The earliest discovered traces of art are beads and carvings, and then paintings, from sites dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period. We might expect that early artistic efforts would be crude, but the cave paintings of Spain and southern France show a marked degree of skill. So do the naturalistic paintings on slabs of stone excavated in southern Africa. Some of those slabs appear to have been painted as much as 28,000 years ago, which suggests that painting in Africa is as old as painting in Europe. But painting may be even older than that. The early Australians may have painted on the walls of rock shelters and cliff faces at least 30,000 years ago, and maybe as much as 60,000 years ago.
The researchers Peter Ucko and Andree Rosenfeld identified three principal locations of paintings in the caves of western Europe: (1) in obviously inhabited rock shelters and cave entrances; (2) in galleries immediately off the inhabited areas of caves; and (3) in the inner reaches of caves, whose difficulty of access has been interpreted by some as a sign that magical-religious activities were performed there.
The subjects of the paintings are mostly animals. The paintings rest on bare walls, with no backdrops or environmental trappings. Perhaps, like many contemporary peoples, Upper Paleolithic men and women believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death or injury, and if that were indeed their belief, it might explain why human figures are rarely depicted in cave art. Another explanation for the focus on animals might be that these people sought to improve their luck at hunting. This theory is suggested by evidence of chips in the painted figures, perhaps made by spears thrown at the drawings. But if improving their hunting luck was the chief motivation for the paintings, it is difficult to explain why only a few show signs of having been speared. Perhaps the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals. Cave art seems to have reached a peak toward the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, when the herds of game were decreasing.
The particular symbolic significance of the cave paintings in southwestern France is more explicitly revealed, perhaps, by the results of a study conducted by researchers Patricia Rice and Ann Paterson. The data they present suggest that the animals portrayed in the cave paintings were mostly the ones that the painters preferred for meat and for materials such as hides. For example, wild cattle (bovines) and horses are portrayed more often than we would expect by chance, probably because they were larger and heavier (meatier) than other animals in the environment. In addition, the paintings mostly portray animals that the painters may have feared the most because of their size, speed, natural weapons such as tusks and horns, and the unpredictability of their behavior. That is, mammoths, bovines, and horses are portrayed more often than deer and reindeer. Thus, the paintings are consistent with the idea that the art is related to the importance of hunting in the economy of Upper Paleolithic people. Consistent with this idea, according to the investigators, is the fact that the art of the cultural period that followed the Upper Paleolithic also seems to reflect how people got their food. But in that period, when getting food no longer depended on hunting large game animals (because they were becoming extinct), the art ceased to focus on portrayals of animals.
Upper Paleolithic art was not confined to cave paintings. Many shafts of spears and similar objects were decorated with figures of animals. The anthropologist Alexander Marshack has an interesting interpretation of some of the engravings made during the Upper Paleolithic. He believes that as far back as 30,000 B.C., hunters may have used a system of notation, engraved on bone and stone, to mark phases of the Moon. If this is true, it would mean that Upper Paleolithic people were capable of complex thought and were consciously aware of their environment. In addition to other artworks, figurines representing the human female in exaggerated form have also been found at Upper Paleolithic sites. It has been suggested that these figurines were an ideal type or an expression of a desire for fertility.
Paragraph 1: The earliest discovered traces of art are beads and carvings, and then paintings, from sites dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period. We might expect that early artistic efforts would be crude, but the cave paintings of Spain and southern France show a marked degree of skill. So do the naturalistic paintings on slabs of stone excavated in southern Africa. Some of those slabs appear to have been painted as much as 28,000 years ago, which suggests that painting in Africa is as old as painting in Europe. But painting may be even older than that. The early Australians may have painted on the walls of rock shelters and cliff faces at least 30,000 years ago, and maybe as much as 60,000 years ago.
1．The word “marked” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○considerable
○surprising
○limited
○adequate
2．Paragraph 1 supports which of the following statements about painting in Europe?
○It is much older than painting in Australia.
○It is as much as 28,000 years old.
○It is not as old as painting in southern Africa.
○It is much more than 30,000 years old.
