We all know that many more people today are right-handed than left-handed. Can onetracethis samepatternfar back in prehistory? Much of theevidenceabout right-handversusleft-hand dominance comes from stencils and prints found in rock shelters in Australia and elsewhere, and in many Ice Age caves in France, Spain, and Tasmania. When a left hand has been stenciled, this implies that the artist was right-handed, and vice versa. Eventhough the paint was often sprayed on by mouth, one canassumethat thedominanthandassisted inthe operation. One also has to make theassumptionthat hands were stenciled palmdownward—a left hand stenciled palm upward might ofcourselook as if it were a right hand. Of 158 stencils in the French cave of Gargas, 136 have been identified as left, and only 22 as right; right-handedness wasthereforeheavilypredominant.

Cave art furnishes other types ofevidenceof thisphenomenon. Most engravings, for example, are best lit from the left, as befits the work of right-handed artists, who generallypreferto have the lightsourceon the left so that the shadow of their hand does not fall on the tip of theengravingtool orbrush. In the few cases where an Ice Agefigureis depicted holding something, it is mostly, though not always, in the right hand.

Clues to right-handedness can also be found by other methods. Right-handerstendto have longer, stronger, and moremuscularbones on the right side, and Marcellin Boule as long ago as 1911notedthe La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neanderthalskeletonhad a right upper arm bone that was noticeably stronger than the left. Similarobservations have been made on other Neanderthal skeletons such as La Ferrassie I and Neanderthal itself.

Fractures and other cut marks are anothersourceofevidence. Right-handed soldierstendto be wounded on the left. Theskeletonof a 40- or 50-year-old Nabatean warrior, buried 2,000 years ago in the NegevDesert, Israel, hadmultiplehealed fractures to theskull, the left arm, and the ribs.

Tools themselves can be revealing. Long-handedNeolithicspoons of yew wood preserved in Alpine villages dating to 3000 B.C. have survived; the signs of rubbing on their left sideindicatethat their users were right-handed. The late Ice Age rope found in the French cave of Lascaux consists of fibers spiraling to the right, and wasthereforetressed by a righthander.

Occasionally one candeterminewhether stone tools were used in the right hand or the left, and it isevenpossible toassesshow far back this feature can be traced. In stone toolmaking experiments, Nick Toth, a right-hander, held thecore(the stone that would become the tool) in his left hand and thehammerstone in his right. As the tool was made, thecorewas rotatedclockwise, and the flakes, removed insequence, had a littlecrescentof cortex (thecore's outer surface) on the side. Toth's knapping produced 56 percent flakes with the cortex on the right, and 44 percent left-oriented flakes. A left-handed toolmaker would produce theoppositepattern. Toth has applied thesecriteriato the similarly madepebbletools from a number of early sites (before 1.5 million years) at Koobi Fora, Kenya, probably made by Homo habilis. At seven sites he found that 57 percent of the flakes were right-oriented, and 43 percent left, apatternalmostidenticalto that produced today.

About 90 percent of modern humans are right-handed: we are the onlymammalwith a preferential use of one hand. The part of the brainresponsiblefor fine control and movement is located in the leftcerebralhemisphere, and the findings above suggest that the human brain was alreadyasymmetricalin its structure andfunctionnot long after 2 million years ago. Among Neanderthalers of 70,000–35,000 years ago, Marcellin Boulenotedthat the La Chapelle-aux-Saintsindividualhad a lefthemisphereslightlybigger than the right, and the same was found for brains of specimens from Neanderthal, Gibraltar, and La Quina.

