2010年10月09日北美（原文原题）
2. 美國西北土著藝術文化
西北某地物產資源豐富，人們衣食無憂，不用為食物疲於奔命（題）。而且大樹巨多，他們又從外面搞到了steel knives，於是開始藝術創作，形式繁多。他們各個tribe都有自己的神靈，但他們都相信一個S的神，他能治病救人（有題）、風調雨順什麼的。他們眾多的藝術創作，並不僅僅為了表達對S的景仰，很多時候別有用途。譬如，他們每個tribe有leader，然後每個tribe都obliged（有題）跟外族通婚，這樣就沒有可能出現一隻獨大，然後保證leader席位公平競爭。但競爭是殘酷的，大多時候拼的是財富（有題）。這時候T Pole就有用了，牛X的有27米多高，顯示你家有錢、家族顯赫什麼的（題）。這個The totem pole是biosym的，圖案從下到上是有繼承性（上面的衍生於下面的）。但是他們有個很有趣的習俗，越是給予，越顯示你大拿（有題）。於是，經常出現兩個死對頭，一個把巨牛X的T Pole贈給他的死對頭。他的死對頭不可能回贈，於是就會發現好多The totem pole被丟棄了（有題）。
Totem Pole, memorial object, usually in the form of a large, carved tree trunk. Totem poles were originally produced by several groups of indigenous peoples along the Pacific Coast from southern Alaska to British Columbia. These striking art objects, sometimes occurring as carved wooden planks or house posts as well as tall poles, were decorated with painted carvings. Totem poles were erected by a family head or clan chief as a memorial to deceased ancestors and to confirm the lineage and status of the pole’s owner. The design usually contained a representation of the owner's guardian totemic animal, and for this reason the memorial eventually was given the name of totem pole.
Totem poles, as we know them today, originated relatively recently. The first accounts by Captain James Cook and other 18th-century explorers of the Pacific Coast do not mention totem poles, although descriptions of carved and painted house fronts, doorways, and posts occur in their writings. The first erection of tall totem poles appears to date from the early 19th century and was stimulated by contact with Europeans. The sale of sea otter pelts to the Europeans brought new wealth to the tribal chieftains. Elaborately carved totem poles were a new means for tribal leaders to display their prestige and status, which had traditionally been demonstrated through the potlatch ceremony and other customs. Skilled carvers, using steel blades and tools introduced by the Europeans, were in demand to create taller and more complex poles. Many houses had several poles, while some major villages boasted over 70.
This surge of wealth and the accompanying burst of creativity peaked in the mid-1860s. By then, the trade in sea otter furs had ended and epidemics had reduced the native population along the entire coast. Christian missionaries discouraged the carving of totem poles and the Canadian government outlawed potlatch ceremonies. Villages were abandoned; their totem poles decayed or were felled and cut up for firewood. Between 1870 and 1920, hundreds of totem poles were removed and shipped to museums or collectors throughout the world. However, beginning in 1950, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, initiated a totem pole restoration project to find and to restore the remaining standing totem poles and to encourage the carving of new ones. Schools were established to teach traditional carving techniques. Today there is a growing interest in the totem pole as a cultural tradition and art form.
People in that northwest area along the pacific coast live on fishing, hunting, so they don’t have to cultivate food or feed animal. After metal tools were introduced to the area through fur trade, spruce and cedar trees are used to make totem poles. They are made of the whole tree, 90 feets tall ( 27.4m ). The society was balanced by requiring each man and woman to marry sb out of their clan. So there is no one predominating family. The pics sculpted on the totem poles are family inherited signs. They are made in artistic tradition, not related to spiritual. Totem poles are first used for funerary function, but latter on they were put outside the leaders’ house as exterior decoration. All the totem poles are bilateral symmetrical and all the animals on the pic are looking upwards (or upward related).
QUESTIONS:
a) Which is right about the way they make a living? – don’t have to cultivate
b) Which explains why they make social balance? – marry outside their clan
c) What was the original use of totem pole? – memorize died ppl
d) What are the characteristics of the totem pole pics? – bilateral symmetrical, integrated as whole, & upward oriented
以上机经是康老师2011年10月－12月托福预测范围里的。