摘要：Paragraph 1: The period beginning 40,000 years ago (the Upper Paleolithic) witnessed a marked increase in human artistic and symbo

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009 The Meaning of Upper Paleolithic Art

Paragraph 1: The period beginning 40,000 years ago (the Upper Paleolithic) witnessed a marked increase in human artistic and symbolic expression. At about this time, a large number of statues carved from bone or stone begin to appear in the archaeological record, as do magnificent paintings of animals that were hunted and animals that were not, as well as other images on Cave walls and ceilings. It is difficult for modern viewers to remain unmoved by these images, but what did these works mean to their creators and why did they create them?

1. According to paragraph 1, which of the following happened about 40,000 years ago?

A. People started living in caves in Europe

B. Bone and stone tools began to appear in the archaeological record

C. Humans developed new hunting methods

D. People started to create more works of art

「READING」

Paragraph 2: Some researchers regard Paleolithic artwork as part of a system of communication of ideas — a system that uses animals and geometric patterns as symbols, the specific meaning of which may be lost forever. Anthropologist Meg Conkey views the 1,200 bones engraved with abstract geometric patterns at Altamira Cave, Spain, as the identifying symbols—the “flags”—of different groups of people who came together at the cave during certain periods.

Archaeologist Michael Joachim views the cave paintings of northern Spain and southern France (the so-called Franco-Cantabrian region) as symbols marking territory. Social stresses that accompanied the population influx into the region during the period beginning 25,000 years ago may have resulted in the need to mark territory with symbols of ownership. Painting animals—probably the most important resources of a territory—within a sacred place in the territory, like a cave, might have served to announce to intruders the rightful ownership of the surrounding lands.

Archaeologist Clive Gamble views the small stone statues of female figures, known as Venus figurines, as a symbolic social glue, helping to maintain social connections between geographically distant groups through a common religion and art style.

2. The word "influx" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. an arrival in large numbers

B. a change in the way something is organized

C. a state of uncertainty

D. a series of conflicts

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 out essential information.

A. Painting animals in a particular cave may have marked it as to the owners

B. Animal paintings may have been one of the most important resources of a territory.

C. Animal paintings in sacred places may have marked a claim on the surrounding land and its resources.

D. Only the rightful owners of a territory could produce paintings in its sacred places

4. Paragraph 2 suggests which of the following about the small stone statues known as Venus figurines?

A. Some of the statues represent males and some represent females

B. Similar statues have been found in locations far apart from one another

C. This style of statue was first described by archaeologist Me Conkey

D. Clive Gamble believes these statues did not serve a religious function

Paragraph 3: More recently, researchers Patricia Rice and Ann Paterson have returned to a more economic perspective. Their statistical analysis of the numbers and kinds of animals seen on cave walls in the European Upper Paleolithic shows interesting correlations with the collections of animal remains found at habitation sites in Spain and France. Small, non-aggressive animals such as reindeer and red deer were important in the diet of the cave painters and seem to have been depicted on cave walls in proportion to their economic importance.

◼︎ In addition, animals, whose remains are found less often at archaeological sites but that were impressive, dangerous, and produced large quantities of meat when they were successfully hunted, were commonly included in the artwork as well. ◼︎ So it would appear that cave painters wanted to depict animals that were important food sources. ◼︎ However, the relatively recently discovered Chauvet Cave contradicts this pattern, with its stunning depictions of animals not known to have been exploited for food by Paleolithic Europeans, including carnivores like lions, bears, and panthers, as well as woolly rhinoceroses. ◼︎

5. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 3 as an observation made by Patricia Rice and Ann Paterson as part of their analysis of cave art?

A. Cave artists frequently painted animals that they regularly used for food

B. Cave artists frequently painted impressive or large animals that were hunted only occasionally Cave art

C. was likely part of an economic transaction, with artists being paid in meat or other food

D. Unaggressive animals made up an important part of the diet of Paleolithic people living in Spain and France.

6. in paragraph 3, why does the author point out that there are paintings of lions, bears panthers. and woolly rhinoceroses in the Chauvet Cave?

