戴爾美語練功坊 托福閱讀實力測驗題 8/20 - 英檢

戴爾美語練功坊 托福閱讀實力測驗試題(8/20日)

Rock Art of the Australian Aborigines

Ever since European first explored Australia, people have been
trying to understand the ancient rock drawings and carvings created
by the Aborigines, the original inhabitants of the continent. Early in
the nineteenth century, encounters with Aboriginal rock art tended to
be infrequent and open to speculative interpretation, but since the
late nineteenth century, awareness of the extent and variety of
Australian rock art has been growing. In the latter decades of the
twentieth century there were intensified efforts to understand and
record the abundance of Australian rock art.

The systematic study of this art is a relatively new discipline in
Australia. Over the past four decades new discoveries have steadily
added to the body of knowledge. The most significant data have come
from a concentration on three major questions. First, what is the age
of Australian rock art? Second, what is its stylistic organization and is
it possible to discern a sequence or a pattern of development between
styles? Third, is it possible to interpret accurately the subject matter of
ancient rock art, bring to bear all available archaeological techniques
and the knowledge of present-day Aboriginal informants? (A)■

The age of Australia's rock art is constantly being revised, and earlier
datings have been proposed as the result of new discoveries. (B)■
Currently, reliable scientific evidence dates the earliest creation of art
on rock surfaces in Australia to somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000
years ago. (C)■ This in itself is an almost incomprehensible span of
generations, and one that makes Australia's rock art the oldest continuous
art tradition in the world. (D)■

Although the remarkable antiquity of Australia's rock art is now
established, the sequences and meanings of its images have been
widely debated. Since the mid-1970s, a reasonably stable picture has
formed of the organization of Australian rock art. In order to create a
sense of structure to this picture, researchers have relied on a distinction
that still underlies the forms of much indigenous visual culture-a
distinction between geometric and figurative elements. Simple
geometric repeated patterns-circles, concentric circles, and lines-
constitute the iconography (characteristic images) of the earliest
rock-art sites found across Australia. The frequency with which certain
simple motifs appear in these oldest sites has led rock-art researchers
to adopt a descriptive term-the Panaramitee style-a label which
takes its name from the extensive rock pavements at Panaramitee
North in desert South Australia, which are covered with motifs pecked
into the surface. Certain features of these engravings lead to the
conclusion that they are of great age-geological changes had clearly
happened after the designs had been made and local Aboriginal
informants, when first questioned about them, seemed to know
nothing of their origins. Furthermore, the designs were covered with
"desert varnish", a glaze that develops on rock surfaces over thousands
of years of exposure to the elements. The simple motifs found at
Panaramitee are common to many rock-art sites across Australia. Indeed,
sites with engravings of geometric shapes are also to be found on the
island of Tasmania, which was separated from the mainland of the
continent some 10,000 years ago.

In the 1970s when the study of Australian archaeology was in an
exciting phase of development, with the great antiquity of rock art
becoming clear. Lesley Maynard, the archaeologist who coined the
phrase "Panaramitee style," suggested that a sequence could be
determined for Australian rock art, in which a geometric style gave way
to a simple figurative style (outlines of figures and animals), followed
by a range of complex figurative styles that, unlike the pan-Australian
geometric tradition tended to much greater regional diversity. While
accepting that this sequence fits the archaeological profile of those
sites, which were occupied continuously over many thousands of years
a number of writers have warned that the underlying assumption of
such a sequence-a development from the simple and the geometric
to the complex and naturalistic-obscures the cultural continuities in
Aboriginal Australia, in which geometric symbolism remains
fundamentally important. In this context the simplicity of a geometric
motif may be more apparent than real. Motifs of seeming simplicity
can encode complex meanings in Aboriginal Australia. And has not
twentieth-century art shown that naturalism does not necessarily
follow abstraction in some kind of predetermined sequence?



1. According to paragraph 1, the twentieth-century approach to studying
Australian rock art was different from earlier approaches because the
twentieth-century approach
(A) recognized that many different groups of Aborigines created
Australian rock art
(B) concentrated on a limited range of Aboriginal rock art
(C) examined Aboriginal art from an Aboriginal rather than from a
European perspective
(D) focused more intensely on understanding and documenting
rock art


2. The word " discern " in the passage is closest in meaning to
(A) implement
(B) identify
(C) debilitate
(D) repeat


3. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential
information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect
choices change the meaning in important ways or leave ways or
leave out essential information

The frequency with which certain simple motifs appear in these
oldest sites has led rock-art researchers to adopt a descriptive
term-the Panaramitee style-a label which takes its name from
the extensive rock pavements at Panaramitee North in desert South
Australia, which are covered with motifs pecked into the surface.

(A) The oldest rock art sites have simpler motifs than the best known
sites of Panaramitee North.
(B) Because motifs primarily associated with the Panaramitee region
are common in the oldest sites the term Panaramitee style has
become the general term for rock art of this type.
(C) Because the Panaramitee style is so common in the older sites,
researchers have described it most extensively.
(D) The motifs carved in the rocky surface of the Panaramitee region
make up the oldest form of rock art discovered in Australia.


