【正文】 st that before carefully finished and studied these 53 passages, we should not let ourselves distracted by any other materials. Sometimes, I yelled to my students, only a joke, “If you had not studied these passages and questions 3 times at least, how could you be barefaced enough to sit in the exam room? Shame on you to waste your mother’s money buying other costly books!” In addition, have you got ants in your pants every time you make a stab at writing? Do you go berserk for your personal statement? If you are preparing for the iBT, SAT, GRE, etc, writing, essays, or your personal statement, these passages can also be of help: polished by ETS, words, sentence, and structures of these passages are “epic…”, and worth imitating for nonenative English users. Frequently, friends asked me to help with their personal statement, plaining why what they had written looked so na239。 that is why we recognize a Shang Dynasty vase as being different from an Inca vase. What varies is not the basic form but the incidental details that do not obstruct the object39。s aesthetic intentions, placed the ball there. That this device was a necessary structural promise is clear from the fact that the cannonball quickly disappeared when sculptors learned how to strengthen the internal structure of a statue with iron braces (iron being much stronger than bronze). Even though the fine arts in the twentieth century often treat materials in new ways, the basic difference in attitude of artists in relation to their materials in the fine arts and the applied arts remains relatively constant. It would therefore not be too great an exaggeration to say that practitioners of the fine arts work to overe the limitations of their materials, whereas those engaged in the applied arts work in concert with their materials. Paragraph 1: Although we now tend to refer to the various crafts according to the materials used to construct themclay, glass, wood, fiber, and metalit was once mon to think of crafts in terms of function, which led to their being known as the applied arts. Approaching crafts from the point of view of function, we can divide them into simple categories: containers, shelters and supports. There is no way around the fact that containers, shelters, and supports must be functional. The applied arts are thus bound by the laws of physics, which pertain to both the materials used in their making and the substances and things to be contained, supported, and sheltered. These laws are universal in their application, regardless of cultural beliefs, geography, or climate. If a pot has no bottom or has large openings in its sides, it could hardly be considered a container in any traditional sense. Since the laws of physics, not some arbitrary decision, have determined the general form of appliedart objects, they follow basic patterns, so much so that functional forms can vary only within certain limits. Buildings without roofs, for example, are unusual because they depart from the norm. However, not all functional objects are exactly alike。s primary function. 3. The word they in the passage refers to ○Appliedart objects ○The laws of physics ○Containers ○The sides of pots 4. Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information. ○Functional appliedart objects cannot vary much from the basic patterns determined by the laws of physics. ○The function of appliedart objects is determined by basic patterns in the laws of physics. ○Since functional appliedart objects vary only within certain limits, arbitrary decisions cannot have determined their general form. ○The general form of appliedart objects is limited by some arbitrary decision that is not determined by the laws of physics. Paragraph 2: Sensitivity to physical laws is thus an important consideration for the maker of appliedart objects. It is often taken for granted that this is also true for the maker of fineart objects. This assumption misses a significant difference between the two disciplines. Fineart objects are not constrained by the laws of physics in the same way that appliedart objects are. Because their primary purpose is not functional, they are only limited in terms of the materials used to make them. Sculptures must, for example, be stable, which requires an understanding of the properties of mass, weight distribution, and stress. Paintings must have rigid stretchers so that the canvas will be taut, and the paint must not deteriorate, crack, or discolor. These are problems that must be overe by the artist because they tend to intrude upon his or her conception of the work. For example, in the early Italian Renaissance, bronze statues of horses with a raised foreleg usually had a cannonball under that hoof. This was done because the cannonball was needed to support the weight of the leg. In other words, the demands of the laws of physics, not the sculptor39。s purpose is primarily aesthetic. ○Objects serve a functional purpose. ○The incidental details of objects do not vary. ○Artists work to overe the limitations of their materials. ○The basic form of objects varies little across cultures. ○Artists work in concert with their materials. ○An object39。但最初人們根據(jù)工藝品的功能將他們通通定義為“實用工藝品”。毫無疑問它們都是具有一定功能的物品。這些規(guī)律在工藝品應用過程中非常普遍，不會因文化信仰、地理條件和氣候的改變而改變。自然規(guī)律決定了實用工藝品的一般形式，而不是武斷的結(jié)論決定的，它們遵循基本的樣式，以至于它們的功能不會變化太大。但是，并不是所有的功能物品都一模一樣，比如我們知道的為什么商代花瓶和印加花瓶不同。實用工藝品的生產(chǎn)者會著重考慮這件工藝品對自然規(guī)律的敏感性。但這種推斷忽略了兩種工藝品之間重要的區(qū)別。因為它們最主要的并不是體現(xiàn)其功能性，其實它們僅受限于制作材料的性質(zhì)。油畫必須有堅固的支架，才能讓畫布保持繃緊，并且油畫不可以有毀損，裂紋，褪色。就好像在意大利文藝復興早期，踢出前腿馬匹的青銅像往往有一個金屬球置于它的前蹄下。換而言之，擺在那里的金屬球是客觀條件的需要，而不是藝術(shù)家的美學意愿。盡管在20世紀純工藝品的制作通常采用新的制造工藝，人們對兩種工藝品的基本態(tài)度仍然保持對立。THE ORIGINS OF CETACEANSIt should be obvious that cetaceanswhales, porpoises, and dolphinsare mammals. They breathe through lungs, not through gills, and give birth to live young. Their s