To Pacific people the coconut palm is tile Tree of Life, and life itself oft

游客2024-06-07  13

问题     To Pacific people the coconut palm is tile Tree of Life, and life itself often depends on its presence. This versatile and ubiquitous (到处出现的) tree still keeps to itself the mystery of its geographical origins. Scientists may have theories, but most Pacific islanders believe that the coconut palm is of supernatural origin. Stray palms on uninhabited isles or in remote island valleys may appear wild and neglected to stranger, but chances are that some local family is watching and using them.
    On the other hand, the material culture of the islands is based on forest products in general, not just the coconut. Melanesian craftsmen fashion their goods from bark, fiber, wood, and other plant parts. Stone, shell, and bone are found in great variety, feathers and shell are seen as ornaments. But it is the plants which form the structural materials or architecture and artifacts. Among Melanesia’s varied cultures, that of New Guinea’s Speak River area is one of the richest in artifacts. An important source is the annual festival marking the harvest of the yam crop, a hill-country staple. Yams of special size and character represent spirits of the dead, and the quality of a man’s yam crop is a measure of his prestige and his virility (男子气概).  A man and his family may not eat their own produce but must give it to a family of a non-related clan. Each phase of the growing cycle of the yam is marked with ceremonies and festivities culminating in the great harvest festival when the village square is filled with piles of yams. Many of the finest specimens are adorned with painted masks, feather headdresses, and jewelry. Each man or the tribe, similarly adorned, extols (赞美,颂扬) the virtues of his yams in extravagant oratory (辞藻华丽的言语), climaxing his presentation by pronouncing the name the family who is to receive his crop. [br] We learn from the passage that a man from the Speik River area culture will try to grow superior yams principally in order to______.

选项 A、show flint he works harder than others
B、honor the spirits of the dead
C、provide his family with nourishing food
D、demonstrate his own power and importance

答案 D

解析 上下文理解题。在文章的最后—段对Speik流域文化的描述中,此句the quality of a man’s yam crop is a measure of his prestige and his virility告知,山芋的质量可以衡量—今男人的威望和男子气概。故D为正确答案。
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