Evidences of Human History

In the study of human history, there are many points that require study and research; there is one very important and interesting aspect to pay attention to, that is, the use of left or right hand in ancient humans' activities. There has been some evidence which archaeologists have noticed and studied. What is more, many archaeological records—paintings, drawings, and carvings of humans engaged in activities involving the use of their hand—indicate that humans have been predominantly right-handed for more than 5000 years. These archaeological artworks are found almost all around the world, and though they were found to have been made in different times and places, there are many similar or identical features concerning hand use among them. In ancient Egyptian artworks, for example, the right hand is depicted as the dominant one in about 90 percent of the examples. What is more, in the archaeological artworks unearthed in Henan province, China has shown over 85 percent of the use of the right hand in manufacturing.
  • (A) [■] Fracture or wear patterns on tools also indicate that a majority of ancient people were right-handed. In some experts' theories, they also find that some patterns and styles can reveal the use of the right hand or the left hand.
    Cro-Magnon cave paintings of some 27000 years ago commonly show outlines of human hands made by placing one hand against the cave wall and applying paint with the other.
  • (B) [■] With few exceptions, the left hands of Cro-Magnons are displayed on cave walls, indicating that the paintings were usually done by right-handers.
  • (C) [■] This point can also be reflected in modern life. If you like, imagine the general gesture of painting or doing anything in your daily life, you will find the general features and styles of your actions, which can reflect your habit of hand use, and furthermore try to find a friend or someone else who uses the other hand and compare with his or her habits, the difference will be very clear and obvious.
    Besides the above archaeological artworks in the study of ancient human beings' hand usage, there are also other kinds of evidence in this field, at first the anthropological evidence can push the record of handedness in early human ancestors back to at least 1.4 million years ago.
  • (D) [■] Important evidence comes from the flaking patterns of stone cores used in tool making, and the implements flaked with a clockwise motion (indicating a right-handed toolmaker) can be found much more than those flaked with a counter-clockwise rotation (indicating a left-handed toolmaker). That means usually a right handed person chose the clockwise direction to make tools while a left handed man chose the counter-clockwise direction to make tools.
    Even scratches found on fossil human teeth offer clues. Ancient people are thought to have cut meat into strips by holding it between their teeth and slicing it with stone knives, as do the present-day Inuit. Occasionally the knives slip and leave scratches on the users' teeth. Scratches made with a left-to-right stroke direction (by right-handed toolmaker) are more common than scratches in the opposite direction (by left-handed toolmaker).
    Still more evidence comes from cranial morphology: scientists think that physical differences between the right and left sides of the interior of the skull indicate subtle physical differences between the two sides of the brain. The variation between the hemispheres corresponds to which side of the body is used to perform specific activities. Such studies, as well as studies of tool use, indicate that right-or left-sided dominance is not exclusive to modern Homosapiens. Populations of Neanderthals, such as Homo Erectus and Homo Habilis, seem to have been predominantly right-handed, almost the same situation as ours today.


单选题 The word the other in Paragraph 2 refers to ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为指代关系题，考查考生确定某一代词与篇章中其他词语的指代关系的能力。原文前面提到了一只手扶着墙，所以这里the other指另一只手，因此选B。
单选题 The word implements in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为词汇题，主要考查考生根据上下文对单词implements的理解。选项D(instruments)的意思是“工具，设备”，与原文implements(工具，器具)最接近，故答案为D。选项A(executions)的意思是“实施”，选项C(elements)的意思是“元素，成分”，选项B(mechanics)的意思是“制作工艺”。
单选题 The author's description of Cro-Magnon paintings mentions which of the following?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为事实信息题，主要考查考生排除干扰选项并抓住文章中所阐明的信息的能力。题目问：在描述克罗马努人(Cro-Magnon，旧石器时代晚期新人的总称)绘画时，作者提到了下列哪一项?根据原文第二段的第二句“With few exceptions, the left hands of Cro-Magnons are displayed on cave walls, indicating that the paintings were usually done by right-handers(除了极个别的以外，克罗马努人的左手在岩洞壁上都留下了痕迹，这表明当时大多数画都是使用右手画出来的)”，因此选D。
