托福阅读真题Official 47 Passage 1（三）

托福阅读真题Official 47 Passage 1（三）

Roman Cultural Influence on Britain

After the Roman Empire’s conquest of Britain in the first century A.D.,the presence of administrators,merchants,and troops on British soil,along with the natural flow of ideas and goods from the rest of the empire,had an enormous influence on life in the British Isles.Cultural influences were of three types:the bringing of objects,the transfer of craft workers,and the introduction of massive civil architecture.Many objects were not art in even the broadest sense and comprised utilitarian items of clothing,utensils,and equipment.We should not underestimate the social status associated with such mundane possessions which had not previously been available.The flooding of Britain with red-gloss pottery from Gaul(modern-day France),decorated with scenes from Classical mythology,probably brought many into contact with the styles and artistic concepts of the Greco-Roman world for the first time,whether or not the symbolism was understood.Mass-produced goods were accompanied by fewer more aesthetically impressive objects such as statuettes.Such pieces perhaps first came with officials for their own religious worship;others were then acquired by native leaders as diplomatic gifts or by purchase.Once seen by the natives,such objects created a fashion which rapidly spread through the province.

In the most extreme instances,natives literally bought the whole package of Roman culture.The Fishbourne villa,built in the third quarter of the first century A.D.,probably for the native client king Cogidubnus,amply illustrates his Roman pretensions.It was constructed in the latest Italian style with imported marbles and stylish mosaics.It was lavishly furnished with imported sculptures and other Classical objects.A visitor from Rome would have recognized its owner as a participant in the contemporary culture of the empire,not at all provincial in taste.Even if those from the traditional families looked down on him,they would have been unable to dismiss him as uncultured.Although exceptional,this demonstrates how new cultural symbols bound provincials to the identity of the Roman world.

Such examples established a standard to be copied.One result was an influx of craft workers,particularly those skilled in artistic media like stone-carving which had not existed before the conquest.Civilian workers came mostly from Gaul and Germany.The magnificent temple built beside the sacred spring at Bath was constructed only about twenty years after the conquest.Its detail shows that it was carved by artists from northeast Gaul.In the absence of a tradition of Classical stone-carving and building,the desire to develop Roman amenities would have been difficult to fulfill.Administrators thus used their personal contacts to put the Britons in touch with architects and masons.As many of the officials in Britain had strong links with Gaul,it is not surprising that early Roman Britain owes much to craft workers from that area.Local workshops did develop and stylistically similar groups of sculpture show how skills in this new medium became widespread.Likewise skills in the use of mosaic,wall painting,ceramic decoration,and metal-working developed throughout the province with the eventual emergence of characteristically Romano-British styles.

This art had a major impact on the native peoples,and one of the most important factors was a change in the scale of buildings.Pre-Roman Britain was highly localized,with people rarely traveling beyond their own region.On occasion large groups amassed for war or religious festivals,but society remained centered on small communities.Architecture of this era reflected this with even the largest of the fortified towns and hill forts containing no more than clusters of medium-sized structures.The spaces inside even the largest roundhouses were modest,and the use of rounded shapes and organic building materials gave buildings a human scale.But the effect of Roman civil architecture was significant.The sheer size of space enclosed within buildings like the basilica of London must have been astonishing.This was an architecture of dominance in which subject peoples were literally made to feel small by buildings that epitomized imperial power.Supremacy was accentuated by the unyielding straight lines of both individual buildings and planned settlements since these too provided a marked contrast with the natural curvilinear shapes dominant in the native realm.

Question 5 of 14

According to paragraph 2,the style and furnishings of the Fishbourne villa suggest that the person for whom it was built was

A.cultured according to the contemporary standards of the empire

B.caught between native and Roman traditions

C.originally a visitor from Rome

D.a member of a socially inferior family

正确答案：A

题目详解

题型分类：推论题

原文定位：根据题干Fishbourne villa,the person for whom it定位到本段第二句The Fishbourne villa...probably for the native client king Cogidubnus,amply illustrates his Roman pretensions以及倒数第二三句A visitor...empire,not at all provincial in taste.Even if those...unable to dismiss him as uncultured。

选项分析：

原文指出客人会认为别墅的主人相当融入帝国的现代文化，一点也不俗气，即使看不起别墅的主人，也不得不承认其文化修养。说明Fishbourne别墅主人已经完全被罗马同时代的文化标准所同化，对应选项A中cultured according to the contemporary standards of the empire。

B选项，只在第一句出现native，说的是当地人曾买下一整套罗马文化，并不是他们夹杂在本土和罗马文化之间，与原文无关。

C选项，第五句提到visitor去参观别墅，他们可不是别墅主人，张冠李戴。

D选项，社会地位低下的家庭成员。在文中没提到，无中生有。

Question 6 of 14

The word“sacred”in the passage is closest in meaning to

A.holy

B.ancient

C.natural

D.secret

正确答案：A

题目详解

题型分类：词汇题

选项分析：

原文说这座宏伟的庙宇建于巴斯sacred泉水旁，大约在征服后20年才建成，庙宇旁边的泉水肯定是用“神圣的”来修饰，所以推测sacred的意思为holy：神圣的，A正确。

B选项，古老的。

C选项，自然的。

D选项，秘密的。

带入原文均不符合语境。