TPO12 Reading 1

Which Hand Did They Use?

We all know that many more people today are right-handed than left-handed. Can one trace this same pattern far back in prehistory? Much of the evidence about right-hand versus left-hand dominance comes from stencils and prints found in rock shelters in Australia and elsewhere, and in many Ice Age caves in France, Spain, and Tasmania. When a left hand has been stenciled, this implies that the artist was right-handed, and vice versa. Even though the paint was often sprayed on by mouth, one can assume that the dominant hand assisted in the operation. One also has to make the assumption that hands were stenciled palm downward-a left hand stenciled palm upward might of course look as if it were a right hand. Of 158 stencils in the French cave of Gargas, 136 have been identified as left, and only 22 as right; right-handedness was therefore heavily predominant.

Cave art furnishes other types of evidence of this phenomenon. Most engravings, for example, are best lit from the left, as befits the work of right-handed artists, who generally prefer to have the light source on the left so that the shadow of their hand does not fall on the tip of the engraving tool or brush. In the few cases where an Ice Age figure is depicted holding something, it is mostly, though not always, in the right hand.

Clues to right-handedness can also be found by other methods. Right-handers tend to have longer, stronger, and more muscular bones on the right side, and Marcellin Boule as long ago as 1911 noted the La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neanderthal skeleton had a right upper arm bone that was noticeably stronger than the left. Similar observations have been made on other Neanderthal skeletons such as La Ferrassie I and Neanderthal itself.

Fractures and other cut marks are another source of evidence. Right-handed soldiers tend to be wounded on the left. The skeleton of a 40- or 50-year-old Nabatean warrior, buried 2,000 years ago in the Negev Desert, Israel, had multiple healed fractures to the skull, the left arm, and the ribs.

Tools themselves can be revealing. Long-handed Neolithic spoons of yew wood preserved in Alpine villages dating to 3000 B.C. have survived; the signs of rubbing on their left side indicate that their users were right-handed. The late Ice Age rope found in the French cave of Lascaux consists of fibers spiraling to the right, and was therefore tressed by a righthander.

Occasionally one can determine whether stone tools were used in the right hand or the left, and it is even possible to assess how far back this feature can be traced. In stone toolmaking experiments, Nick Toth, a right-hander, held the core (the stone that would become the tool) in his left hand and the hammer stone in his right. As the tool was made, the core was rotated clockwise, and the flakes, removed in sequence, had a little crescent of cortex (the core's outer surface) on the side. Toth's knapping produced 56 percent flakes with the cortex on the right, and 44 percent left-oriented flakes. A left-handed toolmaker would produce the oppositepattern. Toth has applied these criteria to the similarly made pebble tools from a number of early sites (before 1.5 million years) at Koobi Fora, Kenya, probably made by Homo habilis. At seven sites he found that 57 percent of the flakes were right-oriented, and 43 percent left, a pattern almost identical to that produced today.

About 90 percent of modern humans are right-handed: we are the only mammal with a preferential use of one hand. The part of the brain responsible for fine control and movement is located in the left cerebralhemisphere, and the findings above suggest that the human brain was already asymmetrical in its structure and function not long after 2 million years ago. Among Neanderthalers of 70,000ï¿½35,000 years ago, Marcellin Boule noted that the La Chapelle-aux-Saints individual had a left hemisphereslightly bigger than the right, and the same was found for brains of specimens from Neanderthal, Gibraltar, and La Quina.

The phrase "assisted in" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. initiated

B. dominated

C. helped with

D. set up

Assist in help, so C's help with is the correct answer. The original sentence says that although the piant is usually sprayed on the mouth, the dominant hand does what it does and helps, so C is correct. A's initiale and D's set up all start. The meaning of the creation is similar to both, and it has nothing to do with the article. It's all wrong. B's domination is contrary to the article. There is already a dominant in front of it.

