雅思阅读真题（Part 3）
新西兰1930-1950年代家庭纺织手工艺
本篇也叫：新西兰家庭纺织、新西兰刺绣、家庭手工艺、针线活、纺织手工艺品、新西兰手工
Part 3 · 考频：中频 · 最近考试：2015.6.6/2014.4.5
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 3）《New Zealand home textile crafts of the 1930s to 1950s》，共 14 题，2015.6.6/2014.4.5雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
文章讨论20世纪30至50年代新西兰女性制作的家庭纺织手工艺品，如针线活和刺绣。这些物品因易损、无签名且属家庭 crafts 而常被忽视，但作者认为它们承载了制作者的身份与信念，应像考古发现一样被珍视和收藏。
Objects made by previous generations of women should be valued more highly.
A
Domestic crafts do not build monuments to their makers, nor do they create wealth, and too often they have not survived. In consequence, the domestic crafts produced by mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers in New Zealand are often overlooked. But needlework should be preserved, for it helps to convey a sense of people's identity and past beliefs in these remote island in the Pacific Ocean.
B
Women of previous generations expected to sew; they had to dress their families in an item when few people could afford to buy what they were capable of making. For some women this work may have been unwelcome drudgery, but for others it was an opportunity to explore their identities, beliefs and dreams with the only means readily at hand-a needle, some thread,and a piece of fabric.
C
Textiles are frustrating to collect. They are fragile; they stain; they develop rust marks; they fray and rot. If they are used, they deteriorate; yet if they are merely stored, the owner does not fully enjoy the pleasure of possession. That is probably why they have not been a popular thing to collect compared, for example, to antique furniture or fine China, which are more durable investments. It is also true that domestic crafts are seldom signed. We like signatures because we can more readily assign value - and high prices - if we can identify the marker. But most women at this time would never have considered signing their work. They were not expecting it to be seen outside their homes, where the creator's identity was never in doubt. And they probably did not even expect it to last very long.
D
It does not help that such work falls into the category of crafts either,rather than fine arts, because crafts are looked on too often as a poor cousin to true creativity. Worse, they are made in a domestic context, so do not belong in the consciously elevated tradition of craft objects which compete with the arts, such as furniture. If things are made to be useful, especially only within the home and by ordinary housewives, we seem to have agreed they cannot be art.Why not?
E
It might be argued that the collector of textiles is a little like an archaeologist. Archaeology is a combination of history and detective work, and it involves treasure that is often beautiful. Likewise, digging for the pastis what textile collectors do in junk shops, and the objects they find are a way of understanding the past through physical evidence.
F
The domestic crafts of this period, the 1930-1950, cannot be separated from the women's magazines that were so popular at the time. The primary purpose of these publications was to allow women to glimpse how more prosperous people lived, by showing them photographs of the interiors of their houses. In these days before television, magazines provided realistic and achievable inducements to social betterment. I parallel to this, women were provided with much more down-to-earth and useful means of improving their homes in the form of printed patterns, which were readily available from fabric shops at low cost from the 1920s and 1930s onwards. Mostly, such pattern is were for everyday items that fulfilled some domestic often keep offcuts from their purpose - aprons, tea cosies, curtains, bed-spreads, chair covers and the like. With the benefit of hindsight, it is possible to distinguish this regulated tradition of needlework, governed by printed patterns, from the more individual work that women dreamed up themselves and whose form and execution were reflections of their own ideal and imagination. Although both schools have their merits, it is surely the latter tradition that will provide the collector with the greatest enjoyment. Most intriguing of all is work which suggests serendipity, even a certain element of chance, the piece having taken on a life of its own, determined perhaps by what resources were available at the time and the skill levels of the items maker. When it comes to needleweork, flaws can be enjoyable, even failure may bring pleasure, and in this respect needlework can be contrasted with other art forms, where successful completion is paramount.
G
Some people collect out of a sense of nostalgia, a desire to evoke a comforting time that seems gentler than the present. But nostalgia should not always be trusted as it can be a sanitised form of history that blots out harsh reality. However, if a certain degree of nostalgia can be felt for the fabrics of the past, it is because they remind us of the care and attention with which women selected them. The texture of certain abstract patterned fabrics from the 1950s has the power to transport us all back to the dress and fabric shops of that time where women agonised over which choices to make, though they probably loved every minute of it. Old patchwork quilts in particular are evocative,because they represent an unknown family's compressed history: pyjamas ball gowns, smart summer frocks, school dresses, all thrown together, a jumble of decorative traditions, past ceremonies and dreams. Women of the past would often keep offcuts their dressmaking and use them for patchwork, as a means of recording their family's story for others to appreciate.