A. To suggest that these animals may have been important food sources for Paleolithic Europeans

B. To support the claim that Paleolithic artists mainly painted animals that were impressive and dangerous

C. To provide examples of the types of animals that may have threatened Paleolithic people

D. To present a niece of evidence that goes against Patricia Rice and Ann Paterson's economic interpretation of cave art

Paragraph 4: A neuron-psychological approach has been applied by researchers J. D. Lewis-Williams and T. A. Dowson to explain at least some of the less naturalistic cave art. They note that there are six basic geometric forms that people who are placed into an altered state of consciousness (for example, through hypnosis) under experimental conditions report seeing: dots, wavy lines, zigzags, cross-hatching or grids, concentric circles or U-shaped lines, and parallel lines. Interestingly, these geometric forms are precisely those seen in some ancient cave art dating to more than 30,000 years ago.

7. According to paragraph 4, what did J.D.Lewis-Williams and T.A. Dowson note about people in an altered state of consciousness?

A. People could more easily recreate ancient cave art patterns when in such a state

B. People in such a state reported feeling more personally connected to ancient cave art.

C. People reported seeing six basic geometric patterns while in such a state

D. People in such a state preferred looking at geometric patterns to looking at organic patterns.

Paragraph 5: Lewis-Williams and Dowson’s approach is cross-cultural-in other words, they surveyed a wide variety of historical and archaeological cultures, finding common images in artwork all over the world. Lewis-Williams and Dowson point out ethnographic records of shamans (priests) who, in an attempt to communicate with spirits or see into other worlds, fall into a trance like state by fasting, dancing, hyperventilating, going into isolation in absolute darkness, undergoing sleep deprivation, or even ingesting natural hallucinogens.

When these shamans produce an artistic representation of what they have seen in their trances, they often include geometric shapes that are also seen in Upper Paleolithic artwork. These images from trances are not culturally controlled but result, in part, from the structure of the optic system itself and are therefore universal. Perhaps through sleep deprivation, staring at a flickering fire or the ingestion of drugs, ancient shamans or priests produced these images in their own optic systems. They then translated these images to cave walls as part of religious rituals.

8. According to the information in paragraph 5, why did Lewis-Williams and Dowson think the geometric shapes seen in Upper Paleolithic artwork might have been created by artists who were in a trancelike state?

A. The geometric images in Upper Paleolithic art are unrelated to normal everyday life.

B. There are records of shamans in some cultures who produce similar geometric images after being in trancelike states

C. The geometric images seen in Upper Paleolithic artwork are typical of images in dreams.

D. The geometric images seen in Upper Paleolithic artwork are specific to the culture of the Upper Paleolithic people.

9. Look at the four squares ◼︎ that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

Where would the sentence best fit?

The economic explanation did not seem to apply to all sites.

10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.

Answer Choices

A. Stone statues of women and animal figures carved from bone or horn were widely traded, suggesting that economic ties among various groups may have been present.

B. Ancient artwork might have served primarily symbolic purposes, communicating ideas such as the ownership of territory or shared religious and artistic practices.

C. Certain abstract geometric forms, such as wavy lines, dots, cross-hatching, grids, and concentric circles, may have represented elements of nature such as waves,

clouds, or rocks.

D. Some cave markings may have been used to keep track of population numbers or food supplies, or they may have been used as maps or messages.

E. Paleolithic artists may have preferentially painted animals that were significant to then either as sources of food or as threats to their safety.

F. Some of the geometric patterns found in Paleolithic art likely result from features of the human optic system and may re present experiences in an altered state of consciousness.

解析
WINTER

1. D

解析：根据第一段，大约在四万年前（上旧石器时代）人类的艺术和符号表达出现了明显的增加。同时，大量的雕刻于骨头或石头上的雕像开始出现在考古记录中，出现了狩猎动物和非狩猎动物的壮丽画作以及洞穴壁画和天花板上的其他图像。因此，选项D“人们开始创作更多艺术品”是正确的。

2. A

解析：influx = 大量到达

3. C

解析：插入句子的主句部分意思是：在洞穴内绘制动物 … 可能有助于向入侵者宣布周围土地的合法所有权，所以搭配c选项，其中mark a claim on指的是宣称对某地某物的所有权

4. B

解析：根据第二段最后一句中的描述，考古学家 Clive Gamble 认为这些小石像被称为维纳斯雕像，是一种象征性的社会胶水，通过一种共同的宗教和艺术风格来维持地理上相距遥远的群体之间的社会联系。既然是“维持地理上相距遥远的群体之间的社会联系”，说明这个小石像不在一处。因此，正确答案是选项 B，即类似的雕像在不同的地点被发现。