It can be inferred from paragraph 1 that even when paint was sprayed by mouth to make a hand stencil

A. there was no way to tell which hand was stenciled

B. the stenciled hand was the weaker hand

C. the stenciled hand was the dominant hand

D. artists stenciled more images of the dominant hand than they did of the weak

B uses mouth and hand stencil as the key words to locate the penultimate and third sentence, saying that dominant hand is helpful; the last sentence says that stenciled 136 is the left hand 22 is the right hand, through the specific figures that the right hand is more than the main hand, So B is the answer; note that B and C are a pair of opposite answers, so C is wrong, A says not to know which one is wrong; D doesn't say.

The phrase "depicted" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. identified

B. revealed

C. pictured

D. imagined

C, depict description, so the picture of C is correct, picture is known as noun picture, the verb is related to the meaning of the original noun, so it is a description. The original sentence says that in a few cases, the figure is holding something, imagination imagines it, and the original meaning is really holding something, so the imagine is not right; reveal and identify both mean nothing. wrong.

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. Right-handed artists could more easily have avoided casting shadows on their work, because engravings in prehistoric caves were lit from the left.

B. The tips of engraving tools and brushes indicate that these instruments were used by right-handed artists whose work was lit from the left.

C. The best lighting for most engravings suggests that they were made by right-handed people trying to avoid the shadow of their hands interfering with their work.

D. Right-handed artists try to avoid having the brush they are using interfere with the light source.

The main meaning of the C sentence is that most of the best light for engraving is from the left, which is convenient for the right-handed artist, and the shadow of the hand will not cover the spire of the carving and brush. C corresponds to the original sentence and is correct.

All of the following are mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 as evidence of right-handedness in art and artists EXCEPT

A. the ideal source of lighting for most engravings

B. the fact that a left hand stenciled palm upward might look like a right hand

C. the prevalence of outlines of left hands

D. figures in prehistoric art holding objects with the right hand

B EXCEPT questions, elimination method, A's engraving positioning keywords to the second sentence of the second paragraph, correct, not selected; B corresponds to the first paragraph of the third sentence, but this is not the reason for right-handedness, so this option is wrong, Select; C's prevalence and left hand position to the last sentence of the first paragraph, correct, not selected; D positioning to the last sentence of the second paragraph, correct, not selected.

According to paragraph 3, the La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neanderthal skeleton can be identified as right-handed because

A. other Neanderthal skeletons found nearby are also right-handed

B. the right arm bone is stronger than the left

C. it is similar to skeletons of La Ferrassie I and Neanderthal

D. the right side of the skeleton shows less evidence of fractures

B. With La as the key word to the penultimate sentence, noticeably stronger, answer B is correct, both A and C are mentioned, but neither is the reason why La was identified as right-handedness, so no selection, D did not say.

Which of the following statements about fractures and cut marks can be inferred from paragraph 4?

A. Fractures and cut marks caused by right-handed soldiers tend to occur on the right side of the injured party's body.

B. The right arm sustains more injuries because, as the dominant arm, it is used more actively.

C. In most people, the left side of the body is more vulnerable to injury since it is not defended effectively by the dominant arm.

D. Fractures and cut marks on fossil humans probably occurred after death.

C. Focus on the keywords and other cut marks to locate the first sentence, but the first sentence is too little. Look down and say that the right-handed soldier is injured on the left, so the correct answer is C. B said negatively, the left side is vulnerable; A and D did not say.

According to paragraph 5, what characteristic of a Neolithic spoon would imply that the spoon's owner was right-handed?

A. The direction of the fibers

B. Its long handle

C. The yew wood it is carved from

D. Wear on its left side

D. Use Neolithic spoon as the key word to locate the second sentence. This sentence does not answer the question. The question asks what characteristics indicate right-handed. After looking at the answer, signs of rubbing, friction traces, the answer is wear. Note that wear has one meaning of friction.

In paragraph 5, why does the author mention the Ice Age rope found in the French cave of Lascaux?

