Ever since European first explored Australia, people have been trying to understand the ancient rock drawings and cavings 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?
The age of Australia’s rock art is constantly being revised, and earlier datings have been proposed as the result of new discoveries. 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. 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.
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 predetermine sequence?
Paragraph 1: Ever since European first explored Australia, people have been trying to understand the ancient rock drawings and cavings 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.
1. The word “infrequent” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ puzzling
○ uncommon
○ questionable
○ undocumented
2. According to paragraph 1, the twentieth-century approach to studying Australian rock art was different from earlier approaches because the twentieth-century approach
○ recognized that many different groups of Aborigines created Australian rock art
○ concentrated on a limited range of Aboriginal rock art
○ examined Aboriginal art from an Aboriginal rather than from a European perspective
○ focused more intensely on understanding and documenting rock art
Paragraph 2: 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?
3. The word “relatively” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ completely
○ comparatively
○ apparently
○ particularly
4. The word “discern” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ indicate
○ apply
○ identify
○ repeat
Paragraph 3: The age of Australia’s rock art is constantly being revised, and earlier datings have been proposed as the result of new discoveries. 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. 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.
5. The word “revised” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○ discussed
○ raised
○ challenged
○ changed
Paragraph 4: 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.
6. 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 oldest rock art sites have simpler motifs than the best known sites of Panaramitee North.
○ 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.
○ Because the Panaramitee style is so common in the older sites, researchers have described it most extensively.
○ The motifs carved in the rocky surface of the Panaramitee region make up the oldest form of rock art discovered in Australia.
7. According to paragraph 4, researchers have organized and structured Australian rock art by distinguishing between which of the following?
○ Images found at Panaramitee North and images found in other parts of Australia
○ Images found in a particular type of rock layer and images found in other types of rock layers
○ Images that have geometric elements and images that have figurative elements
○ Images that are typically found and image that are rarely found
8. According to paragraph 4, all of the following are signs of the great age of the Panaramitee engravings EXCEPT:
○ The engravings consisted of simple animal drawings.
○ The engravings were covered with a layer of a substance known as “desert varnish”.
○ Local Aborigines who were asked knew nothing about the origin of the engravings.
○ Geologic changes had occurred after the engravings were made.
9. Why does the author include information about Tasmania in paragraph 4?
○ To provide evidence that the Panaramitee style is widespread and of great age
○ To prove that Aboriginal Australians could not have made the carvings in Tasmania
○ To indicate how researchers have determined how long ago Tasmania separated from the mainland
○ To illustrate the importance of geometric rock art to tourism in Tasmania
Paragraph 5: 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 predetermine sequence?
10. According to paragraph 5, the complex figurative style differs from the geometric style in that the complex figurative style
○ varies significantly from region to region
○ is more meaningful
○ appears on only a few types of rocks
○ has changed little overtime
11. According to paragraph 5, Lesley Maynard made which of the following suggestions about Australian rock art?
○ There were a pattern of human figures being represented in a more complex style than animal figures.
○ Australian archaeology should concentrate on determining the sequence of styles that led up to the Panaramitee style.
○ The great antiquity of Australian rock art would probably make it impossible to determine the ages of the various styles found in rock art.
○ The geometric style of Australian rock art was replaced by increasingly complex figurative styles.
12. In paragraph 5, the author indicates that twentieth century art has shown that naturalism does not necessarily follow abstraction in some kind of predetermined sequence in order to
○ emphasize that it may not be possible to determine what the figures in ancient rock art represent
○ suggest a reply to those who have questioned Maynard’s interpretation of the sequence of Australian rock art
○ provide a counterexample to Maynard’s interpretation of the sequence of Australian rock art
○ indicate that twentieth century art is more advanced than ancient rock art
Paragraph 2: 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? ■
Paragraph 3: The age of Australia’s rock art is constantly being revised, and earlier datings have been proposed as the result of new discoveries. ■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. ■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. ■
13. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
While a great deal of information exists, the answers to these questions are not yet definitive.
Where would the sentence best fit?
14. Direction: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provides below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
Interest in the rock art of the original inhabitants of Australia has grown over the last two centuries.
●
●
●
Answer Choices
○ Late nineteenth century studies of Aboriginal rock art failed to recognize that a variety of styles existed.
○ The extreme age of the earliest Aboriginal rock art has been established but the interpretation of rock art images is still debated.
○ A sequence from geometric to more representative art fits many sites but does not necessarily indicate a progression from simple to complex meaning.
○ In determining the way in which Australian rock art was organized, archaeologists have made little distinction between geometric and figurative elements.
○ Older examples of rock art consist of simple, repeated geometric patterns while later rock art includes figures and animals.