5. A

解析：正确答案是A，即“洞穴画家经常绘制他们经常食用的动物”没有被提及。在第三段中提到，洞穴画中绘制的动物与洞穴人的食物来源相关，但没有明确指出画家经常绘制他们经常食用的动物。因此，A是未提及的观察结果。

6. D

解析：修辞目的题，出题点所在句由however开头，转折逻辑，是对上文Patricia Rice and Ann Paterson观点反驳。第三段提到了 Chauvet Cave 中出现的壁画反映了一种新的趋势，即壁画中的动物可能不仅仅是人们食物的来源。例如，这些画中描绘了狮子、熊、美洲豹和毛茸茸的犀牛等动物，这些动物并不是旧石器时代欧洲人的主要食物来源。文章提到 Chauvet Cave 壁画的目的是为了支持这种新趋势，并提供与 Patricia Rice 和 Ann Paterson 对洞穴艺术的经济解释相矛盾的证据。因此，D 选项是正确的，其他选项与文中内容不符。

7. C

解析：根据第四段，J.D. Lewis-Williams 和 T.A. Dowson 研究应用了一种神经心理学的方法来解释一些不太自然的洞穴艺术。他们指出，将人置于意识改变的状态（例如通过催眠），在实验条件下报告看到六种基本的几何形状：点、波浪线、锯齿线、格子线条、同心圆或U形线和平行线。有趣的是，这些几何形状恰好出现在一些30,000多年前的古代洞穴艺术中。因此，根据文中所述，J.D. Lewis-Williams 和 T.A. Dowson指出，处于意识改变状态下的人报告看到了六种基本的几何形状。因此答案是C。

8. B

解析：根据第五段的信息，Lewis-Williams和Dowson认为，他们调查了世界各地广泛的历史和考古文化，并在艺术品中发现了共同的图像。他们指出，有些文化中的萨满（祭司）通过禁食、跳舞、过度换气、在绝对黑暗中独处、剥夺睡眠甚至服用天然致幻剂等方法，陷入一种类似于催眠状态的状态，以试图与精灵沟通或窥见其他世界。当这些萨满以艺术形式呈现他们在催眠状态中所见的东西时，他们经常包括在上古时期艺术中看到的几何图形。这些来自催眠状态的图像并不受文化控制，部分是由于视觉系统本身的结构而普遍存在的。因此，古代的萨满或祭司可能通过剥夺睡眠、凝视闪烁的火光或服用药物，将这些图像产生在他们自己的视觉系统中，然后将这些图像作为宗教仪式的一部分转化到洞穴壁画上。因此，选项B是正确的。

9. A

解析：插入句子应该放在第一个空，其中包含的代词：the economic explanation, 指的是前文Patricia Rice and Ann Paterson从经济角度给出的解释。

10. BEF

解析：

选项A：错误。 从骨头或角制成的女性石像和动物雕像被广泛贸易可以推断，不同群体之间可能存在经济联系。这个选项在文章中没有明确提到，只是提到了一些物品被发现在不同地区中，但并没有涉及经济联系的证据。

选项B. 正确。古代艺术品可能主要用于象征性目的，传达领土所有权或共享的宗教和艺术实践等概念。此选项来自于文章第二段，提出了一些较为重要的观点，即史前艺术品可能是为了传达信息或象征性的目的而制作的。

选项C：错误。某些抽象的几何形状，例如波浪线、点、交叉线、网格和同心圆，可能代表了自然元素，如波浪、云朵或岩石。这个选项在第四段中提到了几何形状的例子，但并没有明确指出这些形状代表自然元素，因此不是重要的主题。

选项D：错误。有些洞穴标记可能被用来追踪人口数量或食物供应，或者它们可能被用作地图或信息。这个选项在第三段中提到了一些可能的理论，但并没有得到证实，因此不是文章的主要内容。

选项E：正确。旧石器时代的艺术家可能会更喜欢绘制那些对他们来说具有重要意义的动物，这些动物可能是食物来源或对他们的安全构成威胁。这个选项来自文章第三段， In addition, animals, … important food sources, 此处表示可能是食物来源。However之后的句子表示画的可能是狮子，熊这样有威胁性的动物。

选项F：正确。一些在旧石器时代艺术中发现的几何图案可能是人类视觉系统特有的特征所导致的，可能代表了在意识状态改变时的体验。这个选项是文章第四段的主要观点，即一些几何图案可能来自于人类视觉系统的特征，反映了处于改变的意识状态的经历。

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