中国社会科学院研究生院 #G|iEC0C
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2015 年攻读博士学位研究生入学考试试卷 JpD<2Mz_|V
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EP'2'51
英 语 )O"5dF1l
2015 年 3 月 14 日 4rc4}Yu,JI
8:30 – 11:30 >"{3lDyq-
!CTchk<{(
1 <E|i3\[p
PART I: Vocabulary and Grammar 5K;jW
Section A (10 points) 60*2k
Directions: Choose the answer that best fills in the blank. .4Jea#M
&x
1. Even the president is not really the CEO. No one is. Power in a corporation is concentrated and M8ZpNa
vertically structured. Power in Washington is ______________ and horizontally spread out. gb|C592R5C
a. prudent b. reversible c. diffuse d. mandatory C!]hu)E
2. In describing the Indians of the various sections of the United States at different stages in their sikG}p0mx<
history, some of the factors which account for their similarity amid difference can be readily xD,BlDV
accounted for, others are difficult to _______________. vtK Qv Q
a. refine b. discern c. embed d. cluster "Up3W%]SB
3. The partial transfer of legislative powers from Westminster, implemented by Tony Blair, was 6x^#|;e>lI
designed to give the other members of the club a bigger ______________ and to counter &{]zL
centrifugal forces that seemed to threaten the very idea of the union. ^J< I
Ia4
a. say b. transmission c. decay d. contention )AEJ`xC
4. It can hardly be denied the proliferation of so-called dirty books and films has, to date, reached B?`Gs^Y{z
almost a saturation point. People do not acknowledge the _______________ fact that children >u
,Ac:
are bound to be exposed to ―dirty words‖ in a myriad of ways other than through the public
ztKmB
airwaves. mFw`LvH?*
a.irrefutable b. concrete c. inevitable d. haphazard <kN4@bd;
5. A condition is an essential term of the contract. If a contract is not performed, it may constitute a P
hs4]!
substantial breach of contract and allow the other party to _______________ the contract, that is, 7IB<
0
treat the contract as discharged or terminated. W,9. z%
a. repudiate b. spurn c. decline d. halt oDogM`T`
6. Each of us shares with the community in which we live a store of words as well as agreed T!0o(Pp<
conventions ______________ these words should be arranged to convey a particular message. _dky+ E
a. as the way by which b. by the way in which Ua\]]<hj"
c. as to the way in which d. in the way of which r:]t9y>$<
7. Rarely ______________ a technological development _______________ an impact on many thy)J.<J
aspects of social, economic, and cultural development as greatly as the growth of electronics. ``$Dgj[
a. has… had b. had…had c. has…has d. have…had SR)G!9z_/
8. If early humans ______________ as much as they did, they probably ______________ to evolve {AUhF}O
into different species. OJ^kESrm8
a. did not move and intermingle…would continue d7waBsf
b. would not move and intermingle…had continued }'L7< _
c. had not moved and intermingled…would have continued 6<X.]"u+E~
d. were not to move and intermingle…could have continued2 ]CHO5'%,$
9. It was ______________ the last time around the track ______________ I really kicked it > Dy<@e
in--passing the gossiping girlfriends, blocking out the whistles of boys who had already {9:[nqX
completed their run and now were hanging out on the grassy hill, I ran--pushing hard, breathing O{b<UP'85
shallowly, knowing full well that I was going to have to hear about it from my disapproving fy]z<SPhVJ
friends for the next few days. Z>hS&B
a. not until…when b. not until…that c. until…when d. until…that [d
30mVM
10.One impediment ______________ the general use of a standard in pronunciation is the fact [rk*4b ^s
______________ pronunciation is learnt naturally and unconsciously, while orthography is p+M#hF5o
learnt deliberately and consciously. ^{Wx\+*!
a. in…which b. of …in which c. on…that d. to…that 7q\&
Section B (5 points) 2E5n07,
Directions: Choose the word that is the closest in meaning with the underlined word. ! |4fww
11. It is some 15 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims swept up in a tumultuous shuffle of citizens ^u2unZ9BK!
