托福阅读真题Official 53 Passage 3（一）

托福阅读真题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.

正确答案：C

题目详解

题型分类：事实信息题

原文定位：根据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?说明它是保存最完好，全球艺术爆发最明显的标志。

选项分析：

C选项正确，best surviving examples是对best preserved的同义改写，world’s earliest artistic movements是对global creative explosion的同义改写。

A选项说它清楚地描绘了牛和其他动物，这不是最重要的特点。

B选项说它是Paleolithic时代最重要的史料来源，原文没有提是最重要的来源。

D选项说它是旧石器时代人类唯一的创作，太绝对，原文没有提唯一。

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

正确答案：B

题目详解

题型分类：修辞目的题

题干分析：首先根据题干关键词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.该句之前，作者已经提出问题“为何Paleolithic era时期人们的作画创意是迄今为止最为惊人的？”，并在之后对该问题做出了试探性的假设与阐述——可能是因为那个时候人们单纯是为了绘画快乐而创作。因此在第一段how do we start to explain their appearance？之后的句子均在阐述该问题即“为何Paleolithic era时期人们的作画创意是迄今为止最为惊人的”的答案。

选项分析：

B选项正确，该选项中出现的theory正是作者借由古希腊哲学家提出的观点来作为本段提出的问题的解答理论之一。

A选项错误，本段并未提及关于壁画随着时间流逝而发生变化。

C选项错误，本段中并未提及Classical art，更未将Paleolithic art的作画内容与Classical art的进行比较。

D选项错误，首先文中并未讲Greek philosophers是第一个能够理解旧石器画的，其次作者也未提及Greek philosophers对于旧石器画的理解就是准确的，作者举Greek philosophers的例子只是将其作为一个可能适用于旧石器画的惊人创作力的解释理论。