新GRE高频阅读机经分享——14法案

　　The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1868, prohibits state governments from denying citizens the "equal protection of the laws." Although precisely what the framers of the amendment meant by this equal protection clause remains unclear, all interpreters agree that the framers' immediate objective was to provide a constitutional warrant for the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which guaranteed the citizenship of all persons born in the United States and subject to United States jurisdiction. This declaration, which was echoed in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment, was designed primarily to counter the Supreme Court's ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford that Black people in the United States could be denied citizenship. The act was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson, who argued that the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, did not provide Congress with the authority to extend citizenship and equal protection to the freed slaves.
　　Although Congress promptly overrode Johnson's veto, supporters of the act sought to ensure its constitutional foundations with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment.
　　(172 words)
　　1968年批准的美国宪法第14修正案，禁止州政府剥夺公民的“平等的法律保护”。虽然制定此平等保护法案的确切意图仍不明确，但是有所有解释均认同这点：制定者的直接目的是为1866年的《民权法》提供宪法保障。《民权法》保障所有在美国出生的人属于美国的管辖。这一声明后来在14修正法案中得以体现，主要是反对最高法院在“Dred Scott v. Sandford”案件中美国黑人可能被剥夺公民权的裁决。《民权法》被总统Andrew Johnson否决，Andrew Johnson认为：13修正案废除了奴隶制，但是没能提供国会足够的权力来扩大市民权和自由奴隶的平等保护。
　　尽管国会很快推翻了Johnson总统的否决，但是《民权法》支持者又试图确立起其宪法基础，这就有了14修正案的通过。　　

　　4. The author implies that the Fourteenth Amendment might not have been enacted if（作者暗示14法案如果怎样，就不会被订制？）
　　(A) Congress' authority with regard to legislating civil rights had not been challenged（如果国会立法权没有被挑战。13法案顺利执行，自然不需要定制14法案）
　　(B) the framers had anticipated the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education
　　(C) the framers had believed that it would be used in deciding cases of discrimination involving non-racial groups
　　(D) most state governments had been willing to protect citizens' civil rights
　　(E) its essential elements had not been implicit in the Thirteenth Amendment

　　5. According to the passage, which of the following most accurately indicates the sequence of the events listed below?
　　I. Civil Rights Act of 1866
　　II. Dred Scott v. Sandford
　　III. Fourteenth Amendment
　　IV. Veto by President Johnson

　　(A) I, II, III, IV
　　(B) I, IV, II, III
　　(C) I, IV, III, II
　　(D) II, I, IV, III （答案）
　　(E) III, II, I, IV

　　6. In the context in which it appears, "overrode" most nearly means
　　○A trampled （答案）
　　○B extended
　　○C annulled
　　○D neutralized
　　○E compromised