between India and Pakistan after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. m8M2ka
a. division b. turmoil c. fusion d. consolidation stGk*\>U'
12. Concerning speculation, philosophy looks upon things from the broadest possible perspective; QFekj@
for criticism, it has the twofold role of questioning and judging everything that pertains either -c%#Hd
to the foundations or to the superstructure of human thinking. c{.y9P6
a. inebriates b. forsakes c. relates d. emaciates mnzB90<
13. Meeting is, in fact, a necessary though not necessarily productive psychological side show. +"J2k9E
Perhaps it is our civilized way to moderating,if not preventing, change. ;c tPe[5
a. promoting b. impeding c. tempering d. arresting eBT+|
14. The truth about alliances and their merit probably lies somewhere between the travel utopia m[aBHA^g
presented by the players and the evil empires portrayed by their critics. YQ? "~[mL
a. collaboration b. worth c. triumph d. defect !AR@GuQPE
15. But Naifeh and Smith reveal a keen intellect, an avid reader and a passionate observer of other d23;c )'
artists’ work who progressed from labored figure studies to inspired outbursts of creative energy. ,8.Fd|#L
Far from an artistic flash in the pan, he pursued his calling with dogged determination against Rtywi}VV2
nearly insurmountable odds. =;L44.
,g
a. insuperable b. unsurpassable c. uncountable d. invaluable bi{G
:x
t
Section C (5 points) %*bGW'Cw
Directions: Choose the letter that indicates the error in the sentence. (V(8E%<c
16. One of the most important non-legislative functions of the U.S. Congress is the power to3 xg(*j[ff3
investigate, which is usually delegated to committees—either standing committees, special .gQYN2#zb
A B f]sc[_n]
committees set for a specific purpose, or joint committees consisting of members of both '@6O3z_{
C D =|+%^)E
houses. \d)HwO
17. One of the important corollaries to the investigative power is the power to publicize $G<!+^T
investigations and their results. Most committee hearings are open to public and are reported ew+>?a'&L
A B V$Zl]f$S
widely in the mass media. Congressional investigations thus represent one important tool QZwZ4$jkiO
C +b
sc3
available to lawmakers to inform the citizenry and to arouse public interest in national issues. W?H-Ng3E
D
>,6%Y3
18. It is not a voice we recognize at once, whereas our own handwriting is something which we Mni@@W
A B mI>=S
almost always know. We begin the natural learning of pronunciation long before we start /1BqC3]tL
C Ir6(EIwx0
learning to read or write, and in our early years we go on unconsciously imitating and ooA%/
D e;8nujdG"
practicing the pronunciation of those around us for many hours everyday. GIM'H;XG
19. It had happened too often that the farmers sold their wheat soon after harvest when farm debts mS?W+jy%
A ^aI$97Li
were coming due, only to see prices rising and speculators getting rich. On various occasions, cI\&&<>SlG
B oiRrpS\T.
