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 men and women to re-enact rituals or to pose 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 pose as a whaler with a spear in 1915--even though the Makah had not hunted whales in a generation.

　　These 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 presenting 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 unsettle or disturb, such as areas of the world torn asunder by war or famine, are discarded in favor of those that reassure, to conform with the society's stated pledge to present 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 conflict."

　　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.

　　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.

　　[D] Anthropologists ask the natives to pose 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 natives

　　[B] gave exaggerated accounts of the native lands

　　[C] ask for pictures from the natives

　　[D] gave the natives clocks and Western dresses

　　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 see 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 sentence, the “one [culture] that stares back” refers to _______.

　　[A] the indigenous culture

　　[B] the Western culture

　　[C] the academic culture

　　[D] the news business culture

　　5. With which of the following statements would Cat

　　herine Lutz most probably agree?

　　[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.

　　[C] The western media are not presenting 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：本文的主題是，西方的媒體，為了迎合西方讀者獵奇的心理，同時，為了不與西方讀者的中產階級價值觀發生沖突，在他們拍攝的照片中，并不是真正客觀公正地反映經濟發展水平較為落后的社會中人們的生活。他們經常有意刪除照片中反映西方文明烙印的成分，甚至擺布照片中的主人公，以描繪出一個西方讀者想象中的，經濟不發達的，有異域風情的，沒有痛苦和階級斗爭的經濟落后社會的畫面。他們甚至避免刊登那些反映饑荒，戰爭，災害的照片，以滿足西方媒體“只刊登外國社會美好一面的照片”的默契。

　　2. 答案是[B] gave exaggerated accounts of the native lands

　　解析：文章第二段說，When photography first became available, scientists welcomed it as a more objective way of recording faraway societies than early travelers' exaggerated accounts.可見早期到原始社會旅行回來的人往往對當地的情況夸大其詞。在照相機發明之后，科學家能更好地客觀反映那些遠方地區的真實情況。

　　3. 答案是[B] illustrate how people from primitive societies see cameras as tools of black magic that steal their virtues.

　　解析：文章的第一段介紹的是著名的1962年獲得7項奧斯卡大獎的電影《阿拉伯的勞倫斯》(導演：DAVID LEAN)中的一個片段。該電影本來與作者要講的題目并無直接關系。作者僅僅通過一個電影中描述的場景來說明一個論點。那就是比較原始，開化較晚的社會，那里的人們對現代的文明，和從沒見過的現代文明的產物容易產生誤解。電影中的土著搶走了LAWRENCE的照相機，因為他懷疑，那從未見過的玩意兒會偷走他的“美好品德(VIRTUE)”。但是，作者在下文說，那些土著居民的擔心并非全無道理。因為西方的記者和學者們，為了描繪一個西方人心目中固有的土著社會(或者經濟發展欠發達社會)的形象，故意篡改照片，滿足西方讀者的好奇心，并且有意迎合西方中產階級的趣味。在短文中，作者有時候并不開宗明義，直奔主題，而是利用人們都熟悉的文化元素，例如詩歌，書籍，電影，歌曲等，引起讀者對其討論話題的興趣，然后再引入主題。并不是每一篇文章都會開門見山，讀者不應該把每篇文章的首尾句都當成對文章大意的總結。

　　4. 答案是[A] the indigenous culture

　　解析：But in some ways, anthropological photographs reveal more about the culture that holds the camera than the one that stares back.本句是文章切入主題的重點句。考生應該格外注意在閱讀文章靠前部分出現的，以轉折詞(例如，HOWEVER， BUT，NEVERTHELESS， NONETHELESS等)開頭的句子。那往往是作者敘述傳統論點，或者普遍看法的關鍵地方。本句可以理解為：但是，在某些方面，人類學家拍攝的照片展現的與其說是那個盯視著照相機的(被拍攝的)文化，不如說是反映了拿著照相機的(西方)文化。作者暗示，照片反映了西方攝影者的偏見和對落后文化固有的看法，反映的是西方的價值觀，并不是完全真實客觀的那些不發達社會的寫照。這句話基本上是對文章中心意思的總結。如果對文章的主題有大致的認識，就不會將本題選錯。

　　5. 答案是[C] The western media are not presenting a realistic picture of the faraway societies.

　　解析：Catherine Lutz是文章中提到的1993年出版的READING NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC的作者之一。她們在書中寫道，《國家地理》雜志自從1888年創刊以來，就一直刊登那些不和美國中產階級白人的價值觀發生沖突的照片。照片中可以表現袒露胸部的黑色皮膚的婦女，但是白人婦女的胸部就是禁止刊登的對象。她們認為，這樣做的后果就是，在那些西方主流雜志中展現的，似乎是相對而言沒有痛苦的，也不存在階級斗爭的社會。因此答案C The western media are not presenting a realistic picture of the faraway societies(西方媒體并沒有展現落后地區的真實畫面)最能表現該作者的觀點。