Questions:
question_stem: The phrase “assisted in” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: initiated

tag: B
text: dominated

tag: C
text: helped with

tag: D
text: set up
answer_key: C
explanation: assist in 帮助，所以 C 的 help with 是正确答案。原句说尽管 piant 通常是靠嘴来 spray 的，但 dominant hand 起到了什么作用，帮忙作用，所以 C 正确。A 的 initiate 和 D 的 set up 都有开始，建立之意，两者相似，且跟文章无关，都错；B 的 dominate 和文章相反，前面已经有一个 dominant 了。

question_stem: It can be inferred from paragraph 1 that even when paint was sprayed by mouth to make a hand stencil
choices: tag: A
text: there was no way to tell which hand was stenciled

tag: B
text: the stenciled hand was the weaker hand

tag: C
text: the stenciled hand was the dominant hand

tag: D
text: artists stenciled more images of the dominant hand than they did of the weak
answer_key: B
explanation: B 以 mouth 和 hand stencil 做关键词定位至倒数第二和第三句，说 dominant hand 是帮忙的；最后一句又说 stenciled 的136是左手22是右手，通过具体数字说明右手是主手的多，所以 B 是答案；注意 B 和 C 是一对相反答案，所以 C 错，A 说不知道哪个主要也就错；D 没说。

question_stem: The phrase “depicted” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: identified

tag: B
text: revealed

tag: C
text: pictured

tag: D
text: imagined
answer_key: C
explanation: C, depict 描述，所以 C 的 pictured 正确，picture 作名词图片大家都知道，作动词与原来名词的意思相关，所以是描述。原句说在为数不多的情况当中，figure 被怎么样拿着东西，imagine 想象，而原文的意思是真的拿着东西，所以 imagine 不对；reveal 揭露和 identify 都表示从无到有的意思，不对。

question_stem: 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.
choices: tag: A
text: Right-handed artists could more easily have avoided casting shadows on their work, because engravings in prehistoric caves were lit from the left.

tag: B
text: The tips of engraving tools and brushes indicate that these instruments were used by right-handed artists whose work was lit from the left.

tag: C
text: The best lighting for most engravings suggests that they were made by right-handed people trying to avoid the shadow of their hands interfering with their work.

tag: D
text: Right-handed artists try to avoid having the brush they are using interfere with the light source.
answer_key: C
explanation: C 句子的主干意思是：大多数雕刻最佳光照是从左边照，这样方便了右撇子艺术家，手的阴影就不会覆盖到雕刻和画刷的尖顶了。C 对应原句内容，正确。

question_stem: All of the following are mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 as evidence of right-handedness in art and artists EXCEPT
choices: tag: A
text: the ideal source of lighting for most engravings

tag: B
text: the fact that a left hand stenciled palm upward might look like a right hand

tag: C
text: the prevalence of outlines of left hands

tag: D
text: figures in prehistoric art holding objects with the right hand
answer_key: B
explanation: B EXCEPT 题，排除法，A 的 engraving 做关键词定位至第二段第二句，正确，不选；B 对应第一段第三句，但这个不是 right-handedness 的原因，所以这个选项不对，选；C 的 prevalence 和 left hand 定位至第一段最后一句，正确，不选；D 的定位至第二段最后一句，正确，不选。

question_stem: According to paragraph 3, the La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neanderthal skeleton can be identified as right-handed because
choices: tag: A
text: other Neanderthal skeletons found nearby are also right-handed

tag: B
text: the right arm bone is stronger than the left

tag: C
text: it is similar to skeletons of La Ferrassie I and Neanderthal

tag: D
text: the right side of the skeleton shows less evidence of fractures
answer_key: B
explanation: B 以 La 做关键词定位至倒数第二句，noticeably stronger，答案 B 正确，A 和 C 都有提到，但都不是 La 被认定为 right-handedness 的原因，所以不选，D 没说。

question_stem: Which of the following statements about fractures and cut marks can be inferred from paragraph 4?
choices: tag: A
text: Fractures and cut marks caused by right-handed soldiers tend to occur on the right side of the injured party's body.

tag: B
text: The right arm sustains more injuries because, as the dominant arm, it is used more actively.

