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陈虎平-36套阅读解析exer2

GRE阅读小笔记BY 夜莺落知

前身 NO 5-1-1

By 1950, the results of attempts to relate brain processes to mental experience appeared rather discouraging. Herring suggested that different modes of sensation, such as pain, taste, and color, might be 5 correlated with the discharge of specific kinds of nervous energy. However, subsequently developed methods of recording and analyzing nerve potentials failed to reveal any such qualitative diversity. Although qualitative variance among nerve energies was never rigidly 10 disproved, the doctrine was generally abandoned in favor of the opposing view, namely, that nerve impulses are essentially homogeneous in quality and are transmitted as “common currency” throughout the nervous system. According to this theory, it is not the quality of the 15 sensory nerve impulses that determines the diverse conscious sensations they produce, but rather the different areas of the brain into which they discharge, and there is some evidence for this view. In one experiment, when an electric stimulus was applied to a given sensory field of 20 the cerebral cortex of a conscious human subject, it produced a sensation of the appropriate modality for that particular locus, that is, a visual sensation from the visual cortex, an auditory sensation from the auditory cortex, and so on. However, cortical locus, in itself, turned out to 25 have little explanatory value.

现象解释型

结构：

1 TS

2 kw1

3 aw-

4 aw~

5 kw2

6 x

7 aw-

生词：

processes 过程; 程序

discouraging 使气馁, 阻碍

discharge放出; 卸货; 流注

sensation感觉 , 知觉

qualitative性质上的 ,定性的

variance不一致 , 变异

essentially实质上; 本来

stimulus刺激

cerebral脑的; 大脑的

cortex皮层; 树皮

appropriate适当的,恰当的

modality形式;特征

cortical外皮的;皮层的

explanatory解释的; 辩明的

recurrent 一再发生的;周期性的

presence存在, 出席, 出现

account描述;说明

spatiotemporal时空的

unaffected自然的;不矫揉造作的

activated使活动起来;使产生放射性;使活化

perceptions知觉, 领悟力, 感觉

1. The author mentions “common currency” in line 13 primarily

in order to emphasize the

(A) lack of differentiation among nerve impulses in human beings

(B) similarity of the sensations that all human beings experience

(D) continuous passage of nerve impulses through the nervous system

(E) recurrent questioning by scientists of an accepted explanation about the nervous system

Although qualitative variance among nerve energies was never rigidly disproved, the doctrine was generally abandoned in favor of the opposing view, namely, that nerve impulses are essentially homogeneous in quality and are transmitted as “common currency”throughout the nervous system. common currency做句子成分（宾语），说明逻辑上一层（句子）。and并列两个are。

2. The description of an experiment in which electric stimuli were applied to different sensory fields of the cerebral cortex tends to support the theory that

(A) the simple presence of different cortical areas cannot account for the diversity of mental experience

(B) variation in spatiotemporal patterning of nerve impulses correlates with variation in subjective experience

(D) the mental experiences produced by sensory nerve impulses are determined by the cortical area activated

(E) variation in neuron types affects the quality of nerve impulses

According to this theory, it is not the quality of the sensory nerve

impulses that determines the diverse conscious sensations they

produce, but rather the different areas of the brain into which they

discharge, and there is some evidence for this view.论点与论据的

关系。experiment是论据，对应句是论点

3. Which of the following best summarizes the author…s

opinion of the suggestion that different areas of the brain

determine perceptions produced by sensory nerve impulses?

(A) It is a plausible explanation, but it has not been completely proved.

(B) It is the best explanation of brain processes currently available.

(D)There is some evidence to support it, but it fails to explain the diversity of mental experience.

(E) There is experimental evidence that confirms its correctness.

