefferson had seen to it that an empire in posse had become an D2Dk7//82Y
empire in esse. The difference between Jefferson I and Jefferson II is reflected in the two inaugural r#/Bz5Jb*
addresses. #[NNb?`F
It is significant that nothing more elevated than greed changed the Dr. Jekyll of Jefferson I into W&Kjh|[1QZ
the Mr. Hyde of Jefferson II. Like his less thoughtful countrymen, Jefferson could not resist a deal. C/A~r
Subverting the Constitution he had helped create, Jefferson bought Louisiana from Napoleon, Ixv/xI
acquiring its citizens without their consents. The author of the Declaration of Independence was 5`[B:
<E4
quite able to forget the unalienable rights of anyone whose property he thought should be joined to </Ry4x^A
our empire—a word which crops up frequently and unselfconsciously in his correspondence. kS$m$
D
In the course of land-grabbing, Jefferson II managed to get himself into hot water with France, o|7
h
England, and Spain simultaneously, a fairly astonishing thing to do considering the state of politics =E'
.T0v
in Napoleonic Europe. 5 _
a-nWQ
Comprehension Questions: g'1ASMuR
26. The author believes that Americans ________________. -87]$ ax
a. still believe America to be largely unpopulated K^+}__;]
b. largely believe in lower taxation {]dH+J7
c. are in favor of taxation without representation
hDHIi\%
7 <Z8^.t)|
d. should reconsider the Louisiana purchase 7.tEi}O&_g
27. From the passage, we may assume that the senator from South Dakota _______________. k;?E,!{
a. opposed tax reform b. was Thomas Jefferson ad[oor/7|
c. failed in his attempt to reform tax law d. was Alexander Hamilton 7c.LyvM
28. Jefferson made it possible for ________________. Y'v;!11#
a. a potential empire to become a real one u3@v
b. tax laws to reflect the will of the people YUsMq3^&
c. France, England, and Spain to simultaneously vacillate upon their mutual feelings towards /f)
#CR0$
the United States. RTRi{p
d. Darwinian social theories to be accepted without question SHT ^Etri
29. Jefferson’s early political writings espoused what would today be called _______________. f
!aE/e\
a. collectivism b. libertarianism c. socialism d. liberalism ,7nA:0P
30. The author holds that Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana territories _______________. uw`fC%-xh
a. may be seen as a hypocritical act cJ!C=J
b. rigorously held with his previous views of inalienable rights N"q C-h
c. cannot be seen as an act of empire-expansion 6`l7saHXE
d. was an act meant to lower taxes and improve the wealth of the nation kw.IVz<
Passage 3 BbdJR]N/!h
If, besides the accomplishments of being witty and ill-natured, a man is vicious into the bargain, sCE2 F_xjL
he is one of the most mischievous creatures that can enter into a civil society. His satire will then rc9Y:(S1l
chiefly fall upon those who ought to be the most exempt from it. Virtue, merit, and everything that K?:wX(JYT
is praiseworthy, will be made the subject of ridicule and buffoonery. It is impossible to enumerate =j{r95)|u
the evils which arise from these arrows that fly in the dark; and I know no other excuse that is or .&Ok53]b
can be made for them, than that the wounds they give are only imaginary, and produce nothing 4%L-3Ij
more than a secret shame or sorrow in the mind of the suffering person. It must indeed be confessed V9Gk``F<RZ
that a lampoon or a satire do not carry in them robbery or murder; but at the same time, how many }^R_8{>k
are there that would not rather lose a considerable sum of money, or even life itself, than be set up @*rED6zH
as a mark of infamy and derision? And in this case a man should consider that an injury is not to be