tag: C
text: In most people, the left side of the body is more vulnerable to injury since it is not defended effectively by the dominant arm.

tag: D
text: Fractures and cut marks on fossil humans probably occurred after death.
answer_key: C
explanation: C 以 fractures and other cut marks 做关键词定位至第一句，但第一句信息太少，往下看，说右撇子士兵伤在左侧，所以正确答案是 C。B 说反，左侧容易受伤；A 和 D 都没说。

question_stem: According to paragraph 5, what characteristic of a Neolithic spoon would imply that the spoon's owner was right-handed?
choices: tag: A
text: The direction of the fibers

tag: B
text: Its long handle

tag: C
text: The yew wood it is carved from

tag: D
text: Wear on its left side
answer_key: D
explanation: D  以 Neolithic spoon 做关键词定位至第二句，但这句没有回答问题，问题问的是什么特点表明 right-handed，所以往后看找到答案，signs of rubbing，摩擦痕迹，所以答案是 wear，注意 wear 有一个意思是摩擦。

question_stem: In paragraph 5, why does the author mention the Ice Age rope found in the French cave of Lascaux?
choices: tag: A
text: As an example of an item on which the marks of wear imply that it was used by a right-handed person

tag: B
text: Because tressing is an activity that is easier for a right-handed person than for a left-handed person

tag: C
text: Because the cave of Lascaux is the site where researchers have found several prehistoric tools made for right-handed people

tag: D
text: As an example of an item whose construction shows that it was right handed made by a right-person
answer_key: D
explanation: 以 Ice Age rope 做关键词定位至最后一句：The late Ice Age rope found in the French cave of Lascaux consists of fibers spiraling to the right, and was therefore tressed by a righthander.说 rope 是右旋的，说明是一个右撇子弄的，所以答案是 D，一个例子，右撇子弄出来的。B 和 C 都没说；而 A 说 rope 是右撇子的人用的，原文说 rope 是右撇子的人编制的，和原文矛盾。

question_stem: The word “criteria” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: standards

tag: B
text: findings

tag: C
text: ideas

tag: D
text: techniques
answer_key: A
explanation: A  criteria: 标准。A 是标准；B 是发现；C 是主意，观点；D 是技术。所以 A 的 standard 正确。 对应原文 Toth has applied these criteria to the similarly made pebble tools from a number of early sites (before 1.5 million years) at Koobi Fora, Kenya, probably made by Homo habilis. 原句说 T 应用了这些 criteria 到砾石器上，因为有 these，所以往前看，前一句说左撇子工匠做东西的 pattern 与 TOTH 发现的相反，这句话不是一个 finding 也不是一项技术，所以 B 和 D 都不对，至于 idea 不对，就只能靠认识单词了。

question_stem: What was the purpose of Toth's toolmaking experiment described in paragraph 6?
choices: tag: A
text: To shape tools that could be used by either hand

tag: B
text: To produce replicas of early tools for display in museums

tag: C
text: To imitate the production of pebble tools from early sites

tag: D
text: To determine which hand made the early tools
answer_key: D
explanation: D   先找到 toth 的实验在本段第二句，然后读这句话，发现整句话都是一个例子，然后往前看，也就是这段的第一句，说有时候能够确定到底是那只手用了这个工具，所以 T 的例子就是为说明这个的，所以答案是 D，确定早期的工具是那只手做的。

question_stem: What is the author's primary purpose in paragraph 7?
choices: tag: A
text: To illustrate the importance of studying the brain

tag: B
text: To demonstrate that human beings are the only mammal to desire fine control of movement

tag: C
text: To contrast the functions of the two hemispheres of the brain

tag: D
text: To demonstrate that right-hand preference has existed for a long time
answer_key: D
explanation: D，问整段的目的，找中心句，看这一段的首尾句。第一句说人类是唯一有左右撇子现象的动物，最后一句说早在很久以前就有了这种现象，能够对应选项 D，其他都没说。