Section B

Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.

(A)

St Kilda is a tiny archipelago (群岛) of the North Atlantic Ocean. The islands are among the most spectacular, but the greatest fascination is that, for over a thousand years, people lived there and possessed a sense of community. Cut off from the mainland, the islanders had a distinct way of living their lives, mainly eating the seabirds that returned to breed on the rocks.

Isolation also had a big effect upon St Kildas’ attitudes and ideas. The people sacrificed themselves year in and year out, in a constant battle to secure a livelihood. In such harsh conditions, life was only possible because the whole community worked together.

In the 19th century St Kilda was subject to pressures from the outside world. Education, religion and tourism all attempted to throw the St Kildans’ way of life into doubt. In the early 20th century, the strength of the community became weakened as contact with the rest of Britain increased. When disease cut their numbers, and wind and sea made it difficult to get adequate food, the St Kildans were forced to turn to the mainland for assistance.

In 1930, the St Kildans finally agreed to abandon their homes. They settled on the Scottish mainland, not realizing it meant throwing themselves into the 20th century. As adults, they had to accept those values most Scots believe in. For instance, the islanders found it difficult to base their existence upon money. They had never lived in a world where they bought goods and services from each other.

The islanders showed themselves indifferent to the jobs they were given on the mainland. The labours asked of them were unskilled compared with the spectacular skills they had once performed in order to kill seabirds. Moreover, killing birds had once provided the community with food to survive. On the mainland, however, the tasks they were asked to perform did not provide them immediately with what was needed to keep them fed and warm.

The history of the St Kildans after the evacuation (撤离), of their inability and lack of resolution to fit into urban society, makes sad reading. When they were resettled on the mainland, the St Kildans were forced to live in a society whose values were unacceptable and incomprehensible to the majority of them. For many, the move was a tragedy.

【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。作者讲述了St Kildans以前过着独居生活，和现代生活完全格格不入，后来搬入苏格兰，被迫要求融入那里的生活，对很多人来说，这就是个悲剧。