Official 41 Passage 1

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Navajo Art

纠错

The word “ancestor” in the passage is closest in meaning to

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  • A
    relative from an earlier generation
  • B
    person who established a particular tradition in a society
  • C
    hero from ancient times
  • D
    person who once made important contributions to a social group or culture
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正确答案: C

我的笔记 编辑笔记

  • 原文
  • 译文
  • The Navajo, a Native American people living in the southwestern United States, live in small scattered settlements. In many respects, such as education, occupation, and leisure activities, their life is like that of other groups that contribute to the diverse social fabric of North American culture in the twenty-first century. At the same time, they have retained some traditional cultural practices that are associated with particular art forms. For example, the most important traditional Navajo rituals include the production of large floor paintings. These are actually made by pouring thin, finely controlled streams of colored sands or pulverized vegetable and mineral substances, pollen, and flowers in precise patterns on the ground.The largest of these paintings may be up to 5.5 meters in diameter and cover the entire floor of a room. Working from the inside of the design outward, the Navajo artist and his assistants will sift the black, white, bluish-gray, orange, and red materials through their fingers to create the finely detailed imagery. The paintings and chants used in the ceremonies are directed by well-trained artists and singers who enlist the aid of spirits who are impersonated by masked performers. The twenty-four known Navajo chants can be represented by up to 500 sand paintings. These complex paintings serve as memory aids to guide the singers during the performance of the ritual songs, which can last up to nine days.



    The purpose and meaning of the sand paintings can be explained by examining one of the most basic ideals of Navajo society, embodied in their word hozho (beauty or harmony, goodness, and happiness). It coexists with hochxo ("ugliness," or "evil," and "disorder") in a world where opposing forces of dynamism and stability create constant change. When the world, which was created in beauty, becomes ugly and disorderly, the Navajo gather to perform rituals with songs and make sand paintings to restore beauty and harmony to the world. Some illness is itself regarded as a type of disharmony. Thus, the restoration of harmony through a ceremony can be part of a curing process.



    Men make sand paintings that are accurate copies of paintings from the past. The songs sung over the paintings are also faithful renditions of songs from the past. By re-creating these arts, which reflect the original beauty of creation, the Navajo bring beauty to the present world. As relative newcomers to the Southwest, a place where their climate, neighbors, and rulers could be equally inhospitable, the Navajo created these art forms to affect the world around them, not just through the recounting of the actions symbolized, but through the beauty and harmony of the artworks themselves. The paintings generally illustrate ideas and events from the life of a mythical hero, who, after being healed by the gods, gave gifts of songs and paintings. Working from memory, the artists re-create the traditional form of the image as accurately as possible.



    The Navajo are also world-famous for the designs on their woven blankets. Navajo women own the family flocks, control the shearing of the sheep, the carding, the spinning, and dying of the thread, and the weaving of the fabrics. While the men who make faithful copies of sand paintings from the past represent the principle of stability in Navajo thought, women embody dynamism and create new designs for every weaving they make. Weaving is a paradigm of the creativity of a mythic ancestor named Spider Woman who wove the universe as a cosmic web that united earth and sky. It was she who, according to legend, taught Navajo women how to weave. As they prepare their materials and weave, Navajo women imitate the transformations that originally created the world. Working on their looms, Navajo weavers create images through which they experience harmony with nature. It is their means of creating beauty and thereby contributing to the beauty, harmony, and healing of the world. Thus, weaving is a way of seeing the world and being part of it.


  • 纳瓦霍人,在美国西南部生活的土著人,住在小而分散的定居点。 在许多方面,如教育,职业和休闲活动,他们的生活就像其他群体,对二十一世纪的北美文化的多样化的社会结构做出了贡献。 同时,他们还保留了一些与特定艺术形式相关联的传统文化习俗。 例如,最重要的纳瓦霍的传统仪式就包括大地板画制作。 这些实际上是在地上浇注细小的、控制绝佳的彩色砂或蔬菜和矿物质粉、花粉和花卉,浇注出精准的图案。这些画的最大直径可以是5.5米,能覆盖整个房间的地板。 从外向内的设计工作,纳瓦霍艺术家和他的助手将黑、白、灰蓝色、橙色、红色的材料通过自己的手指来创建非常精致的图像。 用于仪式的画和唱的歌都是由训练有素的艺术家和歌手们来指挥,他们召唤神灵的帮助,这些神灵由戴面具的表演者扮演。 二十四首纳瓦霍圣歌可由500个砂画来代表。 这些复杂的绘画作为记忆的辅助工具,以在仪式歌唱中指导歌手,这样的演唱可以持续9天。

    通过研究纳瓦霍社会中一个最基本的理念,沙画的目的和意义可以被解释,这个理想在纳瓦霍的hozho这个词中可以体现出来(hozho表示的是美、和谐、善良和幸福)。这个词与hochxo (丑陋、恶、混乱)共存于—个世界中,在这里,动与静的相反力量不断创造变化。当这个在美中被创造出来的世界变得丑陋和混乱的时候, 纳瓦霍人聚集在一起举行仪式,唱圣歌并画画,来把美与和谐重新带回到这个世界。一些疾病被认为是一种不和谐,所以,通过仪式来恢复和谐就是治病过程的一部分。

    男人制作过去画作精准的沙画副品。 根据画品演唱的歌曲也是过去歌曲的忠实翻唱。 通过再现这些艺术,反映原始创造之美,纳瓦霍人带来当今世界之美。 作为西南部新到的移民,这个地方的气候、邻居和统治者可能同样不友好,纳瓦霍人创造了这些艺术形式来影响他们周围的世界,不只是通过叙事的象征性的行动,也通过美与和谐的艺术作品本身。 这些画一般反映神话英雄的思想和事件,这些英雄在被神明治愈之后,被赋予了歌曲和绘画的天赋。 从记忆中工作,艺术家尽可能准确地重新创造了传统形式的图像。

    纳瓦霍人也以他们编织毛毯的设计而世界闻名。 纳瓦霍妇女拥有自己的家养畜群,管理羊毛的修剪、梳理、纺纱以及线的染色和编制。 男人们制作精准的旧画副本代表纳瓦霍人稳定的思想准则,而女性则代表了活力和并且为每个编织创造新的设计。 编织是名叫蜘蛛女的神话祖先的创新范式,她把宇宙作编织成一个联结土地和天空的宇宙网。 据传说,是她教纳瓦霍妇女如何编织。 通过准备材料,开始编织,纳瓦霍妇女模仿最初创造世界的转变。 通过织机上的时候,纳瓦霍编织者创造她们在自然界感受到的和谐图像。 它是创造美的手段,从而促进了世界的美、和谐和疗愈。 因此,编织是一种看世界的方式,也是世界的一部分。
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    9 感谢 不懂
    解析

    题型分类:词汇题

    原文定位:ancestor”在文中说是一个叫Spider的神话人物,她将宇宙编织成一个网,将地球和天空连接起来,并教会了妇女们如何编织。

    选项分析: 选项A是单词原意“早先的亲属”,放在原句中,解释不通,显然选项C“古代神话中的英雄”更符合句意。根据句意理解单词,显然不能单单理解单词的原意。C最符合神话人物的形象,故C选项正确。

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