producer groups, asked firmer control, but the government had no wish to become involved, at fB=j51Lw
C ]G}:cCpd+a
least not until wartime when wheat prices threatened to run wild. gP2<L5&Z,
D -|2k$W
20. Detailed studies of the tribe by the food scientists at the University of London showed that Pi5($cn
A fq?MnWc
gathering is a more productive source of food than is hunting. An hour of hunting yields on w6
B C ,1
^IFBJ
average about 100 edible calories as an hour of gathering produces 240. LE
d@""h
D G-[.BWQ
7-Mm+4O9
PART II: Reading comprehension (30 points) !B/5@P
Directions: Choose the best answers based on the information in the passages below. A
hU
Passage 1 AOM@~qyc
Plato’s Republic has been the source of great consternation, especially in literary circles, for its 4 H;N6X y*~
attack on the poets. Socrates in fact asserts that they should have no place in the ideal state. Eric ~o27~R ]
Havelock suggests that there are several misunderstandings in this regard, and in his Preface to ],F@ .pg
Plato he identifies the issues, explains the historical context. S0WKEv@
Hn
Havelock opens his discussion by suggesting that the very title of the Republic is the source of 2gJkpf9JN
much confusion. The book is commonly understood to be a treatise on the ideal political entity, but /s
Bs eI
even a casual analysis will show that only one-third of the text is concerned with statecraft. The !@T5]( zV
other two-thirds cover a variety of subjects, but the thrust of Plato’s argument amounts to an attack -5y=K40
on the traditional Greek approach to education. Ey&gZ$|&
The educational methods still in use in the 4th century BC had their origins in what has been \ZtF,`Z
called the Greek Dark Age beginning around 1200 BC when the Mycenaean era collapsed. Very /Jc54d
little is known about the whys and wherefores of this collapse, but it wasn’t until around 700 BC vw*,_f
that the Phoenician alphabet began to be adapted and used in the Greek-speaking world. During the A>C8whx
intervening centuries, all knowledge concerning Greek history, culture, mores and laws were orally O4oI&i 7
transmitted down through the generations. The most effective device in aid of memorizing vast %I#[k4,N
amounts of information was rhyme. The epic form we see in Homer’s Iliad grew out of the need to _ q^JjR
preserve the Greek cultural memory. Havelock takes the reader through Book 1 of The Iliad and do DpTwvh
dissects it in detail to show how this cultural, historical and ethical heritage was conveyed. The Yu:!l>
Iliad takes on new and significant meaning to the reader of this minute examination. s
>7(S%#N
The Iliad and presumably other poetic vehicles were taught to children from an early age. The bE1@RL
whole of the Greek-speaking world was immersed in the project of memorizing, and out of the Cznp(z
masses arose those individuals with superior memories and theatrical skills who became the next UF;iw
generation of minstrels and teachers. Education was thus comprised of memorization and rote \@$V^;OP/
learning, and the people enjoyed constant reminders through public readings and festivals. _)MbvF
Plato’s focus in the Republic and elsewhere is on Homer and Hesiod and to some extent the EttQ<z_T
dramatists which at the time were the centerpieces of the educational regime. Their works presented y\mK?eR
gods and heroes as fundamentally immoral and thus bad examples for youth. The overall result is /{!?e<N>
that the Greek adolescent is continually conditioned to an attitude which at bottom is cynical. It is w0,rFWS
more important to keep up appearances than to practice the reality. Decorum and decent behavior 7 ;SI=
are not obviously violated, but the inner principle of morality is. Once the Republic is viewed as a jd+U+8r
critique of the educational regime, Havelock says that the logic of its total organization becomes <CN+VXF
clear. Lz=GA?lk[\
What Plato was railing against was an ―oral state of mind‖ which seems to have persisted even 7i88iT
though the alphabet and written documentation had been in use for three centuries. Illiteracy was :\KJw
thus still a widespread problem in Plato’s time, and the poetic state of mind was the main obstacle `:kI@TPI_C
to scientific rationalism and analysis. This is why Plato regarded the poetic or oral state of mind as &5Huv?^a'
the arch-enemy. In his teachings he did the opposite. He asked his students to ―think about what GI)eq:K_U8
they were saying instead of just saying it.‖ The epic had become, in Plato’s view, not ―an act of "U*6?]f
creation but an act of reminder and recall‖ and contributed to what Havelock terms ―the Homeric +t*Ks_V,*
state of mind.‖ It was Socrates’ project (and by extension Plato’s) to reform Greek education to
Qw.j
encourage thinking and analysis. Thus all the ranting and railing about the ―poets‖ in Plato’s *d&+?!
Republic was limited basically to Homer and Hesiod because of what he viewed as a wholly l g*eSx>M
inadequate approach to education of which these particular poets were an integral part. c. 06Sw*
Unfortunately, Western culture has misconstrued what Plato and Socrates meant by ―the jn+BH3e
poets.‖ And because we view poetry as a highly creative and elevated form of expression, our 5 -}9># <v
critics have failed to recognize that Plato’s diatribe had a very specific and limited target which had siD/`T&
nothing to do with high-minded creativity, of which there is plenty, by the way, in the proscribed Q=#N4[W'
poets. It wasn’t really the poets who were the problem; it was the use of them that was deemed Fm4)|5
unacceptable. ^(~%'f
Post-Havelock, we can now read the Republic with the scales lifted from our eyes and see it .?)gn]#
for what it really was: an indictment of an antiquated educational regime which had no place in a v&Oc,W
democratic society. w=QW8
q?
