一篇很受打击的阅读，求解释

torresAing

平时做阅读准确率还行，结果这一篇直接做到崩溃，连错三道，找了很多source都没有看到非常好的解释，请大牛再帮忙分析一下
可以不用翻译全文，主要针对我的问题拨乱反正即可。多谢！

In a 1984 book, Claire C. Robertson argued that, before colonialism, age was a more important indicator of status and authority than gender in Ghana and in Africa generally. British colonialism imposed European-style maledominant notions upon more egalitarian local situations to the detriment of women generally, and gender became a defining characteristic that weakened women's power and authority.

Subsequent research in Kenya convinced Robertson that she had overgeneralized about Africa. Before colonialism, gender was more salient in central Kenya than it was in Ghana, although age was still crucial in determining authority. In contrast with Ghana, where women had traded for hundreds of years and achieved legal majority (not unrelated phenomena), the evidence regarding central Kenya indicated that women were legal minors and were sometimes treated as male property, as were European women at that time. Factors like strong patrilinearity and patrilocality, as well as women's inferior land rights and lesser involvement in trade, made women more dependent on men than was generally the case in Ghana. However, since age apparently remained the overriding principle of social organization in central Kenya, some senior women had much authority. Thus, Robertson revised her hypothesis somewhat, arguing that in determining authority in precolonial Africa age was a primary principle that superseded gender to varying degrees depending on the situation.



The passage indicates that Robertson's research in Kenya caused her to change her mind regarding which of the following?

A	Whether age was the prevailing principle of social organization in Kenya before colonialism
B	Whether gender was the primary determinant of social authority in Africa generally before colonialism
C	Whether it was only after colonialism that gender became a significant determinant of authority in Kenyan society
D	Whether age was a crucial factor determining authority in Africa after colonialism
E	Whether British colonialism imposed European-style male-dominant notions upon local situations in Ghana

答案：C

问题：全文提到的都是before colonialism, 包括R的观点，为什么答案是涉及after colonialism呢？



The passage suggests that after conducting the research mentioned in the highlighted text, but not before, Robertson would have agreed with which of the following about women's status and authority in Ghana?

A	Greater land rights and greater involvement in trade made women in precolonial Ghana less dependent on men than were European women at that time.
B	Colonialism had a greater impact on the status and authority of Ghanaian women than on Kenyan women.
C	Colonialism had less of an impact on the status and authority of Ghanaian women that it had on the status and authority of other African women.
D	The relative independence of Ghanaian women prior to colonialism was unique in Africa.
E	Before colonialism, the status and authority of Ghanaian women was similar to that of Kenyan women.

答案：B

问题：无法定位正确答案，我选的是A，因为定位第二段倒数第三句



The author of the passage mentions the status of age as a principle of social organization in precolonial central Kenya in the highlighted text most likely in order to

A.indicate that women's dependence on men in precolonial Kenya was not absolute

B.contrast the situation of senior women to that of less senior women in precolonial Kenyan society

C.differentiate between the status and authority of precolonial Kenyan women and that of precolonial Ghanaian women

D.explain why age superseded gender to a greater extent in precolonial Kenya than it did elsewhere in Africa

E. identify a factor that led Robertson to revise her hypothesis about precolonial Africa

答案：E

问题：虽然了解全文主旨是explain R观念变化的影响因素，但是觉得highlight的这句话并不是其中一个factor

Gabby308

楼主可能对全文的理解有一些问题吧。GMAT个人认为还是很注重对作者潜台词的揣摩的。

作者先说：Claire C. Robertson 认为在欧洲殖民以前，非洲人的社会地位是由年龄决定的（通过对Ghana的研究，从而推广到整个非洲）而不像欧洲是由性别决定的。所以Claire C. Robertson 认为是欧洲殖民者带来的文化导致了非洲人地位决定因素的改变。后来发现，其实在Kenya，性别也是一个很重要的决定因素。从而Claire C. Robertson重新思考了他的理论。但是最终Claire C. Robertson还是坚持了他原来的看法

avagmat

第一题，其实作者说 pre colonial period的意图就在于，与after colonial period产生对比，说明殖民对非洲社会地位决定因素的影响。（在殖民以后，性别是主要决定社会地位的因素，这是作者默认的，所以他没有指出，也就无法定位关于after colonial period）本人认为最模棱两可的选项是A 和C。 A选项是强调殖民以前的非洲的状态，而C选项是强调殖民对非洲带来的变化（通过对语义的理解，这也是潜台词）。由于文章强调殖民对非洲的影响，所以选C

avagmat

第二题，作者说，在殖民以前age was a more important indicator of status and authority than gender in Ghana ，也就是说在Ghana，年龄比性别重要。但是作者在第二段指出 gender was more salient in central Kenya than it was in Ghana，也就是说。同样，你得了解作者的默认假设，那就是他认为 在殖民以后，性别在Ghana和Keyna在决定社会地位方面都超越了年龄。所以得出了 Impact大小的比较。

avagmat

最后一题的关键词，本人认为是 although 这是一个有一些情感色彩的词，表达转折，说明了R这个人对他自己的原先的理论产生了怀疑（不知道这么说你能不能理解），而怀疑的原因就是although后面的内容，所以选E。

总的来讲，我觉得GMAT的阅读还是侧重于对全文的理解，尤其是对作者的假设（可能作者并未明确指出，这也就是GMAT阅读比雅思难的原因吧，纯属个人观点）。所以定位只是找个大概方向，很多题目不能直接从文章中找出答案，需要你体会一下作者的潜台词。

Flnforever

British colonialism imposed European- style male dominant

notions upon more egalitarian local situations to the detriment of

women generally, and gender became a defining characteristic that

weakened women’s power and authority.

这句话是本篇文章的精华 可惜没读懂。。