托福阅读常考话题及练习题推荐四：艺术（3）

1托福阅读常考话题：艺术练习题

► Paragraph 3：Men make sand paintings that are accurate copies of paintings from the past. The songs sung over the paintings are also faithful renditions of songs from the past. By re-creating these arts, which reflect the original beauty of creation, the Navajo bring beauty to the present world. As relative newcomers to the Southwest, a place where their climate, neighbors, and rulers could be equally inhospitable, the Navajo created these art forms to affect the world around them, not just through the recounting of the actions symbolized, but through the beauty and harmony of the artworks themselves. The paintings generally illustrate ideas and events from the life of a mythical hero, who, after being healed by the gods, gave gifts of songs and paintings. Working from memory, the artists re-create the traditional form of the image as accurately as possible.

8. According to paragraph 3, which of the following is often the subject of Navajo sand paintings?

A. The landscape of the Southwest

B. Traditional Navajo practices

C. Historical events that occurred in the Southwest

D. The lives of heroes in traditional Navajo stories

► Paragraph 4：The Navajo are also world-famous for the designs on their woven blankets. Navajo women own the family flocks, control the shearing of the sheep, the carding, the spinning, and dying of the thread, and the weaving of the fabrics. While the men who make faithful copies of sand paintings from the past represent the principle of stability in Navajo thought, women embody dynamism and create new designs for every weaving they make. Weaving is a paradigm of the creativity of a mythic ancestor named Spider Woman who wove the universe as a cosmic web that united earth and sky. It was she who, according to legend, taught Navajo women how to weave. As they prepare their materials and weave, Navajo women imitate the transformations that originally created the world. Working on their looms, Navajo weavers create images through which they experience harmony with nature. It is their means of creating beauty and thereby contributing to the beauty, harmony, and healing of the world. Thus, weaving is a way of seeing the world and being part of it.

9. Paragraph 4 supports which of the following statements about Navajo weavers and weaving?

A. Navajo women oversee all aspects of wool production and weaving.

B. The wool used for blankets comes from different sheep than does the wool used for other purposes.

C. Navajo weavers have used some of the same designs for hundreds of years.

D. Weaving is done primarily for use in rituals.

► Paragraph 4：The Navajo are also world-famous for the designs on their woven blankets. Navajo women own the family flocks, control the shearing of the sheep, the carding, the spinning, and dying of the thread, and the weaving of the fabrics. While the men who make faithful copies of sand paintings from the past represent the principle of stability in Navajo thought, women embody dynamism and create new designs for every weaving they make. Weaving is a paradigm of the creativity of a mythic ancestor named Spider Woman who wove the universe as a cosmic web that united earth and sky. It was she who, according to legend, taught Navajo women how to weave. As they prepare their materials and weave, Navajo women imitate the transformations that originally created the world. Working on their looms, Navajo weavers create images through which they experience harmony with nature. It is their means of creating beauty and thereby contributing to the beauty, harmony, and healing of the world. Thus, weaving is a way of seeing the world and being part of it.

10. The word “ancestor” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. relative from an earlier generation

B. person who established a particular tradition in a society

C. hero from ancient times

D. person who once made important contributions to a social group or culture

► Paragraph 4：The Navajo are also world-famous for the designs on their woven blankets. Navajo women own the family flocks, control the shearing of the sheep, the carding, the spinning, and dying of the thread, and the weaving of the fabrics. While the men who make faithful copies of sand paintings from the past represent the principle of stability in Navajo thought, women embody dynamism and create new designs for every weaving they make. Weaving is a paradigm of the creativity of a mythic ancestor named Spider Woman who wove the universe as a cosmic web that united earth and sky. It was she who, according to legend, taught Navajo women how to weave. As they prepare their materials and weave, Navajo women imitate the transformations that originally created the world. Working on their looms, Navajo weavers create images through which they experience harmony with nature. It is their means of creating beauty and thereby contributing to the beauty, harmony, and healing of the world. Thus, weaving is a way of seeing the world and being part of it.

11. Why does the author discuss “a mythic ancestor named Spider Woman”?

A. To show how Navajo ideas of weaving have changed over time

B. To explain why the Navajo principle of stability is more clearly represented in their weavings than in their sand paintings

C. To emphasize the role of naturally occurring weaving materials in the creative weavings of the Navajo

D. To help explain the significance of weaving in Navajo culture

► Paragraph 4：The Navajo are also world-famous for the designs on their woven blankets. Navajo women own the family flocks, control the shearing of the sheep, the carding, the spinning, and dying of the thread, and the weaving of the fabrics. While the men who make faithful copies of sand paintings from the past represent the principle of stability in Navajo thought, women embody dynamism and create new designs for every weaving they make. Weaving is a paradigm of the creativity of a mythic ancestor named Spider Woman who wove the universe as a cosmic web that united earth and sky. It was she who, according to legend, taught Navajo women how to weave. As they prepare their materials and weave, Navajo women imitate the transformations that originally created the world. Working on their looms, Navajo weavers create images through which they experience harmony with nature. It is their means of creating beauty and thereby contributing to the beauty, harmony, and healing of the world. Thus, weaving is a way of seeing the world and being part of it.

12. According to paragraph 4, Navajo weavers imitate

A. traditional weaving patterns

B. patterns used in sand paintings

C. the activities through which the world was created

D. images from nature

► Paragraph 1：The Navajo, a Native American people living in the southwestern United States, live in small scattered settlements. In many respects, such as education, occupation, and leisure activities, their life is like that of other groups that contribute to the diverse social fabric of North American culture in the twenty-first century. At the same time, they have retained some traditional cultural practices that are associated with particular art forms. For example, the most important traditional Navajo rituals include the production of large floor paintings. These are actually made by pouring thin, finely controlled streams of colored sands or pulverized vegetable and mineral substances, pollen, and flowers in precise patterns on the ground. The largest of these paintings may be up to 5.5 meters in diameter and cover the entire floor of a room. Working from the inside of the design outward, the Navajo artist and his assistants will sift the black, white, bluish-gray, orange, and red materials through their fingers to create the finely detailed imagery. ■The paintings and chants used in the ceremonies are directed by well-trained artists and singers who enlist the aid of spirits who are impersonated by masked performers. ■The twenty-four known Navajo chants can be represented by up to 500 sand paintings. ■These complex paintings serve as memory aids to guide the singers during the performance of the ritual songs, which can last up to nine days. ■

13. Look at the four squares [ ■ ] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?

Since this purpose is limited to the context of the ritual, the paintings are destroyed when the ritual is completed.

14. 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 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.

Navajo art is fundamentally connected to aspects of Navajo ritual and belief.

Answer Choices

A. Navajo sand paintings are an expression of the close relationship between nature and the spiritual world in Navajo culture.

B. Individual Navajo sand paintings typically embody the principles of harmony and disorder.

C. Sand paintings, which help participants in rituals recall traditional chants, are part of ceremonies designed to restore beauty and harmony.

D. Sand paintings, which are created by Navajo men, are faithful re-creations of earlier works and as such represent the principle of stability

E. Whereas Navajo sand paintings are associated with male deities, Navajo weaving involves representations of female figures such as Spider Woman.

F. In Navajo culture, weaving is a female art and is associated with creativity and change