Question

It is not often realized that women held a high place in southern European societies in the 10th and 11th centuries. As a wife, the woman was protected by the setting up of a dowry (嫁妝). Admittedly, the purpose of this was to protect her against the risk of desertion, but in reality its function in the social and family life of the time was much more important. The dowry was the wife’s right to receive a tenth of all her husband’s property. The wife had the right to with hold consent, in all transactions the husband would make, and more than just a right; the documents show that she enjoyed a real power of decision, equal to that of her husband. In no case do the documents indicate any degree of difference in the legal status of husband and wife.

The wife shared in the management of her husband’s personal property, but the opposite was not always true. Women seemed perfectly prepared to defend their own inheritance against husbands who tried to exceed their rights, and on occasion they showed a fine fighting spirit. A case in point is that of Maria Vivas. Having agreed with her husband Miro to sell a field she had inherited, for the needs of the household, she insisted on compensation. None being offered, she succeeded in dragging her husband to the scribe to have a contract duly drawn up assigning her a piece of land from Miro’s personal inheritance. The unfortunate husband was obliged to agree, as the contract says, “for the sake of peace.” Either through the dowry or through being hot-tempered, the wife knew how to win herself, with the context of the family, a powerful economic position.

1. Originally, the purpose of a dowry is to_________.

A give a woman the right to receive all her husband’s property

B help a woman to enjoy a higher position in the family

C protect a woman against the risk of desertion

D both A and C

2. According to the passage, the legal status of the wife in marriage was__________.

A higher than that of a single woman

B higher than that of her husband

C lower than that of her husband

D the same as that of her husband

3. Why does the author give us the example of Maria Vivas?

A To show that the wife shared in the management of her husband?s personal property.

B To show that the wife can defend her own inheritance.

C To prove that women have powerful position.

D To illustrate how women win her property.

4. The compensation Maria Vivas got for the field is____________.

A some of the land Miro had inherited

B a tenth of Miro’s land

C money for household expenses

D money form Miro’s inheritance

5.The author’s attitude towards Maria Vivas is_____________.

A sympathetic B disapproval C indifferent D objective

 

Answer 1

1.C

2.D

3.B

4. A

5.D

【解析】

歐洲南部的婦女在10和11世紀時享有較高的社會地位，這并未獲得廣泛認識。作為一個妻子，女性的地位受到其嫁妝的保護。誠然，嫁妝最初的目的是防止女性被拋棄;但是，它在當時家庭和社會現(xiàn)實生活中起著更重要的作用。妻子的嫁妝使她有權(quán)獲得其丈夫十分之一的財物。妻子有權(quán)利拒絕丈夫所做的任何交易，但這不僅僅只是一項權(quán)利而已;文件表明她與丈夫一樣平等地享有真正的決定權(quán)。文件沒有表明丈夫和妻子在法律地位上有任何差別。

妻子享有管理丈夫私人財產(chǎn)的權(quán)利，但是反之則不然。如果丈夫要越權(quán)侵犯她們的利益，女性們會時刻準備著捍衛(wèi)自己的利益，有時她們還會表現(xiàn)出一種堅強的斗爭精神。Maria Vivas就是一個典型的例子。為了家庭的需要，她同意其丈夫Miro出售一塊屬于她的土地，但是她堅持要求獲得補償。但是丈夫沒有給她提供補償，于是她把丈夫拖到一個文書處，起草了一份合同，成功地把他丈夫的一塊私人土地劃歸自己。正如合同所寫的，“為了和平”，這個不幸的丈夫不得不同意。要么借助嫁妝，要么通過發(fā)脾氣，妻子知道如何在家庭中為自己贏得強大的經(jīng)濟地位。

1.[C 推斷題。本文介紹了歐洲南部10和11世紀嫁妝對女性在婚姻中地位的重要性。雖然嫁妝最初的目的是防止女性被拋棄，但實際上它的作用遠遠不止于此。它使妻子在婚姻中的地位與丈夫平等，并保障了妻子的經(jīng)濟利益。女性在維護自己的利益上，是很堅定果敢的，Maria Vivas就是一個例子。見第一段第三句，“Admittedly, the purpose of this was to protect her against the risk of desertion...”，雖然在實際生活中嫁妝有更重要的作用，但最初它的作用只是為了防范女性被丈夫拋棄，所以C為正確答案。

2.[D 細節(jié)題。根據(jù)本文，妻子在婚姻中的法律地位和丈夫是平等的。見第一段最后一句，“In no case do the documents indicate any degree of difference in the legal status of husband and wife”文件中并沒有表明丈夫和妻子在法律地位上有任何的差別，也就是說他們的地位是平等的，所以D為正確答案。

3.[B 推斷題。作者舉Maria Vivas的事例，是為了說明妻子是能夠捍衛(wèi)自己的利益的。見第二段第二句，“Women seemed perfectly prepared to defend their own inheritance...they showed a fine fighting spirit.”如果丈夫要侵占自己的利益，女性們就時刻準備著捍衛(wèi)自己的利益，有時她們還表現(xiàn)出很強的斗爭精神。接下來作者就舉了Maria Vivas的例子，說明女性是有能力捍衛(wèi)自己的利益的。所以B為正確答案。

4.[A 細節(jié)題。Maria Vivas得到的一份作為補償?shù)耐恋�，本來是屬�?/span>Miro的個人財產(chǎn)。見第二段第五句，“None being offered, she succeeded in... assigning her a piece of land from Miro?s personal inheritance”由此知A為正確答案。

5.[D 推斷題。作者對Maria Vivas所持的態(tài)度是客觀的。作者客觀地介紹了Maria Vivas的事例，并沒有表示出同情、不滿或者是漠不關(guān)心，所以A、B、C都是錯誤答案。