4. According to paragraph 4, researchers have organized and structured
Australian rock art by distinguishing between which of the following?
(A) Images found at Panaramitee North and images found in other
parts of Australia
(B) Images found in a particular type of rock layer and images
found in other types of rock layers
(C) Images that have geometric elements and images that have
figurative elements
(D) Images that are typically found and image that are rarely found


5. Why does the author include information about Tasmania in
paragraph 4?
(A) To provide evidence that the Panaramitee style is widespread
and of great age
(B) To prove that Aboriginal Australians could not have made the
carvings in Tasmania
(C) To indicate how researchers have determined how long ago
Tasmania separated from the mainland
(D) To illustrate the importance of geometric rock art to tourism in
Tasmania


6. According to paragraph 5, the complex figurative style differs from
the geometric style in that the complex figurative style
(A) varies significantly from region to region
(B) is more meaningful
(C) appears on only a few types of rocks
(D) has changed little overtime


7. According to paragraph 5, Lesley Maynard made which of the
following suggestions about Australian rock art?
(A) There were a pattern of human figures being represented in a
more complex style than animal figures.
(B) Australian archaeology should concentrate on determining
the sequence of styles that led up to the Panaramitee style.
(C) The great antiquity of Australian rock art would probably
make it impossible to determine the ages of the various styles
found in rock art.
(D) The geometric style of Australian rock art was replaced by
increasingly complex figurative styles.




Answers:
1. According to paragraph 1, the twentieth-century approach to studying
Australian rock art was different from earlier approaches because the
twentieth-century approach
根據題目問到--- 20 世紀所使用之研究澳洲岩石藝術有別於早期所使用
之方法因為….
題中欲探究20之研究方法, 原文定位 Early in the nineteenth century,
encounters with Aboriginal rock art tended to be infrequent and open
to speculative interpretation, but since the late nineteenth century,
awareness of the extent and variety of Australian rock art has been
growing. In the latter decades of the twentieth century there were
intensified efforts to understand and record the abundance of Australian
rock art.
20 世紀之方式為密集努力去瞭解與記錄其大量的澳洲岩石藝術.
(D) focused more intensely on understanding and documenting rock art
答案為 (D) .


2. " discern " 分辨 ; 辨識
(A) implement 實行 ; (n.) 工具 (B) identify 辨識
(C) debilitate 深思熟慮 (D) repeat 重覆
discern = distinguish = differentiate = discriminate = tell


2. The frequency with which certain simple motifs appear in these oldest
sites has led rock-art researchers to adopt a descriptive term-the
Panaramitee style-a label which takes its name from the extensive
rock pavements at Panaramitee North in desert South
Australia, which are covered with motifs pecked into the surface.

此題為"釋義題(paraphrase ) ; 作答要領--- (1) S+ V … ;
(2) Modifier (修飾語) ; (3) Conjunction (連接詞) .
原段落語意為---- " 某些簡單之藝術主旨出現在這些古老地點之頻繁,
促使藝術研究人員採取一個描述用詞 "Panaramitee style " , 此一風格象徵
其出現於澳洲南部Panaramitee 之北方廣泛之分佈此特殊之岩石藝術,
因而得名. "
(B) Because motifs primarily associated with the Panaramitee region
are common in the oldest sites the term Panaramitee style has become
the general term for rock art of this type.
答案選擇 (B).

3. According to paragraph 4, researchers have organized and structured
Australian rock art by distinguishing between which of the following?
研究人員透過下列何者以組織與建構其澳洲岩石藝術
搜索關鍵字 "organized / structured" ; 考點詞 distinguishing " ,
原文定位出 --- In order to create a sense of structure to this picture,
researchers have relied on a distinction that still underlies the forms
of much indigenous visual culture-a distinction between geometric and
figurative elements.
(C) Images that have geometric elements and images that have
figurative elements
答案為 (C).

5. Why does the author include information about Tasmania in paragraph 4?
作者為何提到 " Tasmania 之相關訊息"
Furthermore, the designs were covered with "desert varnish", a glaze
that develops on rock surfaces over thousands of years of exposure to
the elements. The simple motifs found at Panaramitee are common to
many rock-art sites across Australia. Indeed, sites with engravings of
geometric shapes are also to be found on the island of Tasmania, which
was separated from the mainland of the continent some 10,000 years ago.
該句子呈現出 Indeed ; 與 also 遞進關係詞, 往前回溯判讀在 Panaramitee
之岩石藝術極為普遍.
(A) To provide evidence that the Panaramitee style is widespread and
of great age
答案為(A).

6. According to paragraph 5, the complex figurative style differs from
the geometric style in that the complex figurative style
根據題幹, 複雜象徵風格有別於 geometric style 幾何風格在於…
Lesley Maynard, the archaeologist who coined the phrase
"Panaramitee style," suggested that a sequence could be determined
for Australian rock art, in which a geometric style gave way to a simple
figurative style (outlines of figures and animals), followed by a range
of complex figurative styles that, unlike the pan-Australian geometric
tradition tended to much greater regional diversity.
答案選(A) varies significantly from region to region . 地區多樣性.


7. According to paragraph 5, Lesley Maynard made which of the
following suggestions about Australian rock art?
Lesley Maynard 對於澳洲之岩石藝術做了什麼暗示?
Lesley Maynard, the archaeologist who coined the phrase
"Panaramitee style," suggested that a sequence could be determined
for Australian rock art, in which a geometric style gave way to a simple
figurative style (outlines of figures and animals), followed by a range
of complex figurative styles that, unlike the pan-Australian geometric
tradition tended to much greater regional diversity.

Lesley Maynard 暗示其岩石藝術有著其順序, geometric style 被簡單之
figurative style 取代, 後續而起乃是 complex figurative style.
答案為 (D) .




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