A. As an example of an item on which the marks of wear imply that it was used by a right-handed person

B. Because tressing is an activity that is easier for a right-handed person than for a left-handed person

C. Because the cave of Lascaux is the site where researchers have found several prehistoric tools made for right-handed people

D. As an example of an item whose construction shows that it was right handed made by a right-person

Using Ice Age rope to keyword ending to the last sentence: The late Ice Age rope found in the French cave of Lascaux consists of fibers spiraling to the right, and was therefore tressed by a righthander. Says the rope is right-handed, indicating that it is a Right-handed people get the answer, so the answer is D, an example, the right-hander made out. Neither B nor C said that A said that rope was used by right-handed people. The original said that rope was compiled by right-handed people and contradicted the original.

The word "criteria" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. standards

B. findings

C. ideas

D. techniques

A criteria: Standard. A is the standard; B is the discovery; C is the idea, the point of view; D is the technology. So the standard of A is correct. Corresponding to the original Toth has applied these criteria to the similarly made pebble tools from a number of early sites (before 1.5 million years) at Koobi Fora, Kenya, probably made by Homo habilis. The original sentence says that T applied these criteria to the gravel device, Because of this, in the past, the previous sentence said that the pattern of left-handed craftsmen doing things was contrary to TOTH's discovery. This sentence is not a finding nor a technique, so B and D are not right. As far as idea is wrong, only Rely on understanding words.

What was the purpose of Toth's toolmaking experiment described in paragraph 6?

A. To shape tools that could be used by either hand

B. To produce replicas of early tools for display in museums

C. To imitate the production of pebble tools from early sites

D. To determine which hand made the early tools

D first find the experiment of toth in the second sentence of this paragraph, then read this sentence and found that the whole sentence is an example, and then look forward, that is, the first sentence of this paragraph, saying that sometimes it can be determined exactly The hand uses this tool, so T's example is to illustrate this, so the answer is D, to determine the early tool is the hand to do.

What is the author's primary purpose in paragraph 7?

A. To illustrate the importance of studying the brain

B. To demonstrate that human beings are the only mammal to desire fine control of movement

C. To contrast the functions of the two hemispheres of the brain

D. To demonstrate that right-hand preference has existed for a long time

D, ask the purpose of the whole paragraph, find the central sentence, and see the first sentence of this paragraph. The first sentence states that human beings are the only animals with left and right lice. The last sentence says that this phenomenon existed long ago and could respond to option D. The others did not say.

The stencils of hands found in these shelters and caves allow us to draw conclusions about which hand was dominant..

B Three transition points, noun shelters, noun caves, and the prose these, according to shelters and caves determine that A or B is correct, but this means that the sentence to be inserted should be inserted after the sentence containing the two words, so the answer B is correct, A wrong .

Several categories of evidence indicate that people have always been predominantly right-handed.

A.Stencils of right-handed figures are characteristic of cave art in France, Spain, and Tasmania.

B.Signs on the skeletal remains of prehistoric figures, including arm-bone size and injury marks, imply that these are the remains of right-handed people.

C.Instruments such as spoons, ropes, and pebble tools show signs that indicate they were used or constructed by right-handed people.

D.The amount of prehistoric art created by right-handed artists indicates that left-handed people were in the minority.

E.Neanderthal skeletons often have longer finger bones in the right hand, which is evidence that the right hand was stronger.

F.Nick Toth, a modem right-handed toolmaker. has shown that prehistoric tools were knapped to fit the right hand.

The original B.C.D Stencils option did not say that the original text said that the evidence came from three places. The answer said that the right-handedness was the characteristic of the three places. It was different. The Signs option corresponds to the second sentence of the third paragraph of the original text and the second paragraph of the fourth paragraph, correct. The Instruments option corresponds to the first sentence of the fifth paragraph of the original text, correct. The amount option corresponds to the first sentence of the sixth and seventh paragraphs of the original text, correct. The Neanderthal option is a detail in the third paragraph of the original text and is not selected. The Nick Toth option is a detail of the sixth paragraph of the original text, not selected.