However, cortical locus, in itself, turned out to have little explanatory value.末句的负评价

原题： By 1950, the results of attempts to relate brain processes to mental experience appeared rather discouraging. Such variations in size, shape, chemistry, conduction speed,

excitation threshold, and the like as had been demonstrated in nerve cells remained negligible in significance for any possible correlation with the manifold dimensions of mental experience. Near the turn of the century, it had been suggested by Hering that different modes of sensation, such as pain, taste, and color, might be correlated with the discharge of specific kinds of nervous energy. However, subsequently developed methods of recording and analyzing nerve potentials failed to reveal any such qualitative diversity. It was possible to demonstrate by other methods refined structural differences among neuron types; however, proof was lacking that the quality of the impulse or its condition was influenced by these differences, which seemed instead to influence the developmental patterning of the neural circuits. Although qualitative variance among nerve energies was never rigidly disproved, the doctrine was generally abandoned in favor of the opposing view, namely, that nerve impulses are essentially homogeneous in quality and are transmitted as “common currency”throughout the nervous system. According to this theory, it is not the quality of the sensory nerve impulses that determines the diverse conscious sensations they produce, but rather the different areas ofthebrainintowhichthey discharge, andthereis some evidence for this view. In one experiment, when an electric stimulus was applied to a given sensory field of the cerebral cortex of a conscious human subject, it produced a sensation of the appropriate modality for that particular locus, that is, a visual sensation from the visual cortex, an auditory sensation from the auditory cortex, and so on. Other experiments revealed slight variations in the size, number, arrangement, and interconnection of the nerve cells, but as far as psychoneural correlations were concerned, the obvious similarities of these sensory fields to each other seemed much more remarkable than any of the minute differences. However, cortical locus, in itself, turned out to have little explanatory value. Studies showed that sensations as diverse as those of red, black, green, and white, or touch, cold, warmth, movement, pain, posture, and pressure apparently may arise through activation of the same cortical areas. What seemed to remain was some kind of differential patterning effects in the brain excitation: it is the difference in the central distribution of impulses that counts. In short, brain theory suggested a correlation between mental experience and the activity of relatively homogeneous nerve-cell units conducting essentially homogeneous impulses through homogeneous cerebral tissue. To match the multiple dimensions of mental experience psychologists could only point to a limitless variation in the spatiotemporal patterning of nerve impulses.

翻译：至1950年，试图将大脑过程（brain process）和心理体验（mental exprience）联系起来的研究努力，其结果令人甚是灰心丧气。正如由科学家在神经细胞中所证明的那样，尺寸、形状、化学过程、传输速度、兴奋阈值、以及诸如此类的种种差异，对于任何有可能的与心理体验形形色色诸多方面的内容加以联系起来的做法，在意义上仍是微不足道。

在十九世纪与二十世纪濒临交替转折之际，率先由赫林（Hering）提出，不同的感觉方式（mode of sensation），诸如痛若、味觉、以及色彩等，或许可与特异种类的神经能量（nervous energy）的释放联系起来。然而，随后所发展起来的用于记录和分析神经潜能（nerve potential）的方法没能揭示任何这类性质的差异。人们倒是可以通过其它方法来证明在诸神经元（neuron）种类之间，存在着细微的结构差异；但是，人们缺乏证据以证明神经冲动的性质或其传输受这些结构差异所影响。恰恰相反，这些结构差异所影响的似乎是神经网络（neural circuit）的发展性组合排列（developmentalpatterning）。虽然神经能量之间存在性质差异的观点从没有遭到严格的驳斥，但该学说普遍被抛弃，人们转而采纳了与之相对立的一个观点，即神经冲击从根本上来说在性质上是毫无二致的，并仿佛象“通用货币”（common currency）一样在神经系统中传输。按此理论，并非是感觉的神经冲动的性质在决定着它们所产生的不尽相同的有意识感觉，而是神经冲动所释放入其中的不同的大脑区域在起着决定性作用。对于这一观点，不乏某些证据。在某个实验中，当电流刺激联通到一个有意识的人类测试者大脑脑皮层（cerebral cortex）某一特定感觉区

域时，它便产生了一种与那个特定区位相应的感觉形式（modality），亦即是说，自视觉脑皮层产生一视觉的感觉，自听觉脑皮层产生一听觉的感觉，以此类推。其它实验揭示出神经细胞在尺寸、数量、排列、以及相五联系这些方面的微弱差异，但就心理—神经的关系而言，这些感觉区域彼此间的明显共同点要比任何彼此间细小的差异似乎予人印象深刻得多。