H
These may sound like nostalgic thoughts, but we should also remember how hard women's lives were, that family life was not always idyllic, and that having no money was no fun. Such fabrics, then, should be seen as a wish for ideals and imaginations, although both something better, a way of daydreaming about a life that would turn out well in the end.
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答案：They are sources of information about society.
原文定位：But needlework should be preserved, for it helps to convey a sense of people's identity and past beliefs in these remote island in the Pacific Ocean
同义替换：「domestic crafts」↔「needlework」，「sources of information about society」↔「convey a sense of people's identity and past beliefs」
答案：Sewing could be a means of self-expression.
原文定位：For some women this work may have been unwelcome drudgery, but for others it was an opportunity to explore their identities, beliefs and dreams with the only means readily at hand-a needle, some thread,and a piece of fabric
同义替换：「means of self-expression」↔「explore their identities, beliefs and dreams」
答案：they are easily damaged.
原文定位：Textiles are frustrating to collect. They are fragile; they stain; they develop rust marks; they fray and rot. If they are used, they deteriorate; yet if they are merely stored, the owner does not fully enjoy the pleasure of possession. That is probably why they have not been a popular thing to collect compared, for example, to antique furniture or fine China, which are more durable investments
同义替换：「domestic crafts」↔「Textiles」，「not frequently collected」↔「have not been a popular thing to collect」
答案：They were unnecessary since everyone would know the maker.
原文定位：But most women at this time would never have considered signing their work. They were not expecting it to be seen outside their homes, where the creator's identity was never in doubt
同义替换：「unnecessary」↔「never have considered signing」，「everyone would know the maker」↔「the creator's identity was never in doubt」
答案：challenging the usual distinction between 'arts' and crafts
原文定位：It does not help that such work falls into the category of crafts either,rather than fine arts, because crafts are looked on too often as a poor cousin to true creativity;If things are made to be useful, especially only within the home and by ordinary housewives, we seem to have agreed they cannot be art.Why not
答案：They involve similar processes.
原文定位：Archaeology is a combination of history and detective work, and it involves treasure that is often beautiful. Likewise, digging for the pastis what textile collectors do in junk shops, and the objects they find are a way of understanding the past through physical evidence
答案：wealthy
原文定位：The primary purpose of these publications was to allow women to glimpse how more prosperous people lived, by showing them photographs of the interiors of their houses
同义替换：「magazines」↔「publications」，「aspirational」↔「glimpse how more prosperous people lived」，「element of society」↔「prosperous people」
答案：skilful
原文定位：I parallel to this, women were provided with much more down-to-earth and useful means of improving their homes in the form of printed patterns
同义替换：「assistance」↔「means」，「practical」↔「down-to-earth and useful」
答案：creative
原文定位：it is possible to distinguish this regulated tradition of needlework, governed by printed patterns, from the more individual work that women dreamed up themselves and whose form and execution were reflections of their own ideal and imagination
同义替换：「creative」↔「imagination」
答案：imperfect
原文定位：When it comes to needleweork, flaws can be enjoyable, even failure may bring pleasure, and in this respect needlework can be contrasted with other art forms, where successful completion is paramount
同义替换：「distinguish needlework from other arts」↔「contrasted with other art forms」，「imperfect」↔「failure」
答案：TRUE
原文定位：Some people collect out of a sense of nostalgia;But nostalgia should not always be trusted as it can be a sanitised form of history that blots out harsh reality
同义替换：「unreliable」↔「should not always be trusted」，「image of the past」↔「sanitised form of history that blots out harsh reality」
答案：NOT GIVEN
原文定位：The texture of certain abstract patterned fabrics from the 1950s has the power to transport us all back to the dress and fabric shops of that time where women agonised over which choices to make, though they probably loved every minute of it
答案：FALSE
原文定位：Women of the past would often keep offcuts their dressmaking and use them for patchwork, as a means of recording their family's story for others to appreciate
同义替换：「only of interest to the makers' family」↔「for others to appreciate」
答案：TRUE
原文定位：Such fabrics, then, should be seen as a wish for ideals and imaginations, although both something better, a way of daydreaming about a life that would turn out well in the end
同义替换：「Needlework」↔「Such fabrics」，「a way to escape reality」↔「daydreaming about a better life」