托福阅读真题Official 47 Passage 1（七）

托福阅读真题Official 47 Passage 1（七）

Roman Cultural Influence on Britain

After the Roman Empire’s conquest of Britain in the first century A.D.,the presence of administrators,merchants,and troops on British soil,along with the natural flow of ideas and goods from the rest of the empire,had an enormous influence on life in the British Isles.Cultural influences were of three types:the bringing of objects,the transfer of craft workers,and the introduction of massive civil architecture.Many objects were not art in even the broadest sense and comprised utilitarian items of clothing,utensils,and equipment.We should not underestimate the social status associated with such mundane possessions which had not previously been available.The flooding of Britain with red-gloss pottery from Gaul(modern-day France),decorated with scenes from Classical mythology,probably brought many into contact with the styles and artistic concepts of the Greco-Roman world for the first time,whether or not the symbolism was understood.Mass-produced goods were accompanied by fewer more aesthetically impressive objects such as statuettes.Such pieces perhaps first came with officials for their own religious worship;others were then acquired by native leaders as diplomatic gifts or by purchase.Once seen by the natives,such objects created a fashion which rapidly spread through the province.

In the most extreme instances,natives literally bought the whole package of Roman culture.The Fishbourne villa,built in the third quarter of the first century A.D.,probably for the native client king Cogidubnus,amply illustrates his Roman pretensions.It was constructed in the latest Italian style with imported marbles and stylish mosaics.It was lavishly furnished with imported sculptures and other Classical objects.A visitor from Rome would have recognized its owner as a participant in the contemporary culture of the empire,not at all provincial in taste.Even if those from the traditional families looked down on him,they would have been unable to dismiss him as uncultured.Although exceptional,this demonstrates how new cultural symbols bound provincials to the identity of the Roman world.

Such examples established a standard to be copied.One result was an influx of craft workers,particularly those skilled in artistic media like stone-carving which had not existed before the conquest.Civilian workers came mostly from Gaul and Germany.The magnificent temple built beside the sacred spring at Bath was constructed only about twenty years after the conquest.Its detail shows that it was carved by artists from northeast Gaul.In the absence of a tradition of Classical stone-carving and building,the desire to develop Roman amenities would have been difficult to fulfill.Administrators thus used their personal contacts to put the Britons in touch with architects and masons.As many of the officials in Britain had strong links with Gaul,it is not surprising that early Roman Britain owes much to craft workers from that area.Local workshops did develop and stylistically similar groups of sculpture show how skills in this new medium became widespread.Likewise skills in the use of mosaic,wall painting,ceramic decoration,and metal-working developed throughout the province with the eventual emergence of characteristically Romano-British styles.

This art had a major impact on the native peoples,and one of the most important factors was a change in the scale of buildings.Pre-Roman Britain was highly localized,with people rarely traveling beyond their own region.On occasion large groups amassed for war or religious festivals,but society remained centered on small communities.Architecture of this era reflected this with even the largest of the fortified towns and hill forts containing no more than clusters of medium-sized structures.The spaces inside even the largest roundhouses were modest,and the use of rounded shapes and organic building materials gave buildings a human scale.But the effect of Roman civil architecture was significant.The sheer size of space enclosed within buildings like the basilica of London must have been astonishing.This was an architecture of dominance in which subject peoples were literally made to feel small by buildings that epitomized imperial power.Supremacy was accentuated by the unyielding straight lines of both individual buildings and planned settlements since these too provided a marked contrast with the natural curvilinear shapes dominant in the native realm.

Question 13 of 14

Look at the four squares[■]that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.Practical and unimpressive,most were barely taller than the average adult.Where would the sentence best fit?Click on a square[■]to add the sentence to the passage.

正确答案：A

题目详解

题型分类：插入句子题

题干分析：考察句子和句子之间的衔接判断（通过待插入句子意思：“大多数几乎不比成年人高”说明房子高度不大，另外most代指前文名词复数）

选项分析：

A选项前文一直在说房子很小human scale，A后but表示转折，强调房子变得astonishing，前后呼应。

B选项后方this和前面architecture呼应，该处不能插句子。

C选项语法错误，most没有指代的复数名词。

D选项逻辑错误，最后一句通常表示总结，前文一直在说房子规模宏伟，待插入句子说房子很小，插入进去前后矛盾。

Question 14 of 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 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.This question is worth 2 points.

The conquest of Britain by the Roman Empire resulted in significant cultural change.

Answer Choices:

A.

New objects entering Britain ranged from mass-produced articles for everyday use to works of art,and they were widely—and enthusiastically—accepted by native Britons.

B.

The conquest was followed by a building boom,and enough villas and temples in the Italian style were built that a visitor from Rome would have felt quite at home in post-conquest Britain.

C.

Constructing and furnishing buildings in the Roman style required skills that native workers did not at first have,so workers were brought in from other parts of the empire.

D.

An important symbol of Roman supremacy was Roman architecture,whose enormous size,emphasized by the use of straight lines,made the natives feel insignificant.

E.

Native Britons traveled to Gaul to learn Classical stone-carving and building techniques.

F.

Characteristically Romano-British concepts took hold in architecture;roundhouses were built much larger than before,and straight lines began to be used in interior spaces.

正确答案：ACD

题目详解

题型分类：文章总结题

题干分析：选择概括性的正确选项

选项分析：

正确选项：

A选项为第一和第三段的重要信息，New objects entering对应第二句the bringing of objects。mass-produced articles对应第三句utilitarian items of clothing,utensils,and equipment。works of art对应第二句the transfer of craft workers，以及第三段第二句an influx of craft worker，正确。

C选项为第三段的重要信息，对应第二句One result was an influx of craft worker,particularly those skilled in artistic media like stone-carving which had not existed before the conquest.说明工匠之前没有存在，都是后来涌入的，第三句也提到工人大部分来自Gaul and Germany，对应选项other parts of the empire正确。

D选项为最后一段重要信息，总结了But the effect of Roman civil architecture was significant之后的内容，介绍罗马建筑的直线型体现权威。倒数第三句the sheer size of space对应选项enormous size，倒数第二句peoples literally made to feel small对应选项made the natives feel insignificant，正确。

错误选项：

B选项出自第二段第五句，但原文说的是vistor会感觉别墅主人品味不俗，而不是游客自己felt quite at home，与原文细节不符。

E选项出自出自第三段第二句，罗马建筑师来到英国，错在没提到是Britons traveled to Gaul，无中生有。

F选项出自最后一段最后一句，原文straight lines是为了体现权威的，而不是interior spaces，与原文矛盾。

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