然则，大脑区位理论就其本身而言亦最终证明几乎不具有任何解释价值。研究表明，像红色、黑色、绿色和白色，或者触觉、寒冷、温暖、运动、痛苦、姿势以及压力等如此大相径庭的感觉，显然有可能来自对相同脑皮层区域的刺激。所剩下的似乎是某种性质的大脑兴奋的不同组合排列效果：正是神经冲动中心分布这方面的差异才起着举足轻重的作用。简而言之，大脑理论暗示出在心理体验与相对同质的神经—细胞单位的活动之间存在着某种联系，而这些相对同质的神经—细胞单位则又通过同质的大脑组织传输着根本上同质的冲动。为了将心理体验的多重侧面对应起来，心理学家只能将注意力投向神经冲动在时空（spatiotemporal）组合排列方面无穷尽的差异。

前身 NO 5-1-1

A Marxist sociologist has argued that racism stems from the class

struggle that is unique to the capitalist system—that racial

prejudice is generated by capitalists as a means of controlling

workers. His thesis works 5 relatively well when applied to

discrimination against Blacks in the United States, but his

definition of racial prejudice as “racially-based negative

prejudgments against a group generally accepted as a race in any given

region of ethnic competition”, can be interpreted 10 as also including

hostility toward such ethnic groups as the Chinese in California and

the Jews in medieval Europe. However, since prejudice against these

latter peoples was not inspired by capitalists, he has to reason that

such antagonisms were not really based on race. 15 He disposes thusly

(albeit unconvincingly) of both the intolerance faced by Jews before

the rise of capitalism and the early twentieth-century

discrimination against Oriental people in California, which,

inconveniently, was instigated by workers.

论点说明型

结构： 1 TS

2 aw+/

3 kw

4 aw-

翻译：某位马克思主义社会学家论辩道，种族主义（racism）缘起于资本主义体制所特有的阶

级斗争——亦即是说，种族偏见是由资本家造成的，作为控制工人的一种手段。该社会学家的

命题当被应用于针对美国黑人的歧视时，相对而言尚能适用，但他对种族偏见所下的定义——

即“以种族为基础的、针对某个群体的消级的先入之见，而该群体在任何特定的种族竞争地区

则被普遍认作一种族”——可被理解成同样也襄括了针对加利福尼亚州的中国人以及中世纪的

犹太人这样一些种族群体的敌视态度。然则，既然针对这后两个民族的偏见并非是由资本家所

引发的，他便必须作这样的逻辑推理，即这些敌对情绪并非真正是以种族为基础的。如此看来，他忽略了（尽管无法令人置信地）资本主义兴起之前犹太人所面对的那种不宽容，以及二十世

纪早期针对加利福尼亚州的东方人的歧视，而后者则是——不方便地——由工人所煽动引发

的。

racism种族歧视

stem 起源于

struggle努力 , 挣扎,奋斗

prejudice偏见 , 伤害

discrimination差别, 岐视

racially按人种地

inspired启示 , 激发; 吸入

antagonisms对抗 ; 敌意; 对立

disposes处理 , 布置

intolerance偏执, 偏狭

inconveniently不方便地

instigate唆使 ; 煽动

nonracial 无种族歧视

4. The passage supplies information that would answer

which of the following questions EXCEPT?

□A What conditions caused the discrimination against Oriental people in California in the early twentieth century?

□B What evidence did the Marxist sociologist provide to support his thesis?

□C What explanation did the Marxist sociologist give for the existence of racial prejudice?

