托福閱讀真題練習(xí)：雕塑的文本+真題+答案

在備考托福閱讀時,，除了要積累大量的詞匯外，進(jìn)行真題練習(xí)也是非常重要的,。本文將為大家提供一篇關(guān)于雕塑的閱讀文本,，以及相關(guān)的真題和答案，幫助大家更好地準(zhǔn)備托?？荚?。

TOEFL Reading Passage:

The sculptural legacy that the new United States inherited from its colonial predecessors was far from a rich one. In fact, in 1776, sculpture as an art form was still predominantly in the hands of artisans and craftspeople. Stone carvers engraved their motifs of skulls and crossbones and other religious icons of death into the gray slabs that we still see standing today in old burial grounds. Some skilled craftspeople made intricately carved wooden ornamentations for furniture or architectural decorations, while others crafted wooden shop signs and ships' figureheads. Although they often achieved expression and formal excellence in their generally primitive style, they remained artisans skilled in the craft of carving and constituted a group distinct from what we normally think of as "sculptors" today.

On the rare occasion when a fine piece of sculpture was desired, Americans turned to foreign sculptors. For example, in the 1770s, the cities of New York and Charleston, South Carolina, commissioned the Englishman Joseph Wilton to create marble statues of William Pitt. Wilton also made a lead equestrian image of King George III in New York in 1770, which was torn down by zealous patriots six years later. A few marble memorials with carved busts, urns, or other decorations were produced in England and brought to the colonies to be set in the walls of churches, such as in King's Chapel in Boston. However, sculpture as a high art, practiced by artists who understood both the artistic theory of their Renaissance-Baroque-Rococo predecessors and the various technical procedures of modeling, casting, and carving rich three-dimensional forms, was not known among Americans in 1776. Indeed, for many years afterward, the United States had two groups from which to choose — either local craftspeople or imported talent from European sculptors.

The eighteenth century did not foster the development of innovative sculptural concepts. Additionally, the timidity with which unschooled artisans — originally trained as stonemasons, carpenters, or cabinetmakers — approached the medium further limited the scope of sculpture created in the United States during the late eighteenth century.

TOEFL Reading Questions:

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

(A) There was great demand for the work of eighteenth-century artisans.

(B) Skilled sculptors did not exist in the United States in the 1770s.

(C) Many foreign sculptors worked in the United States after 1776.

(D) American sculptors were hampered by a lack of tools and materials.

2. The word "motifs" in line 3 is closest in meaning to:

(A) tools

(B) prints

(C) signatures

(D) designs

3. The work of which of the following could be seen in burial grounds?

(A) European sculptors

(B) Carpenters

(C) Stone carvers

(D) Cabinetmakers

4. The word "others" in line 6 refers to:

(A) craftspeople

(B) decorations

(C) ornamentations

(D) shop signs

5. The word "distinct" in line 9 is closest in meaning to:

(A) separate

(B) assembled

(C) notable

(D) inferior

6. The word "rare" in line 11 is closest in meaning to:

(A) festive

(B) infrequent

(C) delightful

(D) unexpected

7. Why does the author mention Joseph Wilton in line 13?

(A) He was an English sculptor who did work in the United States.