Comprehension Questions: :Hq#co
21. The mistaken understanding of Plato's Republic consists in the widespread belief that it consists \&b1%Asyz
of _______________. 1i/&t[
a. literary criticism b. a treatise on the ideal polity 1s
6L]&B
c. a critique of rationalism d. an indictment of an obsolete pedagogy Y|~+bK
a
22. According to Havelock, Plato’s anger with the poets arose from: .A
apO}{
I: Their representation of gods and heroes as fundamentally immoral and thus bad examples for pFcCe
'd"
youth. mY&(&'2T"
II: Their transmission of culture, mores and laws. giORc
a. I. b. II. c. Both I and II. d. Neither I nor II. m#`1.5%
23. Prior to the 4th century BC, recitation was considered the best educational method because =H;F{J"
______________. #}S<
O_
a. poetry was seen as a highly creative and elevated form of expression T.pc3+B8N
b. rhyme was the most effective device in aid of memorizing vast amounts of information "-R19SpJKh
c. there was no writing system 4~~G
i`XE
d. the people enjoyed constant reminders through public readings and festivals raJv
$P
24. In Plato's diatribe the poetic or oral state of mind is the arch-enemy of _______________. U o[\1)
a. democratic society b. the Mycenaean Republic 2 `U+
!
c .the Phoenicians d. literacy Dy|)u1?
25. A common critique of the present-day Chinese educational system resembles the educational /Jf}~}JP
system that Plato fulminated against in that it often _______________. Jsf"h-)P
a. asks students to think about what they were saying instead of just saying it
1C+d&U
b. comprises of memorization and rote learning Q/`W[Et
c. has a very specific and limited target |vtj0,[
d. encourages thinking and analysis $
[V-M\q
Passage 2 HpIWH*
To govern is to choose how the revenue raised from taxes is spent. So far so good, or bad. But yR1v3D4E
some people earn more money than others. Should they pay proportionately more money to the M`p[ Zq
government than those who earn less? And if they do pay more money are they entitled to more <op|yh3Jkk
services than those who pay less or those who pay nothing at all? And should those who pay Kp>fOe'KW
nothing at all because they have nothing get anything? These matters are of irritable concern to our 6 I R~szUY6
rulers, and of some poignancy to the rest. -lS(W^r4
Although the equality of each citizen before the law is the rock upon which the American #+L:V&QE
Constitution rests, economic equality has never been an American ideal. In fact, it is the one R\-]t{t`
unmentionable subject in our politics, as the senator from South Dakota recently discovered when _K3;$2d|R
he came up with a few quasi-egalitarian tax reforms. The furious and enduring terror of #=,c8"O
Communism in America is not entirely the work of those early cold warriors Truman and Acheson. N#GMvU#R
A dislike of economic equality is something deep-grained in the American Protestant character. wL[{6wL
After all, given a rich empty continent for vigorous Europeans to exploit (the Indians were simply a =F09@C,
disagreeable part of the emptiness, like chiggers), any man of gumption could make himself a good 7V-uQ)*
living. With extra hard work, any man could make himself a fortune, proving that he was a better v(;n|=O
man than the rest. Long before Darwin the American ethos was Darwinian. ZuT5}XxF
The vision of the rich empty continent is still a part of the American unconscious in spite of the *_@$"9
Great Crowding and its attendant miseries; and this lingering belief in the heaven any man can `JcWH_[
make for himself through hard work and clean living is a key to the majority’s prevailing and 6 -BC/
apparently unalterable hatred of the poor, kept out of sight at home, out of mind abroad. Bdm05}c@u
Yet there has been, from the beginning, a significant division in our ruling class. The early rPK 1#
Thomas Jefferson had a dream: a society of honest yeomen, engaged in agricultural pursuits, \G2PK&)F
without large cities, heavy industry, banks, military pretensions. The early (and the late) Alexander =>L2
~>[
Hamilton wanted industry, banks, cities, and a military force capable of making itself felt in world
xM$AhH
politics. It is a nice irony that so many of today’s laissez-faire conservatives think that they descend 28>/#I9/]
from Hamilton, the proponent of a strong federal government, and that so many liberals believe ]v#T9QQN
themselves to be the heirs of the early Jefferson, who wanted little more than a police force and a MB+a?u0\
judiciary. Always practical, Jefferson knew that certain men would rise through their own good oB+Ek~{z]
efforts while, sadly, others would fall. Government would do no more than observe this Darwinian WmuYHE U
spectacle benignly, and provide no succor. ^1bM=9]F0
In 1800 the Hamiltonian view was rejected by the people and their new President Thomas ?u>A2Vc!
