TPO56阅读真题+题目+答案下载：Representative Government in Colonial North America

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TPO56阅读真题+题目+答案下载：Representative Government in Colonial North America

Before 1750, colonists in North America had little occasion to think of themselves as a distinct people. There was no American government, no single political organization in which all the colonies joined to manage their common concerns. There was not even a wish for such an organization except among a few eccentric individuals America, to the people who lived in it, was still a geographic region, not a frame of mind.

15.The word "eccentric" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A.wise

B.unusual

C.ambitious

D.famous

Asked about nationality, the typical American colonist of 1750 would have said English or British. In spite of substantial numbers of Dutch, Germans, and Scotch-Irish, English people and English institutions prevailed in every colony, and most colonists spoke of England as home even though they had never been there. Yet no American institutions were quite like their counterparts in England: the heritage of English ideas that went with these institutions was so rich and varied that colonists were able to select and develop those that best suited their situation and forget others that meanwhile were growing prominent in the mother country. This variety sometimes led to regional differences: in some ways New Englanders were set off from Virginians even more than from people in England. But some ideas, institutions, and attitudes became common in all the colonies and remained uncommon in England. Although colonial Englishmen were not yet aware that they shared these Americanisms with one another or that English people in England did not share them, many of the characteristic ideas and attitudes that later distinguished United States nationalism were already present by the mid-eighteenth century.

16.According to paragraphs 1 and2, all of the following were true of most English people living in the American colonies in 1750 EXCEPT:

A.They did not feel the need for an American government for all the colonies.

B.They had never been to England.

C.They believed they had much in common with non-English colonists.

D.They did not think of themselves as Americans.

17.. The word "prevailed in the passage is closest in meaning to

A.remained

B.decreased

C.united

D.dominated

18.The word "heritage" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A.range

B.attraction

C.tradition

D.usefulness

19.According to paragraph 2, what is one reason that regional differences arose in the English colonies of North America?

A.Colonists selected and adapted English institutions to their particular needs.

B.Colonists in each region wanted to distinguish their institutions from those of colonists elsewhere.

C.The large number of German, Dutch, and Scotch-lrish colonists settling in some regions resisted political and social change.

D.Colonists in different regions reacted differently to developments becoming prominent in England.

20.According to paragraph 2, what two things did English people living in America in 1750 fail to realize? To receive credit, you must select TWO answers.

A.Some of their beliefs were different from those of people in England.

B.Some regional differences had developed among the English colonies in America.

C.Some of the colonial institutions had close counterparts in England.

D.Some specifically American ideas had become commonplace in the colonies.

21.The word "compelling" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A.fashionable

B.forceful

C.helpful

D.clear

English people brought with them to the New World the political ideas that still give English and American government a close resemblance. But American colonists very early developed conceptions of representative government that differed from those in England. Representative government in England originated in the Middle Ages, when the king called for men to advise him. They were chosen by their neighbors and informed the king of his subjects’ wishes. Eventually, their advice became so compelling that the king could not reject it, and the representatives of the people, organized as a legislature known as the House of Commons, became the most powerful branch of the English government.

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