(C)对应：A Marxist sociologist has argued that racism stems from the class struggle that is unique to the capitalist system

5. According to the passage, the Marxist sociologist…s chain of reasoning required him to assert that prejudice toward Oriental people in California was

(A) directed primarily against the Chinese

(B) similar in origin to prejudice against the Jews

(D) provoked by workers

(E)nonracial in character However, since prejudice against these latter peoples was not inspired by capitalists, he has to reason that such antagonisms were not really based on race.D是干扰项，说的是社会学家忽略的事实。

前身NO 4-2-1

The evolution of intelligence among early large mammals of the grasslands was due in great measure to the interaction between two ecologically synchronized groups of these animals, the hunting carnivores and the 5 herbivores that they hunted. The interaction resulting from the differences between predator and prey led to a general improvement in brain functions; however, certain components of intelligence were improved far more than others.

10 The kind of intelligence favored by the interplay of increasingly smarter catchers and increasingly keener escapers is defined by attention—that aspect of mind carrying

consciousness forward from one moment to the next. It ranges from a passive, free-floating awareness to 15 a highly focused, active fixation. The range through these states is mediated by the arousal system, a network of tracts converging from sensory systems to integrating centers in the brain stem. From the more relaxed to the more vigorous levels, sensitivity to novelty is increased. 20 The organism is more awake, more vigilant; this increased vigilance results in the apprehension of ever more subtle signals as the organism becomes more sensitive to its surroundings. The processes of arousal and concentration give attention its direction. Arousal is at 25 first general, with a flooding of impulses in the brain stem; then gradually the activation is channeled. Thus begins concentration, the holding of consistent images. One meaning of intelligence is the way in which these images and other alertly searched information are used in the 30 context of previous experience. Consciousness links past attention to the present and permits the integration of details with perceived ends and purposes. The elements of intelligence and consciousness come together marvelously to produce different styles in 35 predator and prey. Herbivores and carnivores develop different kinds of attention related to escaping or chasing. Although in both kinds of animal, arousal stimulates the production of adrenaline and norepinephrine by the adrenal glands, the effect in herbivores is primarily fear, 40 whereas in carnivores the effect is primarily aggression. For both, arousal attunes the animal to what is ahead. Perhaps it does not experience forethought as we know it, but the animal does experience something like it. The predator is searchingly aggressive, inner-directed, tuned 45 by the nervous system and the adrenal hormones, but aware in a sense closer to human consciousness than, say, a hungry lizard…s instinctive snap at a passing beetle. Using past events as a framework, the large mammal predator is working out a relationship between 50 movement and food, sensitive to possibilities in cold trails and distant sounds—and yesterday…s unforgotten lessons. The herbivore prey is of a different mind. Its mood of wariness rather than searching and its attitude of general expectancy instead of anticipating are 55 silk-thin veils of tranquility over an explosive endocrine system.

现象解释型

译文：在早期草原上的庞大的哺乳动物（mammal）当中，智力的演化在很大程度上是由于这些

动物中在生态学上同步的（ecologically synchronized）两大群体之间的交互作用所致，一

类是四出猎取食物的食肉动物（carnivore），另一类是食肉动物所捕食的食草动物（herbivore）。食肉动物（predator）和被捕食动物（prey，指食草动物）之间的差异所引

起的那种交互作用，导致了大脑功能的普遍提高；然则，智力的某些组成部分要远比其它的组

成部分得到更多的提高。

由越来越高明的追捕者和越来越敏捷的逃跑者之间的交互作用所择取的那种智力取决于注意力（attention）--那大脑中将意识从一个瞬间携带至下一个瞬间的那一部分。它的范围既包括一

种被动的、虚无缥缈的意识，亦襄括一种高度专注的、主动的全神贯注。贯穿所有这些状态的

范围以觉醒系统（arousalsystem）为中介，而所谓觉醒系统，是指由神经束（tract）构成的

一个网线路结构，从诸感觉系统（sensory system）汇聚到位于脑干（brain stem）中的整合

中心（integrating center）。自较为松驰的至较为活跃的状态，对新事物的敏感度会相应增加。生物体变得更为清醍，更为警觉；随着生物体对其环境变得愈发敏感，这种更为高涨的警

觉性会导致生物体得以理解那些越来越微妙的信号。觉醒过程与聚精会神过程赋予动物的注意

力以某种方向感。觉醒过程起初甚为笼统，因为神经冲击汹涌而来；随后，激活过程（activation）逐渐地被疏导传输出去。这样便开始了聚精会神的过程（concentration），亦即将注意力汇聚