Jefferson. Four years later, the Hamiltonian view had prevailed and was endorsed by the reelected lsU`~3nr
Jefferson. Between 1800 and 1805 Jefferson had seen to it that an empire in posse had become an i93^E~q]
empire in esse. The difference between Jefferson I and Jefferson II is reflected in the two inaugural Bw>)gSB5$k
addresses. i
jmGk:L(
It is significant that nothing more elevated than greed changed the Dr. Jekyll of Jefferson I into ~0rvrDDg
the Mr. Hyde of Jefferson II. Like his less thoughtful countrymen, Jefferson could not resist a deal. <sG}[:v
Subverting the Constitution he had helped create, Jefferson bought Louisiana from Napoleon, hbm#H7Y
acquiring its citizens without their consents. The author of the Declaration of Independence was zT ")!Df>'
quite able to forget the unalienable rights of anyone whose property he thought should be joined to PV-B<Y
our empire—a word which crops up frequently and unselfconsciously in his correspondence. 3*N0oc^m
In the course of land-grabbing, Jefferson II managed to get himself into hot water with France, \"b'Z2g
England, and Spain simultaneously, a fairly astonishing thing to do considering the state of politics /|@~:5R5H
in Napoleonic Europe. 6Oy6r
Comprehension Questions: n$<n
Yr`X
26. The author believes that Americans ________________. {Gw{W&<
a. still believe America to be largely unpopulated 04:QEC"9mj
b. largely believe in lower taxation DK1{Z;Z
c. are in favor of taxation without representation7 0
~e6\7={
d. should reconsider the Louisiana purchase |OIU)53A-
27. From the passage, we may assume that the senator from South Dakota _______________. &3:<WU:U
a. opposed tax reform b. was Thomas Jefferson $`<-;kI
c. failed in his attempt to reform tax law d. was Alexander Hamilton w!OYH1ds]_
28. Jefferson made it possible for ________________. mt4X
a. a potential empire to become a real one f<>CSjQ4c
b. tax laws to reflect the will of the people XoGO
Y|2`6
c. France, England, and Spain to simultaneously vacillate upon their mutual feelings towards .M0pb^M
the United States. Wz;@Rl|F
d. Darwinian social theories to be accepted without question %`lLX/4~
29. Jefferson’s early political writings espoused what would today be called _______________. rq:sy=;
a. collectivism b. libertarianism c. socialism d. liberalism 3|D .r-Q
30. The author holds that Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana territories _______________. v.c.5@%%o
a. may be seen as a hypocritical act h$p}/A
b. rigorously held with his previous views of inalienable rights %2'Y@AX`
c. cannot be seen as an act of empire-expansion G$2Pny<!
