托福閱讀真題Official 53 Passage 3（一）

托福閱讀真題Official 53 Passage 3（一）

Paleolithic Cave Painting

In any investigation of the origins of art,attention focuses on the cave paintings created in Europe during the Paleolithic era(C.40,000-10,000 years ago)such as those depicting bulls and other animals in the Lascaux cave in France.Accepting that they are the best preserved and most visible signs of what was a global creative explosion,how do we start to explain their appearance.Instinctively,we may want to update the earliest human artists by assuming that they painted for the sheer joy of painting.The philosophers of Classical Greece recognized it as a defining trait of humans to“delight in works of imitation”—to enjoy the very act and triumph of representation.If we were close to a real lion or snake,we might feel frightened.But a well-executed picture of a lion or snake will give us pleasure.Why suppose that our Paleolithic ancestors were any different?

This simple acceptance of art for art’s sake has a certain appeal.To think of Lascaux as a gallery allows it to be a sort of special viewing place where the handiwork of accomplished artists might be displayed.Plausibly,daily existence in parts of Paleolithic Europe may not have been so hard,with an abundance of ready food and therefore the leisure time for art.The problems with this explanation,however,are various.In the first place,the proliferation of archaeological discoveries—and this includes some of the world’s innumerable rock art sites that cannot be dated—has served to emphasize a remarkably limited repertoire of subjects.The images that recur are those of animals.Human figures are unusual,and when they do make an appearance,they are rarely done with the same attention to form accorded to the animals.If Paleolithic artists were simply seeking to represent the beauty of the world around them,would they not have left a far greater range of pictures—of trees,flowers,of the Sun and the stars?

A further question to the theory of art for art’s sake is posed by the high incidence of Paleolithic images that appear not to be imitative of any reality whatsoever.These are geometrical shapes or patterns consisting of dots or lines.Such marks may be found isolated or repeated over a particular surface,but also scattered across more recognizable forms.A good example of this may be seen in the geologically spectacular grotto of Pêche Merle,in the Lot region of France.Here we encounter some favorite animals from the Paleolithic repertoire—a pair of stout-bellied horses.But over and around the horses’outlines are multiple dark spots,daubed in disregard for the otherwise naturalistic representation of animals.What does such patterning imitate.There is also the factor of location.The caves of Lascaux might conceivably qualify as underground galleries,but many other paintings have been found in recesses totally unsuitable for any kind of viewing—tight nooks and crannies that must have been awkward even for the artists to penetrate,let alone for anyone else wanting to see the art.

Finally,we may doubt the notion that the Upper Paleolithic period was a paradise in which food came readily,leaving humans ample time to amuse themselves with art.For Europe it was still the Ice Age.An estimate of the basic level of sustenance then necessary for human survival has been judged at 2200 calories per day.This consideration,combined with the stark emphasis upon animals in the cave art,has persuaded some archaeologists that the primary motive behind Paleolithic images must lie with the primary activity of Paleolithic people:hunting.

Hunting is a skill.Tracking,stalking,chasing,and killing the prey are difficult,sometimes dangerous activities.What if the process could be made easier—by art.In the early decades of the twentieth century,AbbéHenri Breuil argued that the cave paintings were all about“sympathetic magic.”The artists strived diligently to make their animal images evocative and realistic because they were attempting to capture the spirit of their prey.What could have prompted their studious attention to making such naturalistic,recognizable images.According to Breuil,the artists may have believed that if a hunter were able to make a true likeness of some animal,then that animal was virtually trapped.Images,therefore,may have had the magical capacity to confer success or luck in the hunt.

Question 1 of 14

According to paragraph 1,what is significant about the paintings in the Lascaux caves?

A.They provide accurate depictions of the bulls and other animals living in Paleolithic France.

B.They are the best available source of information about daily life during the Paleolithic era.

C.They are some of the best surviving examples of what was possibly one of the world’s earliest artistic movements.

D.They are the only evidence of creative expression among Paleolithic human beings.

正確答案：C

題目詳解

題型分類：事實信息題

原文定位：根據(jù)significant，Lascaux caves定位到原文第一段第二句Accepting that they are the best preserved and most visible signs of what was a global creative explosion,how do we start to explain their appearance?說明它是保存最完好，全球藝術爆發(fā)最明顯的標志。

選項分析：

C選項正確，best surviving examples是對best preserved的同義改寫，world’s earliest artistic movements是對global creative explosion的同義改寫。

A選項說它清楚地描繪了牛和其他動物，這不是最重要的特點。

B選項說它是Paleolithic時代最重要的史料來源，原文沒有提是最重要的來源。

D選項說它是舊石器時代人類唯一的創(chuàng)作，太絕對，原文沒有提唯一。

Question 2 of 14

In paragraph 1,why does the author mention the views of the philosophers of Classical Greece?

A.To show how explanations about the appearance of cave painting during the Paleolithic have changed over time

B.To present a theory about humans and art that may be applicable to the Paleolithic era

C.To argue that Paleolithic paintings were created for the joy of painting,while Classical art was created to accurately represent the natural world

D.To demonstrate that the Greek philosophers were the first to accurately understand Paleolithic art

正確答案：B

題目詳解

題型分類：修辭目的題

題干分析：首先根據(jù)題干關鍵詞philosophers of Classical Greece定位原文至The philosophers of Classical Greece recognized it as a defining trait of humans to“delight in works of imitation”—to enjoy the very act and triumph of representation.該句之前，作者已經(jīng)提出問題“為何Paleolithic era時期人們的作畫創(chuàng)意是迄今為止最為驚人的？”，并在之后對該問題做出了試探性的假設與闡述——可能是因為那個時候人們單純是為了繪畫快樂而創(chuàng)作。因此在第一段how do we start to explain their appearance？之后的句子均在闡述該問題即“為何Paleolithic era時期人們的作畫創(chuàng)意是迄今為止最為驚人的”的答案。

選項分析：

B選項正確，該選項中出現(xiàn)的theory正是作者借由古希臘哲學家提出的觀點來作為本段提出的問題的解答理論之一。

A選項錯誤，本段并未提及關于壁畫隨著時間流逝而發(fā)生變化。

C選項錯誤，本段中并未提及Classical art，更未將Paleolithic art的作畫內(nèi)容與Classical art的進行比較。

D選項錯誤，首先文中并未講Greek philosophers是第一個能夠理解舊石器畫的，其次作者也未提及Greek philosophers對于舊石器畫的理解就是準確的，作者舉Greek philosophers的例子只是將其作為一個可能適用于舊石器畫的驚人創(chuàng)作力的解釋理論。

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