gre阅读练习每日一篇(四十八)_GRE阅读

gre阅读练习每日一篇(四十八)

　　 Horses, introduced to the New World by the Spaniards, thrived under diverse climatic conditions.

　　 Plants of the Palmaceae family, descendants of a common ancestor, evolved unique seed forms even though the plants occupy similar habitats throughout the world.

　　 All mammals are descended from a small, rodentlike animal whose physical characteristics in some form are found in all its descendants.

　　 Plants in the Cactaceae and Euphorbiaceae families, although they often look alike and have developed similar mechanisms to meet the rigors of the desert, evolved independently.

　　 The Cuban anole, which was recently introduced in the Florida wilds, is quickly replacing the native Florida chameleon because the anole has no competitors.

　　Popular art has a number of meanings, impossible to define with any precision, which range from folklore to junk. The poles are clear enough, but the middle tends to blur. The Hollywood Western of the 1930s, for example, has elements of folklore, but is closer to junk than to high art or folk art. There can be great trash, just as there is bad high art. The musicals of George Gershwin are great popular art, never aspiring to high art. Schubert and Brahms, however, used elements of popular musicfolk themesin works clearly intended as high art. The case of Verdi is a different one: he took a popular genrebourgeois melodrama set to music and, without altering its fundamental nature, transmuted it into high art. This remains one of the greatest achievements in music, and one that cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing the essential trashiness of the genre.