Ever since European first explored Australia, people have been trying to understand theancientrock drawings and cavings created by the Aborigines, theoriginalinhabitants of thecontinent. Early in the nineteenthcentury, encounters withAboriginalrock art tended to beinfrequentand open to speculativeinterpretation, but since the late nineteenthcentury,awarenessof theextentandvarietyof Australian rock art has been growing. In thelatterdecades of the twentiethcenturythere were intensified efforts to understand andrecordtheabundanceof Australian rock art.

Thesystematicstudy of this art is arelativelynewdisciplinein Australia. Over the past four decades new discoveries have steadily added to the body of knowledge. The mostsignificantdatahave come from aconcentrationon threemajorquestions. First, what is the age of Australian rock art? Second, what is itsstylisticorganizationand is it possible todiscernasequenceor apatternofdevelopmentbetween styles? Third, is it possible tointerpretaccurately thesubjectmatter ofancientrock art, bring tobearallavailablearchaeologicaltechniques and the knowledge of present-dayAboriginalinformants?

The age of Australia’s rock art isconstantlybeing revised, and earlier datings have been proposed as the result of new discoveries. Currently,reliablescientificevidencedates the earliest creation of art on rock surfaces in Australia to somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 years ago. This in itself is an almost incomprehensiblespanof generations, and one that makes Australia’s rock art the oldestcontinuousart tradition in the world.

Although theremarkableantiquityof Australia’s rock art is now established, the sequences and meanings of its images have been widely debated. Since the mid-1970s, a reasonablystablepicture has formed of theorganizationof Australian rock art. In order to create asenseof structure to this picture, researchers have relied on adistinctionthat still underlies the forms of muchindigenousvisualculture—adistinctionbetween geometric andfigurativeelements. Simple geometric repeated patterns—circles,concentriccircles, and lines—constitutethe iconography (characteristicimages) of the earliest rock-art sites foundacrossAustralia. Thefrequencywith which certain simple motifsappearin these oldest sites has led rock-art researchers toadoptadescriptiveterm—the Panaramitee style—alabelwhich takes its name from theextensiverock pavements at Panaramitee North indesertSouth Australia, which are covered with motifs pecked into the surface. Certain features of these engravingsleadto the conclusion that they are of great age—geological changes had clearly happened after the designs had been made andlocalAboriginalinformants, when first questioned about them, seemed to know nothing of their origins. Furthermore, the designs were covered with “desertvarnish,” aglazethat develops on rock surfaces over thousands of years ofexposureto the elements. The simple motifs found at Panaramitee arecommonto many rock-art sitesacrossAustralia. Indeed, sites with engravings of geometric shapes are also to be found on the island of Tasmania, which was separated from the mainland of thecontinentsome 10,000 years ago.

In the 1970s when the study of Australianarchaeologywas in anexcitingphaseofdevelopment, with the greatantiquityof rock art becomingclear. Lesley Maynard, the archaeologist who coined the phrase “Panaramitee style,” suggested that asequencecould bedeterminedfor Australian rock art, in which a geometric style gave way to a simplefigurativestyle (outlines of figures and animals), followed by a range ofcomplexfigurativestyles that, unlike the pan-Australian geometric tradition, tended to be much greater regionaldiversity. While accepting that thissequencefits thearchaeologicalprofile of those sites, which were occupied continuously over many thousands of years a number of writers have warned that theunderlyingassumptionof such asequence—adevelopmentfrom the simple and the geometric to thecomplexand naturalistic—obscures the cultural continuities inAboriginalAustralia, in which geometric symbolism remains fundamentally important. In thiscontextthesimplicityof a geometricmotifmay be moreapparentthan real. Motifs of seemingsimplicitycan encodecomplexmeanings inAboriginalAustralia. And has not twentieth-century art shown that naturalism does not necessarily follow abstraction in some kind of predeterminesequence?

Questions:
question_stem: The word “infrequent” in the passage (paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: puzzling

tag: B
text: uncommon

tag: C
text: questionable

tag: D
text: undocumented
answer_key: B
explanation: B infrequent: 不常见的，罕见的。A 是使迷惑的，B 是不常见的，C 是可疑的，有问题的，D 是没有记载的。所以正确答案是 uncommon，

question_stem: According to paragraph 1, the twentieth-century approach to studying Australian rock art was different from earlier approaches because the twentieth-century approach
choices: tag: A
text: recognized that many different groups of Aborigines created Australian rock art

tag: B
text: concentrated on a limited range of Aboriginal rock art

tag: C
text: examined Aboriginal art from an Aboriginal rather than from a European perspective

tag: D
text: focused more intensely on understanding and documenting rock art
answer_key: D
explanation: D 以二十世纪做关键词定位至最后一句，说二十世纪的后几十年人们更多花功夫在理解和记录 rock art 的 abundance 上，所以正确答案是 D，understanding and documenting。其他选项都没说。

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

tag: B
text: comparatively

tag: C
text: apparently

tag: D
text: particularly
answer_key: B
explanation: B relatively: 相对地，相关地。A 是完全地，B 是相对地，C 是明显地，D 是特别地，独特地。所以正确答案是 B 的 comparatively。

question_stem: The word “discern” in the passage (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: indicate

tag: B
text: apply

tag: C
text: identify

tag: D
text: repeat
answer_key: C
explanation: C discern: 辨别，识别。A 是表明，指出；B 是运用；C 是识别；D 是重复。根据词意，正确答案是 C 的 identify。

question_stem: The word “revised” in the passage (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: discussed

tag: B
text: raised

tag: C
text: challenged

tag: D
text: changed
answer_key: D
explanation: D revise: 修改。A 是讨论；B 是提出；C 是挑战；D 是改变。所以正确答案是 change。

question_stem: Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage (paragraph 4)? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave ways or leave out essential information
choices: tag: A
text: The oldest rock art sites have simpler motifs than the best known sites of Panaramitee North.