Paragraph 2: The researchers Peter Ucko and Andree Rosenfeld identified three principal locations of paintings in the caves of western Europe: (1) in obviously inhabited rock shelters and cave entrances; (2) in galleries immediately off the inhabited areas of caves; and (3) in the inner reaches of caves, whose difficulty of access has been interpreted by some as a sign that magical-religious activities were performed there.
3．The word “principal” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○major
○likely
○well protected
○distinct
4．According to paragraph 2, what makes some researchers think that certain cave paintings were connected with magical-religious activities?
○The paintings were located where many people could easily see them, allowing groups of people to participate in the magical-religious activities.
○Upper Paleolithic people shared similar beliefs with contemporary peoples who use paintings of animals in their magical-religious rituals.
○Evidence of magical-religious activities has been found in galleries immediately off the inhabited areas of caves.
○The paintings were found in hard-to-reach places away from the inhabited parts of the cave.
Paragraph 3: The subjects of the paintings are mostly animals. The paintings rest on bare walls, with no backdrops or environmental trappings. Perhaps, like many contemporary peoples, Upper Paleolithic men and women believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death or injury, and if that were indeed their belief, it might explain why human figures are rarely depicted in cave art. Another explanation for the focus on animals might be that these people sought to improve their luck at hunting. This theory is suggested by evidence of chips in the painted figures, perhaps made by spears thrown at the drawings. But if improving their hunting luck was the chief motivation for the paintings, it is difficult to explain why only a few show signs of having been speared. Perhaps the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals. Cave art seems to have reached a peak toward the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, when the herds of game were decreasing.
5．The word “trappings” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○conditions
○problems
○influences
○decorations
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 out essential information.
○Upper Paleolithic people, like many contemporary peoples, believed that if they drew a human image in their cave art, it would cause death or injury.
○Many contemporary people believe that the drawing of a human image can cause death or injury, so they, like Upper Paleolithic people, rarely depicted human figures in their cave art.
○If Upper Paleolithic people, like many contemporary peoples, believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death or injury, this belief might explain why human figures are rarely depicted in cave art.
○Although many contemporary peoples believe that the drawing of a human image can cause death or injury, researchers cannot explain why Upper Paleolithic people rarely depicted human figures in their cave art.
7．According to paragraph 3, scholars explained chips in the painted figures of animals by proposing that
○Upper Paleolithic artists used marks to record the animals they had seen
○the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals for hunting
○the artists had removed rough spots on the cave walls
○Upper Paleolithic people used the paintings to increase their luck at hunting
8．Why does the author mention that Upper Paleolithic cave art seemed to have “reached a peak toward the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, when the herds of game were decreasing”?
○To argue that Upper Paleolithic art ceased to include animals when herds of game became scarce
○To provide support for the idea that the aim of the paintings was to increase the supply of animals for hunting
○To emphasize the continued improvement in the quality of cave art throughout the Upper Paleolithic period
○To show the direct connection between the decrease in herds of game and the end of the Upper Paleolithic period
Paragraph 4: The particular symbolic significance of the cave paintings in southwestern France is more explicitly revealed, perhaps, by the results of a study conducted by researchers Patricia Rice and Ann Paterson. The data they present suggest that the animals portrayed in the cave paintings were mostly the ones that the painters preferred for meat and for materials such as hides. For example, wild cattle (bovines) and horses are portrayed more often than we would expect by chance, probably because they were larger and heavier (meatier) than other animals in the environment. In addition, the paintings mostly portray animals that the painters may have feared the most because of their size, speed, natural weapons such as tusks and horns, and the unpredictability of their behavior. That is, mammoths, bovines, and horses are portrayed more often than deer and reindeer. Thus, the paintings are consistent with the idea that the art is related to the importance of hunting in the economy of Upper Paleolithic people. Consistent with this idea, according to the investigators, is the fact that the art of the cultural period that followed the Upper Paleolithic also seems to reflect how people got their food. But in that period, when getting food no longer depended on hunting large game animals (because they were becoming extinct), the art ceased to focus on portrayals of animals.