d. was an act meant to lower taxes and improve the wealth of the nation Tn?D~?a*O
Passage 3 ,r;
E[k@
If, besides the accomplishments of being witty and ill-natured, a man is vicious into the bargain, K4b2)8
he is one of the most mischievous creatures that can enter into a civil society. His satire will then /!U(/
chiefly fall upon those who ought to be the most exempt from it. Virtue, merit, and everything that g\ H~Y@'{
is praiseworthy, will be made the subject of ridicule and buffoonery. It is impossible to enumerate $F6GCM3Cx
the evils which arise from these arrows that fly in the dark; and I know no other excuse that is or |}@teN^J*U
can be made for them, than that the wounds they give are only imaginary, and produce nothing lU.aDmy<
more than a secret shame or sorrow in the mind of the suffering person. It must indeed be confessed V-18~+F~"a
that a lampoon or a satire do not carry in them robbery or murder; but at the same time, how many +ZkJ{r0,(
are there that would not rather lose a considerable sum of money, or even life itself, than be set up
" s/ws
as a mark of infamy and derision? And in this case a man should consider that an injury is not to be 57EL&V%j
measured by the notions of him that gives, but of him that receives it. Those who can put the best B[5<&
countenance upon the outrages of this nature which are offered them, are not without their secret SVPksr
anguish. I have often observed a passage in Socrates’ behavior at his death in a light wherein none HC"yC;_
of the critics have considered it. That excellent man entertaining his friends a little before he drank ]'Gz~Z%>F
the bowl of poison, with a discourse on the immortality of the soul, at his entering upon it says that lU`t~|>r+
he does not believe any the most comic genius can censure him for talking upon such a subject at p{&o{+c
such at a time. This passage, I think, evidently glances upon Aristophanes, who write a comedy on n{=Ot^
";
purpose to ridicule the discourses of that divine philosopher. It has been observed by many writers ?y,KN}s_
that Socrates was so little moved at this piece of buffoonery, that he was several times present at its 7gREcL2
being acted upon the stage, and never expressed the least resentment of it. But, with submission, I >^g\s]c[
think the remark I have here made shows us that this unworthy treatment made an impression upon 8 4}0Ry\
6
his mind, though he had been too wise to discover it. When Julius Caesar was lampooned by E9]*!^=/
Catullus, he invited him to a supper, and treated him with such a generous civility, that he made the 9 $^b^It
poet his friend ever after. Cardinal Mazarine gave the same kind of treatment to the learned Quillet, $ )6x3&]P
who had reflected upon his eminence in a famous Latin poem. The cardinal sent for him, and, after J^zB5W,)
some kind expostulations upon what he had written, assured him of his esteem, and dismissed him I(j$
^DA.
with a promise of the next good abbey that should fall, which he accordingly conferred upon him in 0iKAg
a few months after. This had so good an effect upon the author, that he dedicated the second edition $Qxy@vU
of his book to the cardinal, after having expunged the passages which had given him offence. O"wo&5b_
Though in the various examples which I have here drawn together, these several great men behaved ?>
My&yB
themselves very differently towards the wits of the age who had reproached them, they all of them bQdu= s[
plainly showed that they were very sensible of their reproaches, and consequently that they zX6Q7
Bc
received them as very great injuries. For my own part, I would never trust a man that I thought was "i&9RA
!1
capable of giving these secret wounds; and cannot but think that he would hurt the person, whose
@
0%[4
reputation he thus assaults, in his body or in his fortune, could he do it with the same security. :.(A,
There is indeed something very barbarous and inhuman in the ordinary scribblers of lampoons. I r-a0XNS*
have indeed heard of heedless, inconsiderate writers that, without any malice, have sacrificed the 77'@U(
reputation of their friends and acquaintance to a certain levity of temper, and a silly ambition of HrUE?Sq
distinguishing themselves by a spirit of raillery and satire; as if it were not infinitely more BN6cu9a
honourable to be a good-natured man than a wit. Where there is this little petulant humor in an 24\^{3nOK
author, he is often very mischievous without designing to be so. gP>W* ]0r1
Comprehension Questions:
t
>Rh
31. According to the author, those who want to trivialize satire tend to suggest that 2I7|hZ,
_______________. q``/7
a. the damage is immaterial b. the effect is mere buffoonery X2{Aa T*M
c. wit is a streak of genius d. the mischief must be taken in a spirit of raillery AuY*x;~
32. What would be the best strategy for the object of satire to adopt, according to the author? EXR6Vb,
a. To take no heed. b. To placate the author. 1?G%&X@
X
c. To take offence. d. To suffer the consequences. IuMJ-"
33. The main purpose of this article is ________________. QQD7NN>
a. the derision of the perpetrators of satire )5u#'5I>
b. a warning against mischievous scribblers (Dn1Eov
c. creating understanding of the genre kV4L4yE
d. reproaching fellow satirists V7D<'!