tag: B
text: Because motifs primarily associated with the Panaramitee region are common in the oldest sites the term Panaramitee style has become the general term for rock art of this type.

tag: C
text: Because the Panaramitee style is so common in the older sites, researchers have described it most extensively.

tag: D
text: The motifs carved in the rocky surface of the Panaramitee region make up the oldest form of rock art discovered in Australia.
answer_key: B
explanation: B 从原句的 led…to 结构中可以看出，原句的主要逻辑是因果。原因是某些图案出现的频率，研究人员采用了一个术语"the Panaramitee style"。这些选项中，B 选项将这样的因果逻辑用 because 体现出来，且涵盖了原句的原因和结果，所以 B 正确。A 选项的比较逻辑在原句没有，错；C 选项的结果部分和原句不符，错；D 选项的逻辑和内容都与原句不符，错。

question_stem: According to paragraph 4, researchers have organized and structured Australian rock art by distinguishing between which of the following?
choices: tag: A
text: Images found at Panaramitee North and images found in other parts of Australia

tag: B
text: Images found in a particular type of rock layer and images found in other types of rock layers

tag: C
text: Images that have geometric elements and images that have figurative elements

tag: D
text: Images that are typically found and image that are rarely found
answer_key: C
explanation: C 以 structure 和 distinguish 双关键词定位至第三句和第四句，注意原文的 distinction 和 distinguish 是一回事儿，而且破折号和 between 也能帮我们定位，所以正确答案是 C，区分开 geometric 和 figurative，别的都没说。

question_stem: According to paragraph 4, all of the following are signs of the great age of the Panaramitee engravings EXCEPT:
choices: tag: A
text: The engravings consisted of simple animal drawings.

tag: B
text: The engravings were covered with a layer of a substance known as “desert varnish”.

tag: C
text: Local Aborigines who were asked knew nothing about the origin of the engravings.

tag: D
text: Geologic changes had occurred after the engravings were made.
answer_key: A
explanation: D 可以先用 signs of the great age 将相关内容的范围缩小，将阅读范围缩减到最后四句话，从 Certain features 开始。

question_stem: Why does the author include information about Tasmania in paragraph 4?
choices: tag: A
text: To provide evidence that the Panaramitee style is widespread and of great age

tag: B
text: To prove that Aboriginal Australians could not have made the carvings in Tasmania

tag: C
text: To indicate how researchers have determined how long ago Tasmania separated from the mainland

tag: D
text: To illustrate the importance of geometric rock art to tourism in Tasmania
answer_key: A
explanation: A 先以 Tasmania 做关键词定位至最后一句，但整个句子都是例子，因此往前看，前一句说在 P 处出现的 motif 在整个澳洲都很普遍，紧接着就说了塔斯马尼亚的例子，也就是说塔斯曼尼亚无非就是说普遍，所以答案是 A，其他都没说。

question_stem: According to paragraph 5, the complex figurative style differs from the geometric style in that the complex figurative style
choices: tag: A
text: varies significantly from region to region

tag: B
text: is more meaningful

tag: C
text: appears on only a few types of rocks

tag: D
text: has changed little overtime
answer_key: A
explanation: A 找两个 style 的不同，第二句不仅说到了两个 style，而且用 unlike 说了两者的不同，所以是信息所在。这句说跟泛澳洲的 geometric 不同，figurative 有更大的区域性特征，也就是说不同区域有区别，所以正确答案是 A 的 from region to region，剩下三个选项都没说。

question_stem: According to paragraph 5, Lesley Maynard made which of the following suggestions about Australian rock art?
choices: tag: A
text: There were a pattern of human figures being represented in a more complex style than animal figures.

tag: B
text: Australian archaeology should concentrate on determining the sequence of styles that led up to the Panaramitee style.

tag: C
text: The great antiquity of Australian rock art would probably make it impossible to determine the ages of the various styles found in rock art.

tag: D
text: The geometric style of Australian rock art was replaced by increasingly complex figurative styles.
answer_key: D
explanation: D 以人名做关键词定位至第二句，说澳洲 rock art 有顺序，先是 geometric，再到简单的 figurative，后来是复杂 figurative，只有 d 说到了被复杂的取代，是正确答案。a 和 c 都没说，b 说到了 sequence，但这个顺序已经确定了，而不是 b 说的 determine，所以 b 也不对。

question_stem: In paragraph 5, the author indicates that twentieth century art has shown that naturalism does not necessarily follow abstraction in some kind of predetermined sequence in order to
choices: tag: A
text: emphasize that it may not be possible to determine what the figures in ancient rock art represent

tag: B
text: suggest a reply to those who have questioned Maynard’s interpretation of the sequence of Australian rock art

tag: C
text: provide a counterexample to Maynard’s interpretation of the sequence of Australian rock art

tag: D
text: indicate that twentieth century art is more advanced than ancient rock art
answer_key: C
explanation: C 这个修辞目的题比较特殊，作者提到的修辞点在最后一句，往前看，前一句也不是中心，按常理应该看段首，但由于这段段首也不是中心，所以也不对。无奈只有往回找，找到倒数第四句，说这个从简单到复杂的顺序模糊了 cultural continuity，也就是说作者说 naturalism 不一定跟着 abstraction 是为了说明这个顺序不对，之前 m 说有这个顺序，所以答案是 c，提供一个反例给 m 的 interpretation。a 和 d 没说，b 说反。