9．According to paragraph 4, scholars believe that wild cattle, horses, and mammoths are the animals most frequently portrayed in cave paintings for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
○These animals were difficult to hunt because their unpredictable behavior.
○People preferred these animals for their meat and for their skins.
○The painters admired the beauty of these large animals.
○People feared these animals because of their size and speed.
10．According to paragraph 4, which of the following may best represent the attitude of hunters toward deer and reindeer in the Upper Paleolithic period?
○Hunters did not fear deer and reindeers as much as they did large game animals such as horses and mammoths.
○Hunters were not interested in hunting deer and reindeer because of their size and speed.
○Hunters preferred the meat and hides of deer and reindeer to those of other animals.
○Hunters avoided deer and reindeer because of their natural weapons, such as horns.
11．According to paragraph 4, what change is evident in the art of the period following the Upper Paleolithic?
○This new art starts to depict small animals rather than large ones.
○This new art ceases to reflect the ways in which people obtained their food.
○This new art no longer consists mostly of representations of animals.
○This new art begins to show the importance of hunting to the economy.
Paragraph 5: Upper Paleolithic art was not confined to cave paintings. Many shafts of spears and similar objects were decorated with figures of animals. The anthropologist Alexander Marshack has an interesting interpretation of some of the engravings made during the Upper Paleolithic. He believes that as far back as 30,000 B.C., hunters may have used a system of notation, engraved on bone and stone, to mark phases of the Moon. If this is true, it would mean that Upper Paleolithic people were capable of complex thought and were consciously aware of their environment. In addition to other artworks, figurines representing the human female in exaggerated form have also been found at Upper Paleolithic sites. It has been suggested that these figurines were an ideal type or an expression of a desire for fertility.
12．According to paragraph 5, which of the following has been used as evidence to suggest that Upper Paleolithic people were capable of complex thought and conscious awareness of their environment?
○They engraved animal figures on the shafts of spears and other objects.
○They may have used engraved signs to record the phases of the Moon.
○Their figurines represented the human female in exaggerated form.
○They may have used figurines to portray an ideal type or to express a desire for fertility.
Paragraph 3: The subjects of the paintings are mostly animals. The paintings rest on bare walls, with no backdrops or environmental trappings. Perhaps, like many contemporary peoples, Upper Paleolithic men and women believed that the drawing of a human image could cause death or injury, and if that were indeed their belief, it might explain why human figures are rarely depicted in cave art. Another explanation for the focus on animals might be that these people sought to improve their luck at hunting. █This theory is suggested by evidence of chips in the painted figures, perhaps made by spears thrown at the drawings. █But if improving their hunting luck was the chief motivation for the paintings, it is difficult to explain why only a few show signs of having been speared. █Perhaps the paintings were inspired by the need to increase the supply of animals. Cave art seems to have reached a peak toward the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, when the herds of game were decreasing. █
13．Look at the four squares [█] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
Therefore, if the paintings were connected with hunting, some other explanation is needed.
Where would the sentence best fit?
14．Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that explain the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences 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.
Upper Paleolithic cave paintings in Western Europe are among humanity’s earliest artistic efforts.
Answer choices
○Researchers have proposed several different explanations for the fact that animals were the most common subjects in the cave paintings.
○The art of the cultural period that followed the Upper Paleolithic ceased to portray large game animals and focused instead on the kinds of animals that people of that period preferred to hunt.
○Some researchers believe that the paintings found in France provide more explicit evidence of their symbolic significance than those found in Spain, southern Africa, and Australia.
○The cave paintings focus on portraying animals without also depicting the natural environments in which these animals are typically found.
○Some researchers have argued that the cave paintings mostly portrayed large animals that provided Upper Paleolithic people with meat and materials.
○B(yǎng)esides cave paintings, Upper Paleolithic people produced several other kinds of artwork, one of which has been thought to provide evidence of complex thought.