于连贯的形象之上。智力的一个含义是指这样一种方式，即生物体是否能按此方式将这些形象

以及其它各种敏捷地捕捉到的信息应用于先前经验的各种相关情景之中。意识（consciousness）将过去的注意力和当前情景联系起来，致使生物体能将诸般细节与业已感觉到的目的和目标综

合联系起来。

智力和意识的因素绝妙地结合起来，在食肉动物和被食的动物身上形成产生了全然不同的风

格。食草动物和食肉动物针对逃逸和追逐发展形成了全然不同的注意力类型。虽然在两类动物

身上，觉醒过程会刺激动物通过其肾上腺（adrenal gland）产生肾上腺素（adrenaline）和

去甲肾上腺素（norepinephrine），然则，在食草动物身上，其后果主要是引起惊恐；相反，

在食肉动物身上，其后果主要是激发动物的攻击性。对于两者而言，觉醒过程都使动物对眼前

将要发生的一切准备就绪。或许，动物是无从体验到我们所经验到的那种先见预谋，但它确能

体验到某种较为近似的意识。食肉动物以四出寻觅地方式显得富于攻击性，依靠内在的因素获

取指引，更由于神经系统和两种肾上的腺激素（adrenal hormones）的作用而动作谐调自如，

但从某种意义上说，食肉动物的意识更趋于人类的那种意识，而与下述情形则相去甚远：比方

说，一头肌肠辘辘的晰蜴出于本能对在其面前经过的甲壳虫猛咬一口。庞大的哺乳食肉动物将

昔日的事件用作一参照框架，在动（movement）与食物之间建立起联系，敏感注意着寒冷小径

上的种种可能性，以及远处传来的声音--还有昨日那不曾遗忘的教训。被捕食的食草动物具有

一种全然不同的精神状态。其谨慎防范而非四出寻觅的心态，以及笼统等待而非预谋筹划的态

度，构成了两层薄如丝绸的面纱，掩隐着一个极具爆发力的内分泌系统（endocrine system）。

7. The author refers to a hungry lizard (line 47) primarily

in order to

(A) demonstrate the similarity between the hunting methods of mammals and those of nonmammals

(B) broaden the application of his argument by including an insectivore as an example

(D) provide an additional illustration of the brutality characteristic of predators

(E) offer an objection to suggestions that all animals lack consciousness

The predator is searchingly aggressive, inner-directed, tuned by the nervous system and the adrenal hormones, but aware in a sense closer to human consciousnessthan,say,

a hungry lizard…s instinctive snap at a passingbeetle.说明逻辑上一层。

8. It can be inferred from the passage that in animals

less intelligent than the mammals discussed in the

passage

(A) past experience is less helpful in ensuring survival

(B) attention is more highly focused

(D) there is less need for competition among species

(E) environment is more important in establishing the proper ratio of prey to predator

One meaning of intelligence is the way in which these images and other alertly searched information are used in the context of previous experience.

9. The author provides information that would answer

which of the following questions?

□A Why is an aroused herbivore usually fearful?

□B What are some of the degrees of attention in large mammals?

□C What occurs when the stimulus that causes arousal of a mammal is removed?

10. According to the passage, as the process of arousal

in an organism continues, all of the following may occur

EXCEPT

(A) the production of adrenaline

(B) the production of norepinephrine

(D) an increase in selectivity with respect to stimuli

(E) an expansion of the range of states mediated by the brain stem

是集中不是扩散。It ranges from a passive, free-floating awareness to 15 a highly focused, active fixation.

