2018年12月8日托福阅读真题+题目+答案：Christian Thomson and Danish Artifacts

2018年12月8日托福阅读真题+题目+答案：Christian Thomson and Danish Artifacts

Paragraph 1: In 1807 the Danish Royal Commission for the Preservation and Collection of Antiquities was established. It began to gather together a collection of antiquities (objects from the ancient past) from all over Denmark that soon became one of the largest and most representative in Europe. In 1816 the commission invited the scholar Christian Thomson to classify and prepare this collection for exhibition. The main problem that Thomson faced was how the diverse assortment of prehistoric material in the collection could be exhibited most effectively. He decided to proceed chronologically by subdividing the prehistoric period into successive ages of stone, bronze, and iron. The notion of successive ages of stone, bronze and iron was not merely speculation but a hypothesis for which there was already some evidence.

1. The word “chronologically" in the passage is closest in meaning to

O from oldest to most recent

O by type of material

O using broad categories

O based on evidence

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

O originally

O actually

O simply

O usually

Paragraph 2: In attempting to sort the prehistoric material in the collection into three successive technological stages or eras, Thomson faced a daunting task. He recognized that even for the stone and metal objects, automatic classification would not work. Bronze and stone artifacts had continued to be made in the Iron Age, just as stone tools had been used in the Bronze Age. The challenge was therefore to distinguish bronze artifacts made during the Iron Age from those made during the Bronze Age and to differentiate which stone tools had been made in each era. There also was the problem of assigning objects made of gold, silver, glass, and other substances to each period. Individual artifacts were no help in beginning this work. Yet the Danish national collection contained sets of artifacts that had been found in the same grave, collection, or other contexts and that could safely be assumed to have been buried at the same time. Thomson called these "closed finds” and believed that, by comparing the various items from each such discovery and noting which types of artifacts occurred together and which never did, it would be possible for him to determine the sorts of artifacts that were characteristic of different periods.

3. Why does the author state that “Bronze and stone artifacts had continued to be made in the Iron Age, just as stone tools had been used in the Bronze Age”?

O To explain why it was difficult to determine the period in which an artifact was made based on the material from which it was made

O To provide evidence that bronze and stone artifacts were made before Iron Age artifacts

O To suggest that the categories created by Thomson duplicated classifications for artifacts that had been established previously

O To argue that Thomson should not have included objects made of substances other than stone, bronze, or iron in the exhibition

4. 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.

O Thomson called these "closed finds" because he noticed that they contained some artifacts that were always found together and never with anything else.

O Thomson considered a find to be "closed" once he had finished carefully examining each artifact in it in order to compare and describe its type and characteristics.

O By comparing various items from each discovery, Thomson believed he could determine beyond doubt which period each artifact came from and close further discussion.

O Thomson believed he could use these "closed finds" to characterize different periods by observing which types of artifacts occurred together and which did not.

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