“ put ” 在GRE阅读中的高级用法，你学废了吗？
备考GRE过程中，大家可能花费了大量时间背诵“高级词汇”，以应对填空中出现的“千奇百怪”的词汇。
但到了阅读模块，一些“初级词汇”往往暗藏玄机，如果不能透彻理解，它们就会成为你阅读过程中的“拦路虎”，put就是其中一个值得关注的小词。
乍一看，有些同学可能有疑问，put还不简单吗，不就是“放置”的意思吗？
没错，GRE阅读中当然涉及了put的这个基本词义，例如：
例1
The study was flawed because it put chimpanzees in the unnatural position of begging for food.
这项研究是有缺陷的，因为它让黑猩猩处于一种不自然的状态，让它们乞讨食物。
例2
To build pianos with steam-powered tools was one thing, to put a cast-iron frame at the center of the instrument, making the product itself a modern factory of sound rather than a fully handcrafted artwork, in wood, was quite another.
用蒸汽驱动的工具来制造钢琴是一回事，但在钢琴的中心放置一个铁铸框架，让钢琴成为一个声音的现代工厂而非纯手工的木质艺术品则是截然不同的另一回事。
但是，大家如果只知道put有这层粗浅的含义，并不足以应对GRE阅读。
因为put还有另一层意思“说，表达”，这个词义经常与it连用，如：
to put it another way换句话说
to put it bluntly坦白地说
put it into words用语言描述
put simply简单说来
put的这层含义在GRE阅读中会出现的固定结构是“as … put it”，意思是 “正如……所说”。
一旦出现这个句型就表示本句话陈述了一个观点，并且这个观点重复了前文已经出现的观点，只不过更换了一些措辞，因此阅读过程中只需要找到本句观点和前文对应的观点即可。
例3
Received feminist wisdom has conceived of history as a male enclave devoid of woman subjects and practitioners, particularly before the twentieth century. As Ann For Freedom put it in 1972, from Herodout’s to Will Durant’s histories, the main characters, the main viewpoints and interests, have all been male.
女权主义者普遍认为，历史是男性的专属领域，其中完全看不到女性的身影，尤其是二十世纪之前的历史。正如《Ann For Freedom》在1972年所言，从Herodout的历史到Will Durant的历史，主要人物、主要观点以及感兴趣的话题，全部都是男性。
通过“As…put it”不难得知，《Ann For Freedom》一书中提到的观点和前一句中女权主义者的普遍观点（Reiceived feminist wisdom）是相同的，都认为历史是男性的专属领域，第二句的“all been male”和第一句的“a male enclave”对应。
例4
Historian E.H Carr’s thesis that all debates concerning the explanation of historical phenomena revolve around the question of the priority of causes is so familiar to historians as to constitute orthodoxy within their profession. The true historian, as Carr puts it, will feel a professional obligation to place the multiple causes of a historical event in a hierarchy by means of which the primary or ultimate cause of the event can be identified.
历史学家E.H Carr认为，所有关于历史现象解释的争论都围绕着原因的重要程度展开。历史学家们对Carr的这一观点非常熟悉，因此Carr的观点在历史学专业领域中成为了正统观点。正如Carr所说，真正的历史学家会感到自己有专业上的义务把某个历史事件的多重原因放置在一个等级体系中，借此来确定这个历史事件的主要原因或根本原因。
第二句中的“as Carr puts it”是对前一句话中“Carr’s thesis”的重复，即认为解释历史现象就是要确定原因的重要程度，其中“priority of causes”和“primary or ultimate cause”对应。
大家都学废了吗？那我们来实际看一篇文章巩固一下。
Was Felix Mendelssohn (1809—1847) a great composer? On its face, the question seems absurd. One of the most gifted prodigies in the history of music, he produced his first masterpiece at sixteen. From then on, he was recognized as an artist of preternatural abilities, not only as a composer but also as a pianist and conductor. But Mendelssohn’s enduring popularity has often been at odds—sometimes quite sharply—with his critical standing. Despite general acknowledgment of his genius, there has been a noticeable reluctance to rank him with, say, Schumann or Brahms. As Haggin put it, Mendelssohn, as a composer, was a “minor master… working on a small scale of emotion and texture.”
❓It can be inferred that the “reluctance” mentioned in the passage is being ascribed to
A. most composers since Mendelssohn
B. Schumann and Brahms
C. the music-listening public
D. music critics generally
E. Haggin exclusively
解题思路
思路：
根据题干“reluctance”定位到“there has been a noticeable reluctance to rank him with, say, Schumann or Brahms”，题目问“reluctance”可以归因于什么人，即哪些人不愿意把门德尔松和舒曼或勃拉姆斯相提并论。
前文提到，门德尔松长久以来的受欢迎度和他在评论界的地位（critical standing）相矛盾，定位句和前一句之间没有转折词，因此定位句是对前一句话的补充说明，具体告诉我们评论界对于门德尔松“reluctance”的态度。注意，“Despite”表示句内让步转折关系，并非句间逻辑转折词。critical和standing意思分别是“评论家的”和“地位”，在American Heritage Dictionary中的定义分别是：
critical: of, relating to, or characteristic of critics
standing: status with respect to rank, reputation, or position in society or a profession
综合理解，critical standing指的就是“评论界的地位”，所以对应 D 选项“泛指音乐评论家”。
文章最后一句话提到“正如Haggin所言”（As Haggin put it），本句Haggin的观点是对前文已经出现的某个观点进行补充说明，前文中能体现人物观点的就是“reluctance”和“critical standing”，在那些不愿意把门德尔松与舒曼、勃拉姆斯相提并论的评论家当中，Haggin只是其中一员，所以 E 选项的“Haggin exclusively”（只有Haggin一人）是错误的。
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