前身 NO 4-3-2

Gutman…s examination of the slaves…extended kinship system produces important findings. Gutman discovers that cousins rarely married, an exogamous tendency that contrasted sharply with the endogamy practiced by the 5 plantation owners. This preference for exogamy, Gutman suggests, may have derived from West African rules governing marriage, which, though they differed from one tribal group to another, all involved some kind of prohibition against unions with close kin. This taboo 10 against cousins… marrying is important, argues Gutman, because it is one of many indications of a strong awareness among slaves of an extended kinship network. The fact that distantly related kin would care for children separated from their families also suggests this 15 awareness. When blood relationships were few, as in newly created plantations in the Southwest, “fictive”kinship arrangements took their place until a new pattern of consanguinity developed. Gutman presents convincing evidence that this extended kinship structure—which he 20 believes developed by the mid-to-late eighteenth century—provided the foundations for the strong communal consciousness that existed among slaves.

论点说明型

结构：

1 TS

2 kw1

3 x

4 aw+

5 y

6 kw2

7 aw+

生词

extend延长,延伸

endogamy同族结婚

derive 得自; 起源

prohibition禁令, 禁止

indication 指出;迹象

fictive虚构的;虚伪的

consanguinity血亲,同族

communal公有的

markedly 显著地; 明显地

11. According to the passage, all of the following are true

of the West African rules governing marriage:

□A The rules forbade marriages between close kin.

□B The rules were not uniform in all respects from one West African tribe to another. □C The rules have been considered to be a possible source of slaves…marriage preferences.

This preference for exogamy, Gutman suggests, may have derived from West African rules governing marriage, which, though they differed from one tribal group to another, all involved some kind of prohibition against unions with close kin.

12. Which of the following statements concerning the marriage practices of plantation owners during the period of Black slavery in the United States can most logically be inferred from the information in the passage.

(A) These practices began to alter sometime around the mid-eighteenth century.

(B) These practices varied markedly from one region of the country to another.

(D) Plantation owners often married earlier than slaves.

(E) Plantation owners often married their cousins.

Gutman discovers that cousins rarely married, an exogamous tendency

thatcontrasted sharply with the endogamy practiced by theplantation owners.

强对比

13. Select the sentence in the passage that the author introduces additionalsupportforthe existenceof the awareness ofkinship among the slaves of an extended kinship network. The fact that distantly related kin would care for children separated from their families also suggests this awareness此句为论据。题目对应的论点为： This taboo against cousins… marrying is important, argues Gutman, because it is one of many indications of a strong awareness among slaves of an extended kinship network.

原题： In his 1976 study of slavery in the United States, Herbert Gutman, like Fogel, Engerman, and Genovese, has rightly stressed the slaves?achievements. But unlike these historians, Gutman gives plantation owners little credit for these achievements. Rather, Gutman argues that one must look to the Black family and the slaves? extended kinship system to understand how crucial achievements, such as the maintenance of a cultural heritage and the development of a communal consciousness, were possible. His findings compel attention. Gutman recreates the family and extended kinship structure mainly through an ingenious use of what any historian should draw upon, quantifiable data, derived in this case mostly from plantation birth registers. He also uses accounts of ex-slaves to probe the human reality behind his statistics. These sources indicate that the two-parent household predominated in slave quarters just as it did among freed slaves after emancipation. Although Gutman admits that forced separation

by sale was frequent, he shows that the slaves? preference, revealed most clearly on plantations where sale was infrequent, was very much for stable monogamy. In less conclusive fashion Fogel, Engerman, and Genovese had already indicated the predominance of two-parent households; however, only Gutman emphasizes the preferencefor stable monogamy and pointsoutwhat stable monogamy meant for the slaves?cultural heritage. Gutman argues convincingly that the stability of the Black family

encouraged the transmission of—and so was crucial in sustaining—the Black heritage

of folklore, music, and religious expression from one generation to another, a heritage that slaves were continually fashioning out of their African and American experiences. Gutman?s examination of other facets of kinship also produces important findings. Gutman discovers that cousins rarely married, an exogamous tendency that contrasted sharply with the endogamy practiced by the plantation owners. This preference for exogamy, Gutman suggests, may have derived from West African rules governing marriage, which, though they differed from one tribal group to another, all involved some kind

of prohibition against unions with close kin. This taboo against cousins? marrying

is important, argues Gutman, because it is one of many indications of a strong awareness among slaves of an extended kinship network. The fact that distantly related kin would care for children separated from their families also suggests this awareness. When blood relationships were few, as in newly created plantations in the Southwest, “fictive” kinship arrangements took their place until a new pattern of consanguinity developed. Gutman presents convincing evidence that this extended kinship structure—which he believes developed by the mid-to-late eighteenth century—provided the foundations for the strong communal consciousness that existed among slaves. In sum, Gutman?s study is significant because it offers a closely reasoned and original explanation of some of the slaves? achievements, one that correctly emphasizes the resources that slaves themselves possessed.

