And the statesmen’s political lives depended on slavery. The three-fifths formula handed Jefferson his narrow victory in the presidential election of 1800 by inflating the votes of the southern states in the Electoral College. Once in office, Jefferson extended slavery with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; the new land was carved into 13 states, including three slave states.

　　Still, Jefferson freed Hemings’s children- though not Hemings herself or his approximately 150 other slaves. Washington, who had begun to believe that all men were created equal after observing the bravery of the black soldiers during the Revolutionary War, overcame the strong opposition of his relatives to grant his slaves their freedom in his will. Only a decade earlier, such an act would have required legislative approval in Virginia.

　　36. George Washington’s dental surgery is mentioned to

　　[A] show the primitive medical practice in the past.

　　[B] demonstrate the cruelty of slavery in his days.

　　[C] stress the role of slaves in the U.S. history.

　　[D] reveal some unknown aspect of his life.

　　[答案] C

　　[解题思路]

　　文章第一段是关于华盛顿换牙的例子，文章第二段随即指出“That’s far different image from the cherry-tree-chopping George most people remember from their history books. But recently, many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in the lives of the founding generation”(相比人们在历史书本中学到的那个坎樱桃树的乔治，这是一个截然不同的形象。但是近来很多历史学家都开始关注奴隶制在美国开国的那一代人中所扮演的角色)，因此显然只有C选项符合原文。A、B选项可以比较容易地排除，而D选项具有一定的干扰性。这句话是对第二段第一句话的表面理解，但是不如C选项更加具体和有针对性。

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