King Juan Carlos of Spain once insisted

练习题库2022-08-02 34

问题 King Juan Carlos of Spain once insisted kings don’t abdicate, they die in their sleep. But embarrassing scandals and the popularity of the republican left in the recent Euro-elections have forced him to eat his words and stand down. So, does the Spanish crisis suggest that monarchy is seeing its last days? Does that mean the writing is on the wall for all European royals, with their magnificent uniforms and majestic lifestyles?　The Spanish case provides arguments both for and against monarchy when public opinion is particularly polarized, as it was following the end of the France regime, monarchs can rise above “mere” politics and “embody” a spirit of national unity.　It is this apparent transcendence of politics that explains monarchs’ continuing popularity as heads of state. And also, the Middle East expected, Europe is the most monarch-infested region in the world, with 10 kingdoms not counting Vatican city and Andorra. But unlike their absolutist counterparts in the Gulf and Asia, most royal families have survived because they allow voters to avoid the difficult search for a non-controversial but respect public figure.　Even so, kings and queens undoubtedly have a downside. Symbolic of national unity as they claim to be, their very history—and sometimes the way they behave today—embodies outdated and indefensible privileges and inequalities. At a time when Thomas Piketty and other economists are warning of rising inequality and the increasing power of inherited wealth, it is bizarre that wealthy aristocratic families should still be the symbolic heart of modern democratic states.　The most successful monarchies strive to abandon or hide their old aristocratic ways. Princes and princesses have day-jobs and ride bicycles, not horses (or helicopters). Even so, these are wealthy families who party with the international 1%, and media intrusiveness makes it increasingly difficult to maintain the right image.　While Europe’s monarchies will no doubt be smart enough to strive for some time to come, it is the British royals who have most to fear from the Spanish example.　It is only the Queen who has preserved the monarchy’s reputation with her rather ordinary (if well-heeled) granny style. The danger will come with Charles, who has both an expensive taste of lifestyle and a pretty hierarchical view of the world. He has failed to understand that monarchies have largely survived because they provide a service—as non-controversial and non-political heads of state. Charles ought to know that as English history shows, it is kings, not republicans, who are the monarchy’s worst enemies. Monarchs are kept as head of state in Europe mostly ______.A. owing to their undoubted and respectable statusB. to achieve a balance between tradition and realityC. to give voters more public figures to look up toD. due to their everlasting political embodiment

选项 A. owing to their undoubted and respectable status
B. to achieve a balance between tradition and reality
C. to give voters more public figures to look up to
D. due to their everlasting political embodiment

答案 A

解析事实细节题。根据第三句“But unlike their absolutist …respected public figure.”可知欧洲大多数皇室存活下来是因为他们让选民避免去寻找一个不受争议而且备受尊重的公众人物，也就是说，大多数的欧洲皇室都是不受争议而备受尊重的，这就是他们能持续担任国家首脑的原因。因此A项符合题意。B项、C项都是表明目的，而不是解释原因，故排除。根据第三段第一句“It is this apparent transcendence … as heads of states.”可知君主是因为政治优越性才能一直被看做国家元首的，而这种优越性指的就是上文的monarchs can rise above “mere” politics and “embody” a spirit of national unity，因此可知D项 “因为他们永恒的政治代表性”不正确。

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King Juan Carlos of Spain once insisted

英语一研究生

研究生入学