单选题 According to Paragraph 3, which of the following is true of implements "flaked with a counter-clockwise rotation"?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是事实信息题，主要考查考生能否排除干扰选项并抓住文章中的重要事实和信息。题目问：根据第三段关于逆时针方向的用在制作石头工具的岩芯，下列哪一项是正确的?根据原文第三段第二句和第三句“Important evidence comes from the flaking patterns of stone cores used in tool making, and the implements flaked with a clockwise motion (indicating a right-handed tool maker) can be found much more than those flaked with a counter-clockwise rotation (indicating a left-handed toolmaker). That means usually a right handed person chose the clockwise direction to make tools while a left handed man chose the counter-clockwise direction to make tools (重要的证据还来自于制造工具时刨制石头中心处留下的刨纹。顺时针方向的工具，即表示用右手制造工具的人，要比逆时针方向的工具，即表示用左手制造工具的人多得多。也就是说，通常使用右手的人选择顺时针方向来制造工具，使用左手的人选择逆时针方向来制造工具)”的叙述，可以判断正确答案为A。
单选题 According to Paragraph 4, the fact that the lnuit cut meat by holding it between their teeth is significant because ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题仍是事实信息题。题目问：根据第四段，为什么说因纽特人(Inuit)用牙齿咬住来切肉这一事实是有意义的?在第四段中，古代人牙齿的划痕也可以反映出当时人们更多地使用右手，所以研究因纽特人用牙齿咬住来切肉这一事实是有意义的，因为它为研究提供了证据，因此选A。
单选题 The word hemispheres in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是词汇题，主要考查考生根据上下文对单词hemispheres的理解。hemispheres在文中表示两个半脑，与two sides (两边，两部分)意思最接近，所以选B。其他的均为干扰项，选项A(whole brain)的意思是“整个大脑”，选项C(brainwork)指“脑力劳动”，选项D(intelligence)的意思是“智力”。
单选题 The word clue in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是词汇题，主要考查考生是否能根据上下文理解clue一词。clue在文中指“线索，信息”，与选项D的意思最接近。选项A(证据)、选项B(意图)、选项C(谜团，谜题)均与原意不符。
单选题 In Paragraph 5, why does the author mention Homo Erectus and Homo Habilis?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是修辞目的题，要求考生弄清楚为什么作者会使用某一表达或举例来说明问题。题目问：作者为什么提及Homo Erectus和Homo Habilis两个种族?根据原文第五段，这两个例子是为了说明古人类大多数人都是用右手的(选项C)，而不是为了和现代人作比较(选项A)，也不是说明古人类何时开始使用工具(选项B)，也不是证明穴居人的数量多(选项D)。
单选题 The author's description of cranial morphology mentions which of the following?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是事实信息题，主要测试考生排除干扰项并抓住文章重要信息和细节的能力。题目问：作者在描述头盖骨形态(学)时，提到了下列哪一项?根据原文第五段第二句“The variation between the hemispheres corresponds to which side of the body is used to perform specific activities (两个半脑的振动与身体的哪一边在进行具体的活动相对应)”，因此，该题应选B。
单选题 The author's description of evidence concerning handedness mentions all of the following EXCEPT ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是正误判断题，要求考生能够判断出文章涉及和没涉及的信息。题目问：作者在描述关于使用左右手的证据时，只有下列哪一项没有提到?根据文章的论述，作者提到古代艺术品(选项A)、对称的头骨(选项B)和学习使用工具(选项C)，而没有提到手骨头的化石，因此选D。
单选题 Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph 1 about human ancestors?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是推论题，考查考生对全文的理解并根据文章的暗示对某一事实或观点作出推论的能力。题目问：关于人类的祖先我们可从第一段中作出什么推断?由于文章第一句就指明了全文中心，即“在研究人类的历史中，有很多值得研究和探究的方面，其中一方面非常重要和有趣，值得重视，那就是在古代人类的各种活动中左右手的使用”，接着文章又说“humans have been predominantly right-handed for more than 5000 years”，因此选项C为正确答案。
单选题 Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
Children today make similar outlines of their hands with crayons on paper.
Where would the sentence best fit?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是插话题，考查考生将特定的一句话根据它与其他顺序相连的四个句子之间的逻辑关系，插入某个方框的能力。根据原文的上下文语境，以及所插话语“Children today make similar outlines of their hands with crayons on paper”中的similar outline, crayons等词语，可以判断与前一句描述的克罗马努人的左手在岩洞壁上留下痕迹，即“show outlines of human hands made by placing one hand against the cave wall...”，有上下连接的逻辑关系，所以该句子应该插入文章中的第二个方框处，即选B。
问答题 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 popular use of right hand was and is believed to relate to the physical differences between the two sides of the brain, and there is also some historical evidence.
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Answer Choices
  • A. Scientists believe that subtle physical differences between the two sides of the brain are demonstrated by physical differences between the right and left sides of the interior of the skull.
  • B. Scratches on fossil human teeth also provide information for the relation of the popular use of right hand to the physical differences between the two sides of the brain.
  • C. The human figures represented in the paintings appear to be less carefully shaped than those of animals.
  • D. Those humans have been predominantly right-handed for more than 5000 years.
  • E. Cro-Magnon cave paintings present outlines of human hands in which one hand is placed against the cave wall while the other is applying paint.
  • F. The evidence found in anthropological studies shows that the record of handedness in early human ancestors can be traced back to at least 1.4 million years ago.
【正确答案】A. Scientists believe that subtle physical differences between the two sides of the brain are demonstrated by physical differences between the right and left sides of the interior of the skull.
B. Scratches on fossil human teeth also provide information for the relation of the popular use of right hand to the physical differences between the two sides of the brain.
E. Cro-Magnon cave paintings present outlines of human hands in which one hand is placed against the cave wall while the other is applying paint.
【答案解析】[解析] 本题是篇章总结题，考查考生理解全篇中心思想和相关重要信息的能力，考生通过区分主要信息和次要信息以及文章中没有提及的信息达到总结全篇的目的。题目给出的句子说明人类普遍使用右手可能与两个半脑的生理区别有关，而且可以找到古代人类的证据。选项A、B、E表明在研究古代人类的脑形态学、牙齿的擦痕以及古代工艺品的制作过程中都有相应的证据，而选项C、D、F均为干扰项，选项C文章中根本没提到，选项D、F只是文中关于研究资料的年代细节，不具有对研究意义的概括性。