問題詳情

Reading Comprehension (30%) I.Students of United States history, seeking to identify the circumstances thatencouraged the emergence of feminist movements, have thoroughly investigated themid-nineteenth-century American economic and social conditions that affected thestatus of women. These historians, however, have analyzed less fully the developmentof specifically feminist ideas and activities during the same period. Furthermore, theideological origins of feminism in the United States have been obscured because,even when historians did take into account those feminist ideas and activitiesoccurring within the United States, they failed to recognize that feminism was then atruly international movement actually centered in Europe. American feminist activistswho have been described as “solitary” and “individual theorists” were in realityconnected to a movement—utopian socialism—which was already popularizingfeminist ideas in Europe during the two decades that culminated in the first women’srights conference held at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Thus, a completeunderstanding of the origins and development of nineteenth-century feminism in theUnited States requires that the geographical focus be widened to include Europe andthat the detailed study already made of social conditions be expanded to include theideological development of feminism.  The earliest and most popular of the utopian socialists were the Saint-Simonians.The specifically feminist part of Saint-Simonianism has, however, been less studiedthan the group’s contribution to early socialism. This is regrettable on two counts. By1832 feminism was the central concern of Saint-Simonianism and entirely absorbedits adherents’ energy; hence, by ignoring its feminism, European historians havemisunderstood Saint-Simonianism. Moreover, since many feminist ideas can betraced to Saint-Simonianism, European historians’ appreciation of later feminism inFrance and the United States remained limited.  Saint-Simon’s followers, many of whom were women, based their feminism on aninterpretation of his project to reorganize the globe by replacing brute force with therule of spiritual powers. The new world order would be ruled together by a male, torepresent reflection, and a female, to represent sentiment. This complementarityreflects the fact that, while the Saint-Simonians did not reject the belief that therewere innate differences between men and women, they nevertheless foresaw anequally important social and political role for both sexes in their utopia.  Only a few Saint-Simonians opposed a definition of sexual equality based ongender distinction. This minority believed that individuals of both sexes were bornsimilar in capacity and character, and they ascribed male-female differences tosocialization and education. The envisioned result of both currents of thought,however, was that women would enter public life in the new age and that sexualequality would reward men as well as women with an improved way of life.
41. It can be inferred that the author considers those historians who describe earlyfeminists in the United States as “solitary” to be ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿.
(A) insufficiently familiar with the international origins of nineteenth-centuryAmerican feminist thought
(B) overly concerned with the regional diversity of feminist ideas in the periodbefore 1848
(C) not focused narrowly enough in their geographical scope
(D) insufficiently aware of the ideological consequences of the Seneca Fallsconference
(E) insufficiently concerned with the social conditions out of which feminismdeveloped

參考答案

答案：A
難度：困難0.2
統計：A(2),B(2),C(1),D(2),E(3)

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