托福 托福 62 - The Use of Jade and Bronze in China
题目
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
8.The word "assessment" in the passage is closest in meaning to
  • A.distinction
  • B.connection
  • C.assumption
  • D.evaluation
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    阅读原文 中文译文

    Jade and bronze were chosen early in China' s history as the materials for society' s most precious objects. The main reason for this is very straightforward. Both materials are beautiful to the eye and, in the case of jade, also to the touch. Jade is a dense stone that can be ground to smooth, soft surfaces and glows in subtle greens, grays, and browns. Bronze, an alloy of tin and copper, is a light, bright gold color when polished.

    Jade was employed (c. 4500B.C.) for exceptionally elegant versions of utilitarian stone tools; bronze was the choice (c. 1650 B.C.) for the highest-quality cooking pots. Made in jade, the tools were not for daily use but for displays of status and power, and the bronze cooking pots were not for ordinary meals but were reserved for offerings of food and wine to ancestors. Jade and bronze were thus used for special ritual or ceremonial versions of standard everyday items.

    The materials themselves were scarcer and required more labor to work than ordinary stone and ceramic. That this was the case must have been as clear in the past as it is today and must have marked the objects as in some way exceptional. Not only the materials but also the ways in which they were worked demonstrated their exalted functions jade scepters (ceremonial obJects of various shapes that were carried by influential people as symbols of authority) were ground more thinly than the stone tools they copied, such as axes or reaping knives. Had they been used to chop down a tree, they would have broken. Bronze cooking pots were made in intricate forms, with extra knobs and handles and dense decoration all of which would have been impracticable on everyday ceramics.

    There would be no point in using these scarce and labor-intensive materials in place of common ones if they could not be immediately recognized as outstanding. Craftsmanship was therefore directed toward exploiting and displaying the particular qualities of jade and bronze that make them recognizahly different from ordinary stone and ceramic. These qualities had to be made visually noticeable. Other qualities, such as weight or texture, can only be appreciated by holding the object, and fewer people will have the opportunity to pick it up and feel its features with their hands than will be able to glance at it quickly.

    Visual distinctions deployed to separate the ceremonial from the everyday can also be used to refer to smaller differences in the ranking of ritual items, separating those owned by kings from those owned by nobles. Such differences can be in size or mass-one piece being larger or thicker than another—or in skill, with one being better crafted than another. We make such Judgments when looking at ancient obJects today, and it seems likely that some sort of similar assessment was made at the time.

    Two hierarchies, both visible to the eye, were thus achieved. First and most fundamental was a hierarchy of function, the ritual object standing above the everyday object Second was the hierarchy within each category, with the more elaborately worked and often larger obJect higher up the scale. The rich and powerful owned the jade scepters and bronze vessels. What is more, these scepters and vessels not only expressed or reflected the status of their owners but they also probably reinforced it. In this way, jades and bronzes became bound up with the religious and political structures of the early Chinese state, and they remained so linked up to the twentieth century.

    It is therefore not surprising that at times when rulers and their courts wished to assert their authority, they commissioned large numbers of conspicuous bronzes. Further, when they wished to distract attention from weaknesses in society, they emphasized their power even more by increasing expenditure on ritual obJects. Thus changes in the aesthetic qualities of jades and bronzes can inform us about the society that produced them.

    Later generations of Chinese scholars of the Song Dynasty (A.O. 960-1279) quickly recognized the link between the bronzes and jades and political power. In their search for political legitimacy, they collected and studied ancient artifacts, pursuits that in themselves reinforced the high status of jade and bronze in society. From the idea that political power resided in ancient objects, including calligraphy and painting, grew the first art collections.

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    最新提问
    • wx_6697
      觉得B C 意思一样,不知道选哪个
    • wx_5576
      这道题C为什么对,E为什么不对?
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      B为什么不能选啊?
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      这题也很容易选错选成了D
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      这道题A为什么错了
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      这道题不选E是因为太细节了吗
    • 王金阁
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      有大佬解释一下这个为啥选D嘛?
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      F选项的weather-related destruction在哪里体现了呢?原文最后一段的开头Among the costs里的costs是不是打错了?应该是coast?
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      这题为什么选C?
    • 小雨淅沥哗啦的下
      小雨淅沥哗啦的下 去解答 去解答
      B哪里错了
    • 小雨淅沥哗啦的下
      小雨淅沥哗啦的下 去解答 去解答
      B为啥不对
    • 李浩然
      B选项错误,是因为残缺么?
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      鑫哥,从哪里看出来这个masks 不是use呀,原文说了wear呀
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      鑫哥,想知道E错在哪里?
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      鑫哥,B选项 cannot extended to earlier geological periods. 原文说的意思是后来的进化无法估计吧
    • wx_2163
      B为什么不选
    • wx_7780
      鑫哥,这个哪里看不use了。BD是修饰错,C是无中生有,怎么能直接选出A?
    • 100
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    • 100
      为什么选b?
    • gu33
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    • 我是啦啦啦
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      这个题A哪里错了?是因为主语不对吗?这个C比A多一步推理啊
    • haiyuqiao
      鑫哥,D选项里的19世纪出现了很多假设,原文中并没有提到啊
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      为什么选a 呢。我觉得a是细节。F哪错了?
    • wx_1105
      我想问一下,这道题为什么不能选A呢?
    • wx_8122
      D为什么不选
    • wx_1655
      f选项哪里说了
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    • wx_6697
      鑫哥,这道题答案是不是错了,好多人选D 我也选的D求解答
    • wx_6697
      这道题应该是一道易错题,每个选项的都有,然而我选的A错了,求解
    • wx_6697
      鑫哥,这题的C是怎么得到的?B也没有找到啊?难道不是应该选B
    • wx_6697
      鑫哥,还有这个,好多人选A答案是不是错了
    • wx_6697
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    • wx_4185
      it is difficult to say how far they were intended to be portraits rather than generalized images 这句话怎么理解呢
    • 此楠楠
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    • 此楠楠
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