译文：赫伯特?古特曼（Herbert Gutman）在其1976年对美国奴隶制度的研究中，如同福格尔（Fogel）、恩格曼（Engerman）、以及吉诺维斯（Genovese）那样，正确地强调了奴隶们所取得的成就。然则，与这些史学家所不同的是，对于这些成就，古特曼几乎没有将任何功劳归诸于白人种植园主。与此相反，古特曼指出，我们必须把眼光投向黑人家庭以及奴隶们广泛悠久的亲属体系，方能理解那些至关重要的成就，诸如文化遗产的维持以入集体意识的发展，是如何成为可能的。他的研究发现值得我们予以关注。古特曼重塑了家庭和广泛悠久的家属结构，主要是通过某种独具匠心的做法，这就是利用了任何一个史学家都应加以利用的东西，即可量化的数据（quantifiable data），在互项研究中主要来自种植园上的出生登记。他还采用前奴隶们（exslaves）的描述来探索其数据背后所隐含的人类现实。这些信息来源显示，双亲家庭

（tow-parenthousehold）在奴隶聚居区域占据了数量上的绝对比例，一如它在黑奴解放之后在自由奴隶当中所出现的情形那样。虽然古特曼承认，由于奴隶买卖而造成的被迫离散甚为频繁，但他还是证明，奴隶的偏爱——在那些奴隶买卖并不频繁的种植园上被最为显著地揭示出来——在很大程度上侧重于稳定的一夫一妻制（monogamy）。福格尔、恩格曼、以及吉诺维斯早就以一种结论性并不那么明确的方式指出了双亲家庭的主导地位；但唯有古特曼一人强调了奴隶们对稳定的一夫一妻制的偏爱，并指出一夫一妻制对黑奴的文化遗产所意味着的重要性。古特曼人令人信服地论辨道，黑人家庭的稳定有助于包括民间传说、音乐、及宗教表达在内的黑人文化遗产一代一代传递下去，因而在维持文化遗产方面也起着至关重要的作用，而对于这种文化遗产，黑奴们不断地从其非洲和美洲的经历中予以丰富发展。

古特曼对亲属关系其它方面进行的分析也导致了某些重要的研究结果。古特曼发现堂兄弟表姐妹之间鲜有通婚的，这便构成了一种外部通婚的（exogamous）倾向，与种植园主实行的内部通婚（endogamy）形成了鲜明的对比。古特曼表示，这种对于外部通婚的偏爱很有可能缘起于西部非洲制约着婚姻的规定，尽管这些规定在一个和另一个部落群体之间不尽相同，但都涉及到某种对近亲联姻（union with close kin）的禁止。古特曼论辩道，这种禁止堂兄弟表姐妹通婚的禁忌甚为重要，因为它是诸多标志之一，表明奴隶之间存在着一种对广泛悠久的亲缘网络的强烈意识。远亲会照料与其家庭离散的孩童这一事实也暗示着这一意识。当血缘关系寥寥无几时，如同在西南部地区新建立的种植区上的情形那样，“虚拟的”亲缘安排就取代了真正的血缘关系，直到新的同血缘模式发展形成。古特曼以令人信服的证据证明，这种广泛悠久的亲缘结构——据他所称于十八世纪中期至后期发展起来——为奴隶之间所存在的那种强烈的集体意识提供了基础。

总而言之，古特曼的研究意义重大，因为它针对奴隶们的某些成就提出了一种逻辑推理缜密和新颖独特的解释，这一解释不无道理地强调了奴隶们自身所拥有的资源。