5pI=K/-
measured by the notions of him that gives, but of him that receives it. Those who can put the best Vdz(\-}ao
countenance upon the outrages of this nature which are offered them, are not without their secret {BlKVsQ
anguish. I have often observed a passage in Socrates’ behavior at his death in a light wherein none }
lzN)e
of the critics have considered it. That excellent man entertaining his friends a little before he drank 6Y[|xu:N8Y
the bowl of poison, with a discourse on the immortality of the soul, at his entering upon it says that j |tu|Q
he does not believe any the most comic genius can censure him for talking upon such a subject at bG6<=^
such at a time. This passage, I think, evidently glances upon Aristophanes, who write a comedy on MlM2(/ok
purpose to ridicule the discourses of that divine philosopher. It has been observed by many writers :9Vd=M6,
that Socrates was so little moved at this piece of buffoonery, that he was s everal times present at its @~l?hf
being acted upon the stage, and never expressed the least resentment of it. But, with submission, I _,i+gI[
think the remark I have here made shows us that this unworthy treatment made an impression upon K{s%h0
8 %V CfcM}5I
his mind, though he had been too wise to discover it. When Julius Caesar was lampooned by GK/Q]}Q8pZ
Catullus, he invited him to a supper, and treated him with such a generous civility, that he made the <15PO
B
poet his friend ever after. Cardinal Mazarine gave the same kind of treatment to the learned Quillet, -Jtx9P
who had reflected upon his eminence in a famous Latin poem. The cardinal sent for him, and, after d$G<g78D
some kind expostulations upon what he had written, assured him of his esteem, and dismissed him C;jV{sb9c
with a promise of the next good abbey that should fall, which he accordingly conferred upon him in XFg.Z+ #
a few months after. This had so good an effect upon the author, that he dedicated the second edition ~',}]_'oR-
of his book to the cardinal, after having expunged the passages which had given him offence. z]YP
Though in the various examples which I have here drawn together, these several great men behaved y ;4h'y>#
themselves very differently towards the wits of the age who had reproached them, they all of them /Lc=
K<
plainly showed that they were very sensible of their reproaches, and consequentl y that they VhAZncw
received them as very great injuries. For my own part, I would never trust a man that I thought was QxGQF|
capable of giving these secret wounds; and cannot but think that he would hurt the person, whose Y,bw:v
X
reputation he thus assaults, in his body or in his fortune, could he do it with the same security. / h6(!-"
There is indeed something very barbarous and inhuman in the ordinary scribblers of lampoons. I wnE
c
have indeed heard of heedless, inconsiderate writers that, without any malice, have sacrificed the @x@
w<e%
reputation of their friends and acquaintance to a certain levity of temper, and a silly ambition of sX&M+'h
distinguishing themselves by a spirit of raillery and satire; as if it were not infinitely more LaE;{ jY
honourable to be a good-natured man than a wit. Where there is this little petulant humor in an 1 ]@}+H
author, he is often very mischievous without designing to be so. p0.?R
Comprehension Questions: T$]2U>=<J
31. According to the author, those who want to trivialize satire tend to suggest that v}IP%84
_______________. >EMgP1
a. the damage is immaterial b. the effect is mere buffoonery
bH41#B
c. wit is a streak of genius d. the mischief must be taken in a spirit of raillery H&L=WF+x
