Ancient cave art symbols

文章大意

本文介绍约三万年前史前艺术家在洞穴中绘制的壁画及其符号，重点讨论欧洲洞穴中常见的点、三角形、波浪线和手印符号。手印符号用木炭、动物脂肪和唾液制成的颜料，通过中空管吹喷形成轮廓，研究者还重现了这一技法。

题目与答案

1. The most common symbols include:

   · simple shapes, e.g. dots and a 31_____

   答案：triangle

   原文定位：Some are easily recognizable as they're quite simple. The most basic are just a series of dots, but they may also include forms such as the triangle

2. · more complex shapes, e.g. a wavy line to represent a 32_____

   答案：horse

   原文定位：However, other symbols are more complex. A case in point is the wavy line. This is sometimes used on its own, but the same wavy line is also used as part of a larger picture of a horse. So we think this is what the wavy line represents

3. How the hand symbol was made

   · The paint was made by mixing charcoal with 33_____ and saliva.

   答案：fat

   原文定位：The paint itself was made up from a variety of things that cave artists would have had access to. They had fire, so charcoal was one ingredient. Another was the fat from the animals they would have hunted. And lastly, the saliva from their own mouths

4. · The paint was applied using something similar to a 34_____ .

   答案：straw

   原文定位：Then there's the question of how they actually applied the runny paint onto the walls of the cave. It certainly wouldn't have been easy. They would have had to use something hollow. In fact, it's likely to have looked like a straw, you know, like the kind we use for drinking nowadays

   同义替换：「similar to」↔「looked like」

5. · Applying paint made an unusual 35_____ and also caused lightheadness.

   答案：noise

   原文定位：The researchers who've tried to recreate the process have said that not only is it a difficult technique to master, but also that a strange noise is produced. It also led them to feel lightheaded, so we can only imagine that these cave artists felt the same

   同义替换：「made an unusual」↔「strange noise is produced」

6. The importance of the symbols:

   · Researchers are developing a database to help identify any patterns.

   · The symbols are likely to be a 36_____ used by different groups.

   答案：code

   原文定位：Although researchers don't believe that these symbols are a language as such, they are happy to call them a type of code

7. · A sequence of five of the symbols has been found on cave walls in Spain and on a 37_____ made from a deer`s teeth.

   答案：necklace

   原文定位：One sequence of five symbols is particularly common in caves in Spain;Exactly the same sequence of five symbols has been found carved into a necklace made from the teeth of a red deer

8. What researchers disagree about

   · Some researchers say the symbols were part of the “Great Leap Forward” which also included innovations such as the first 38_____ .

   答案：boat

   原文定位：One theory is called The Great Leap Forward;The idea is that around thirty-five thousand years ago, there was a sudden increase in creativity, which led to the invention of the boat, among other things

   同义替换：「innovations」↔「creativity」，「the first」↔「the invention of」

9. · Others say the discovery in Africa of earlier artefact such as types of 39_____ disproves the theory.

   答案：arrows

   原文定位：In fact, many scientists believe that what has been found in Africa seems to indicate that this increase in creativity happened much earlier;One example of an artifact that is offered to support the idea is the discovery of different sorts of arrows, which would have been used for hunting

   同义替换：「disproves the theory」↔「indicate that this increase in creativity happened much earlier」，「types of」↔「sorts of」

10. · It is likely that some art painted on 40_____ did not survive.

    答案：wood

    原文定位：These scientists suggest that the reason more symbols haven't been found from this earlier time is because they would have been painted on things that did not survive, such as wood