○ Aboriginal informants were able to explain the meanings of ancient rock art symbols.
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參考答案:
1. ○ 2
2. ○ 4
3. ○ 2
4. ○ 3
5. ○ 4
6. ○ 2
7. ○ 3
8. ○ 1
9. ○ 1
10. ○ 1
11. ○ 4
12. ○ 3
13. ○ 1
14. The extreme age…
Older examples of…
A sequence from…
澳大利亞土著的巖石藝術
自從歐洲人第一次探索澳大利亞，人們就一直試圖了解那些遠古的巖畫和洞穴，它們由土著居民也就是這片大陸的原始居民創(chuàng)造。在十九世紀早期，遇到的巖石藝術品還比較少，大多是猜測性的解釋，，但是到了十九世紀晚期，人們意識到這些巖石藝術的范圍和多樣性一直在增加。在隨后二十世紀的幾十年里，更多的努力放到了理解和記錄澳大利亞巖畫的豐富性上。
系統(tǒng)地研究這門藝術是澳大利亞一門相當新的學科。在過去四十年里新的發(fā)現(xiàn)不斷添加到這門知識體系中。最重要的數(shù)據(jù)集中在三個主要問題上。首先，澳大利亞巖石藝術處于哪個時代？第二，它的組織風格是什么樣的以及有沒有可能從風格中辨別出一個發(fā)展序列和模式？第三，有沒有可能在利用所有可能的考古技術和對現(xiàn)有土著居民中博學者的了解，準確地了解這些巖石藝術所要表達的主題？
關于澳大利亞巖石藝術的時代一直在修正，早期的年代測定被提議為新發(fā)現(xiàn)的結果�，F(xiàn)在，可靠的科學證據(jù)證明澳大利亞最早的巖石藝術創(chuàng)作大約在3萬到5萬年前。這本身是一個幾乎不可思議的跨代，也使得澳大利亞的巖石藝術成為世界上傳承最久的藝術。
盡管澳大利亞巖石藝術的非凡古跡現(xiàn)在已經被確立，它們的年代順序和圖案的意義卻有著廣泛的爭論。1970年代中期以來，澳大利亞巖畫藝術組織已經形成一個相當穩(wěn)定的圖像。為了給這幅畫創(chuàng)造一種結構感，研究者們依賴仍然根基于本土視覺文化形式的不同——這種不同是幾何元素和修飾元素的不同。最早在澳大利亞巖石藝術地區(qū)的發(fā)現(xiàn)的簡單的幾何重復圖案——圓，同心圓，以及線條——組成了肖像學（人物圖案）。一些簡單圖案在這些最古老的遺址上出現(xiàn)的頻率使得巖石藝術研究人員采用了一種描述性的術語——Panaramitee風格——取名自澳大利亞南部沙漠Panaramitee North廣袤的巖石丘，這些巖石丘表面都刻有這些圖案。這些圖案的特點讓人們得出一個結論即它們是來自于一個久遠的時代——地質變化明顯發(fā)生在這些圖案的設計之后，當那些土著中的信息提供者第一次被問到這個問題時，好像并不知道它們的來源。此外，這些設計被“沙漠漆” 所覆蓋，這種沙漠漆是巖石表面上的顏料經過數(shù)千年的暴露形成的。在Panaramitee發(fā)現(xiàn)的簡單圖案在澳大利亞境內很多巖石畫中都很常見。確實，那些擁有幾何形圖案的遺址在塔斯馬尼亞島也發(fā)現(xiàn)了，這個島在1萬年前就從澳大利亞大陸分離了出去。
二十世紀七十年代，澳大利亞考古正處在蓬勃發(fā)展階段，隨之古老的巖石藝術畫變得日益清晰�？脊艑W家萊斯利•梅納德杜撰了新詞“Panaramitee 風格”，認為可以為澳大利亞巖石畫確定一個順序，在這個順序中一種幾何風格讓步于簡單圖畫風格（人物和動物的輪廓），之后是一系列的復雜象征風格，這種風格與泛澳大利亞的幾何傳統(tǒng)不一樣，它們有更大的區(qū)域多樣性。盡管贊同該順序適合這些地區(qū)的考古圖案，這些地區(qū)幾千年來一直不斷出現(xiàn)考古圖案，然而許多作家警告說這種順序的潛在結論——從簡單圖案到幾何圖案再到復雜和自然主義的圖案，模糊了仍然非常重要的幾何象征主義在澳大利亞土著的文化連續(xù)性。在這種背景下簡單的幾何圖案可能比真實的東西更明顯。對于澳大利亞土著來說簡單圖案也能包含復雜的含義。20世紀的藝術難道沒有表明自然主義并不需要遵循某種抽象的預先設定的順序嗎？