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14. Researchers have proposed…
Some researchers believe…
Besides cave paintings…
迄今為止，發(fā)現(xiàn)的最早的并且有跡可尋的工藝品是珠鏈和雕刻，然后還有繪畫，人類在舊石器時代晚期的遺址上發(fā)現(xiàn)了它們。雖然我們可能會認為早期的藝術(shù)成就都是不成熟的，但西班牙與法國南部的巖洞畫顯示出了高超的技藝，在非洲南部發(fā)掘出的自然石板畫也是如此。其中的一些石板畫看上去像是在28 000年前畫出的，這表明非洲繪畫與歐洲繪畫一樣時間久遠，但可能更早些。至少30 000年前，也可能追溯至60 000年前，早期澳大利亞人就已經(jīng)在巖石遮蔽的墻上和懸崖斷面上作畫了。
研究人員彼特•阿寇和安德烈•羅森菲爾德指出西歐洞畫的三個主要地點：（1）在明顯有遮蔽可供人類居住的巖石和洞穴入口處，（2）在居住的洞穴一出門的走廊上，（3）在洞穴所能及的最深處，有人認為之所以在最深處作畫是因為當時的人們曾在這里進行神秘的宗教活動。
這些繪畫的主題大部分都是動物。這些畫畫在裸露的巖石上，沒有任何背景和環(huán)境裝飾�；蛟S，同許多當代人一樣，后石器時代的人們也相信畫人物像會引起傷害或死亡。如果這確實是他們的信念，那就解釋了為什么在洞穴繪畫中很少描繪人物。對于畫中以動物題材為主的另一個解釋是，人們在探索如何提高打獵的命中率。墻上所畫的動物身上有一些傷口，很可能是原始人向它們?nèi)用瑫r留下的，這個證據(jù)也證實了以上判斷。但如果提高打獵命中率真的是巖壁畫的主要動機，那么就很難解釋為什么只有少數(shù)畫上有被矛戳過的痕跡�；蛟S是出于增加獵物的需求而畫的畫。在后期舊石器時代獵群數(shù)量減少時，巖洞畫藝術(shù)似乎達到了頂峰。
也許研究者帕特麗夏•賴斯和安•派特森所做研究的結(jié)果更清楚地揭示了法國西南部的巖洞畫的特殊象征性意義。研究顯示，繪畫者喜歡食用的動物或喜歡用作獸皮的動物是巖洞畫中經(jīng)常被描繪的動物。比如，野牛（牛）和馬的出現(xiàn)比我們預(yù)料的更為頻繁，可能因為它們比其它動物更大更沉（肉更多）。另外，畫作中主要描繪了繪畫者害怕的動物，它們的體形、速度、與生俱來的武器如長牙和角，以及它們行為的不可預(yù)知性都令繪畫者感到恐懼。于是，和鹿、馴鹿相比，猛犸、牛和馬會更經(jīng)常畫在墻上。因此，在舊石器時代晚期的人的經(jīng)濟中，巖洞藝術(shù)與打獵的重要性有關(guān)，這些畫作也與這個觀點相符合�？雌饋砼f石器時代晚期的文化期的藝術(shù)也反映了人們?nèi)绾蔚玫绞澄�，根�?jù)調(diào)查者的研究，這一事實也與前文的想法一致。但在那個時期，當不再依靠獵取大型獵物獲得食物時（因為它們開始變得稀少），巖洞藝術(shù)便不再以描繪動物為主了。
舊石器時代晚期的藝術(shù)不僅僅局限于洞穴繪畫。許多矛桿和類似的東西上都畫了動物作為裝飾。人類學家亞歷山大•馬斯哈克對舊石器時代晚期的一些雕刻品有一個有趣的解釋。他認為在公元前30 000年，獵人們可能使用了一種刻在骨頭或石頭上的標志法來標記不同的月相。如果此論述是真的，這就意味著舊石器時代晚期的人們已經(jīng)有了復(fù)雜的思維并對他們的環(huán)境有了一個理性的認識。人們還在舊石器時代晚期的遺址上發(fā)現(xiàn)了以夸張的形式描繪婦女的小雕塑。這也暗示了這些小雕塑是一種理想形象或者說表達了當時的人類期望多生育的愿望。
