2019年英语六级阅读理解试题库及答案
In the 1962 movie Lawrence of Arabia, one scene shows an American newspaper reporter eagerly snapping photos of men looting a sabotaged train. One of the looters, Chief Auda abu Tayi of the Howeitat clan, suddenly notices the camera and snatches it. "Am I in this?" he asks, before smashing it open. To the dismayed reporter, Lawrence explains, "He thinks the things will steal his virtue. He thinks you're a kind of thief."
As soon as colonizers and explorers began taking cameras into distant lands, stories began circulating about how indigenous peoples saw them as tools for black magic. The "ignorant natives" may have had a point. When photography first became available, scientists welcomed it as a more objective way of recording faraway societies than early travelers' exaggerated accounts. But in some ways, anthropological photographs reveal more about the culture that holds the camera than the one that stares back. Up into the 1950s and 1960s, many ethnographers sought "pure" pictures of "primitive" cultures, routinely deleting modern accoutrements such as clocks and Western dress. They paid me
n and women to re-enact rituals or to po as members of war or hunting parties, often with little regard for veracity. Edward Curtis, the legendary photographer of North American Indians, for example, got one Makah man to po as a whaler with a spear in 1915--even though the Makah had not hunted whales in a generation.
The photographs reinforced widely accepted stereotypes that indigenous cultures were isolated, primitive, and unchanging. For instance, National Geographic magazine's photographs have taught millions of Americans about other cultures. As Catherine Lutz and Jane Collins point out in their 1993 book Reading National Geographic, the magazine since its founding in 1888 has kept a tradition of prenting beautiful photos that don't challenge white, middle-class American conventions. While dark-skinned women can be shown without tops, for example, white women's breasts are taboo. Photos that could unttle or disturb, such as areas of the world torn asunder by war or famine, are discarded in favor of tho that reassure, to conform with the society's stated pledge to prent only "kindly" visions of foreign societies. The result, Lutz and Collins say, is the depiction of "an idealized and exotic world relatively free of pain or class confli
ct."
Lutz actually likes National Geographic a lot. She read the magazine as a child, and its lush imagery influenced her eventual choice of anthropology as a career. She just thinks that as people look at the photographs of other cultures, they should be alert to the choice of composition and images.
练习题
1. The main idea of the passage is ______________.
[A] Photographs taken by Western explorers reflect more Westerners’ perception of the indigenous cultures and the Western values.
[B] There is a complicated relationship between the Western explorers and the primitive peoples.
[C] Popular magazines such as National Geographic should show pictures of the exotic and idealized worlds to maintain high sales.
http [D] Anthropologists ask the natives to po for their pictures, compromising the truthfulness of their pictures.
2. We can infer from the passage that early travelers to the native lands often _________.
[A] took pictures with the nativestasted
blenchfidic [B] gave exaggerated accounts of the native lands
[C] ask for pictures from the natives
[D] gave the natives clocks and Western dress
3. The author mentions the movie Lawrence of Arabia to ___________.
[A] show how people in the indigenous societies are portrayed by Westerners.
[B] illustrate how people from primitive societies e cameras as tools of black magic that steal their virtues.
[C] show how anthropologists portray untruthful pictures of native people.
[D] show the cruel and barbarian side of the native people.
4. “But in some ways, anthropological photographs reveal more about the culture that holds the camera than the one that stares back.” In this ntence, the “one [culture] that stares back” refers to _______.
vibe [A] the indigenous culture
迈克尔杰克逊英文 [B] the Western culture
[C] the academic culture留学新加坡
[D] the news business culture
5. With which of the following statements would Cat
herine Lutz most probably agree?
decentralized
[A] Reporters from the Western societies should routinely delete modern elements in pictures taken of the indigenous societies.
[B] The primitive cultures are inferior to the more advanced Western culture.
加班英文 [C] The western media are not prenting a realistic picture of the faraway societies.
[D] People in the Western news business should try not to challenge the well-established white middle-class values.
答案及解析
1. 答案是[A] Photographs taken by Western explorers reflect more Westerners’ perception of the indigenous cultures and the Western values.
解析：本文的主题是，西方的媒体，为了迎合西方读者猎奇的心理，同时，为了不与西方读者的中产阶级价值观发生冲突，在他们拍摄的照片中，并不是真正客观公正地反映经济发展水平较为落后的社会中人们的生活。他们经常有意删除照片中反映西方文明烙印的成
分，甚至摆布照片中的主人公，以描绘出一个西方读者想象中的，经济不发达的，有异域风情的，没有痛苦和阶级斗争的经济落后社会的画面。他们甚至避免刊登那些反映饥荒，战争，灾害的照片，以满足西方媒体“只刊登外国社会美好一面的照片”的默契。