34. When the author speaks of ―this little petulant humor‖ it is evident that he means uU
e#+[bD
________________. #"C!-kS'=
a. good-natured wit b. the choleric temper 3,J{!
c. a silly ambition d. submission 40[@d
35. In view of the opinion of the author, it is unlikely that the author is a ________________.9 0v``4z2Z
a. man of letters b. satirist c. wit d. a good-natured man I:1Pz|$`
Passage 4 qHPinxewx
Alexander the Great’s conquests in the Eastern Mediterranean initiated a series of profound ]ZH6
.@|
cultural transformations in the ancient centers of urban civilization of the Fertile Crescent. The final /JIVp_-p
destruction of native rule and the imposition of an alien elite culture instigated a cultural @\+UTkl8
discourse—Hellenism—which irrevocably marked all participants, both conquerors and conquered. W,:j>vg
This discourse was particularly characterized by a transformation of indigenous cultural traditions, Vddod
necessitated by their need to negotiate their place in a new social order. As Bowerstock has argued, !j3Xzn9
the process of Hellenization did not accomplish the wholesale replacement of indigenous cultural {c7@`AV]
traditions with Greek civilization. Instead, it provided a new cultural vocabulary through which .=) *Qx+
much pre-existing cultural tradition was often able to find new expression. This phenomenon is 5@n|uJA
especially intriguing as it relates to language and literacy. The ancient civilizations of the u++a0>N
Syro-Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultural spheres were, of course, literate, possessing indigenous %VE FruM
literary traditions already of great antiquity at the time of the Macedonian conquests. The bNHsjx@
disenfranchisement of traditional elites by the imposition of Greek rule had the related effect of X @/X65=[
displacing many of the traditional social structures where in indigenous literacy functioned and was 6=x]20
taught—in particular, the institutions of the palace and the temple. A new language of power, Greek, F*Ul#yX
replaced the traditional language of these institutions. This had the unavoidable effect of displacing :Ye~I;"8
the traditional writing systems associated with these indigenous languages. Traditional literacy’s "$q"Kilj%
longstanding association with the centers of social and political authority began to be eroded. $4k
bOqn4
Naturally, the eclipse of traditional, indigenous literacy did not occur overnight. The decline of <
B!f;
Cuneiform and Hieroglyphic literacies was a lengthy process. Nor was the nature of their respective zLPCWP.u
declines identical. Akkadian, the ancient language of Mesopotamian court and temple culture, yr)e."#S
vanished forever, along with cuneiform writing, in the first century CE. Egyptian lived on beyond |aj]]l[@S
the disappearance of hieroglyphic in the fourth century CE in the guise of Coptic, to succumb as a 2\gbciJ[{(
living, spoken language of daily social intercourse only after the Islamic conquest of Egypt. Even 5nK|0vv%2
then, Coptic survives to this day as the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church. This mn(MgJKQ\
latter point draws attention to an aspect of the decline of these indigenous literacies worthy of note: ) P|/<>z
it is in the sphere of religion that these literacies are often preserved longest, after they have been G$~hAZ
superseded in palace circles—the last dated cuneiform text we have is an astrological text; the last NkQain9
dated hieroglyphic text a votive graffito. This should cause little surprise. The sphere of religion is L>N)[;|
generally one of the most conservative of cultural subsystems. The local need to negotiate the
@;[. #hK
necessities of daily life and individual and collective identity embodied in traditional religious 1Sv$!xX`n
structures is slow to change and exists in ongoing dialogue with the more readily changeable royal YP{mzGdE&