32. What would be the best strategy for the object of satire to adopt, according to the author? NEO~|B*oDU
a. To take no heed. b. To placate the author. %f;(
c. To take offence. d. To suffer the consequences. ISr~JQr
33. The main purpose of this article is ________________. F.=uJdl.!
a. the derision of the perpetrators of satire qD\%8l.]Z
b. a warning against mischievous scribblers co3H=#2a
c. creating understanding of the genre 81_3{OrE<
d. reproaching fellow satirists 7atYWz~yG
34. When the author speaks of ―this little petulant humor‖ it is evident that he means !9"R4~4
________________. hkgPC-
a. good-natured wit b. the choleric temper ;_i0@@J
c. a silly ambition d. submission >V(2Ke Y
35. In view of the opinion of the author, it is unlikely that the author is a ________________. V8Q#%#)FHe
9
n @L!{zY
a. man of letters b. satirist c. wit d. a good-natured man +>qBK}`
Passage 4 +$>ut
r
Alexander the Great’s conquests in the Eastern Mediterranean initiated a series of profound %Z{
J=
cultural transformations in the ancient centers of urban civilization of the Fertile Crescent. The final YY!(/<VI
destruction of native rule and the imposition of an alien elite culture instigated a cultural na']{a1K
discourse—Hellenism—which irrevocably marked all participants, both conquerors and conquered. CES FkAj~
This discourse was particularly characterized by a transformation of indigenous cultural traditions, *A\NjXJl~
necessitated by their need to negotiate their place in a new social order. As Bowerstock has argued, W,{`)NWg
the process of Hellenization did not accomplish the wholesale replacement of indigenous cultural 0acY@_
traditions with Greek civilization. Instead, it provided a new cultural vocabulary through which =w A< F
much pre-existing cultural tradition was often able to find new expression. This phenomenon is _z4rx
especially intriguing as it relates to language and literacy. The ancient civilizations of the ?XOeMI
Syro-Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultural spheres were, of course, literate, possessing indigenous IPxfjBC+J
literary traditions already of great antiquity at the time of the Macedonian conquests. The jZ
D\u%
disenfranchisement of traditional elites by the imposition of Greek rule had the related effect of .;KupQ;*
displacing many of the traditional social structures where in indigenous literacy functioned and was LVEVCpp@
taught—in particular, the institutions of the palace and the temple. A new language of power, Greek, Zc4h jg
replaced the traditional language of these institutions. This had the unavoidable effect of displacing _Mt:^H}Sy
the traditional writing systems associated with these indigenous languages. Traditional literacy’s }ZmdX^xB
longstanding association with the centers of social and political authority began to be eroded. DpS6>$v8t
Naturally, the eclipse of traditional, indigenous literacy did not occur overnight. The decline of rFy9K4D
Cuneiform and Hieroglyphic literacies was a lengthy process. Nor was the nature of their respective n&C9f9S
declines identical. Akkadian, the ancient language of Mesopotamian court and temple culture, j=AJs<
vanished forever, along with cuneiform writing, in the first century CE. Egyptian lived on beyond >Ed^dsb&
the disappearance of hieroglyphic in the fourth century CE in the guise of Coptic, to succumb as a kxn;;
living, spoken language of daily social intercourse only after the Islamic conquest of Egypt. Even ai`:HhE
then, Coptic survives to this day as the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church. This %|,<\~P
latter point draws attention to an aspect of the decline of these indigenous literacies worthy of note: 8S02
3
it is in the sphere of religion that these literacies are often preserved longest, after they have been :9h8q"T
superseded in palace circles—the last dated cuneiform text we have is an astrological text; the last 8_,ZJ9l;
dated hieroglyphic text a votive graffito. This should cause little surprise. The sphere of religion is ?0(B;[xEJ
generally one of the most conservative of cultural subsystems. The local need to negotiate the #]
GM#.
necessities of daily life and individual and collective identity embodied in traditional religious rka:.#!
structures is slow to change and exists in ongoing dialogue with the more readily changeable royal 5,c`
and/or state ideologies that bind various locales together in an institutional framework. *"CvB{XF&Z
The process of ―Hellenization‖ of the ancient cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean k`AJ$\=
provides us, then, with an opportunity to observe the on-going effect on traditional, indigenous p_AV3
literacy of the imposition of a new status language possessed of its own distinct writing system. The Na6z,TW
cultural politics of written and spoken language-use in such contexts has been much discussed and \Cs<'(=
it is clear that the processes leading to the adoption of a new language—in written form, or spoken LX fiSM{o
form, or both—in some cultural spheres and the retention of traditional languages in others are |:#mw1
complex. Factors including the imposition of a new language from above, adoption of a new fA8+SaXW%
language of social prestige from below, as well as preservation of older idioms of traditional status ;gMh]$|"
10 }gW}Vr <
in core cultural institutions, must have affected different sectors of a conquered society in different uf^:3{1
fashions and at different rates. ?},ItJ#>)q
Comprehension Questions: C#~MR+;
36. The languages that have to some extent managed to survive Hellenization did so in what area? RrHnDO'
a. In palace circles. b. In governmental institutions. 4PWr;&
c. In the religious sphere. d. In philological circles. g,:Nzb
37. Which aspect of society, according to the passage, is one of the most resistant to change? [KH?5C
a. Monarchical institutions. b. Religious institutions. K8J2eV\
c. Linguistic norms. d. State ideologies. &XsLp&Do2
38. In the first paragraph, you saw the underlined word disenfranchisement. Choose, among the %)9]dOdOk
following expressions, the closest in similar meaning. V)2_T!e%*
a. the removal of power, right and/or privilege c2^7"`
b. a strong sense of disappointment >y9o&D