Face masks are monly used in ceremonies and performances. They not only hide the real face of the mask wearer but they often evoke powerful emotions in the audience—danger, fear, sadness, joy. You might think, because so many things vary cross-culturally, that the ways in which emotions are displayed and recognized in the face vary too. Apparently they do not. Recent research on masks from different cultures supports the conclusion that masks, like faces, tend to represent certain emotions in the same ways. We now have some evidence that the symbolism used in masks is often universal.
The research on masks builds on work done by anthropologists, who used photographs of individuals experiencing various emotions. These photographs were shown to members of different cultural groups who were asked to identify the emotions displayed in the photographs. Emotions were identified correctly by most viewers, whatever the viewer’s native culture.
Coding schemes were developed to enable researchers to pare the detailed facial positions of individual portions of die face (eyebrows, mouth, etc.) for different emotions. What exactly do we do when we scowl? We contract the eyebrows and lower the corners of the mouth; in geometric terms, we make angles and diagonals (斜线) on our faces. When we smile, we raise the corners of the mouth; we make it curved.
Psychologist Joel Arnoff and his colleagues pared two types of wooden face masks from many different societies—masks described as threatening versus masks associated with nonthreatening functions. As suspected, the two sets of masks had significant differences in certain facial elements. The threatening masks had eyebrows and eyes facing inward and downward and a downward-facing mouth. In more abstract or geometrical terms, threatening features generally tend to be angular or diagonal and nonthreatening features tend to be curved or rounded, a face with a pointed beard is threatening; a baby's face is not. The theory is that humans express and recognize basic emotions in uniform (一致的) ways because all human faces are quite similar, skeletally and muscularly.
【小题1】What does the passage mainly discuss?A．The techniques for paring facial expressions across cultures.B．The photography of faces.C．Cultural variations in mask.D．The uniformity of facial expressions in revealing emotions.【小题2】According to the passage, masks are used in performances to .A．disguise the real emotions of the performersB．cause members of the audience to have strong emotionsC．remind the audience that an illusion is being createdD．identify the cultural background of the performers【小题3】What does the author mean by stating, the symbolism used in masks is often universal?A．Masks are sometimes used to hide emotions.B．Performers often need help conveying emotions to an audience.C．Not all societies use masks in their rituals.D．People from different cultures generally express certain emotions in similar ways.【小题4】The passage mentions baby’s face in the last paragraph as an example of a .A．typical human faceB．source of inspiration in the creation of masksC．nonthreatening faceD．face that expresses few emotionsD
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(答案→)D
解析：
试题解析：本文通过在一些仪式和演出中的面具的世界性引出了自己的观点：面具和人类的脸一样总是用同意的方式表达某些情感，并提出一系列的论据来支持自己的观点。
【小题1】D主旨大意题。根据最后一段最有一句话：The theory is that humans express and recognize basic emotions in uniform (一致的) ways because all human faces are quite similar, skeletally and muscularly.人类用一致的方式来表达和识别基本情绪，因为所有人的面孔、骨骼和肌肉都很相似，所以D正确。
【小题2】B细节推理题。根据第一段第一句话：Face masks are monly used in ceremonies and performances. They not only hide the real face of the mask wearer but they often evoke powerful emotions in the audience—danger, fear, sadness, joy.面具常用于仪式和表演，他们不仅隐藏面具佩戴者的真正表情，而且常常唤起观众的强烈的的真实情感：危险，恐惧，悲伤，快乐。所以B正确。
【小题3】D理解推断题。根据第一段第二句：because so many things vary cross-culturally, that the ways in which emotions are displayed and recognized in the face vary too. Apparently they do not. Recent research on masks from different cultures supports the conclusion that masks, like faces, tend to represent certain emotions in the same ways.因为很多事情跨文化而不同，，在脸上展示和识别情绪显的方式也不同。显然不是这样。近期关于来自不同文化的面具来的研究支持这一结论：面具，和脸一样，总是以相同方式代表特定的情绪。所以D正确
【小题4】C细节理解题。根据最后一段倒数第二句In more abstract or geometrical terms, threatening features generally tend to be angular or diagonal and nonthreatening features tend to be curved or rounded, a face with a pointed beard is threatening; a baby's face is not.在更抽象的几何图形里，威胁的特点往往是角或斜的。没有威胁的特点往往是弯曲或圆形，有胡子的脸是威胁性的；婴儿的脸是不是。所以C正确。