TEST 4 (READING PASSAGE 2) TOEFL READING PRACTICE WITH ASNWERS

TOEFL READING PRACTICE WITH ASNWERS

TEST 4 (READING PASSAGE 2)

Questions 11-21

Panel painting, common in thirteenth-and fourteenth-century Europe, involved a painstaking,

laborious process. Wooden planks were joined, covered with gesso to prepare the surface for
painting, and then polished smooth with special tools. On this perfect surface, the artist would

sketch a composition with chalk, refine it with inks, and then begin the deliberate process of

applying thin layers of egg tempera paint (egg yolk in which pigments are suspended) with small
brushes. The successive layering of these meticulously applied paints produced the final,
translucent colors.

 Backgrounds or gold were made by carefully applying sheets of gold leaf, and then embellishing
of decorating the gold leaf by punching it with a metal rod on which a pattern had been embossed.
Every step in the process was slow and deliberate. The quick-drying tempera demanded that the
artist know exactly where each stroke be placed before the brush met the panel, and it required the
use of fine brushes. It was, therefore, an ideal technique for emphasizing the hard linear edges and
pure, fine areas of color that were so much a part of the overall aesthetic of the time. The notion
that an artist could or would dash off an idea in a fit of spontaneous inspiration was completely
alien to these deliberately produced works.
Furthermore, making these paintings was so time-consuming that it demanded assistance. All
such work was done by collective enterprise in the workshops. The painter or master who is
credited with having created the painting may have designed the work and overseen its
production, but it is highly unlikely that the artist's hand applied every stroke of the brush. More
likely, numerous assistants, who had been trained to imitate the artist's style, applied the paint. The
carpenter's shop probably provided the frame and perhaps supplied the panel, and yet another shop
supplied the gold. Thus, not only many hands, but also many shops were involved in the final
product.
In spite of problems with their condition, restoration, and preservation many panel paintings have
survived, and today many of them are housed in museum collections.

 

 11. What aspect of panel paintings does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) Famous example
(B) Different styles
(C) Restoration
(D) Production

12. According to the passage, what was the first step in making a panel painting?
(A) Mixing the paint
(B) Preparing the panel
(C) Buying the gold leaf
(D) Making ink drawings

13. The word "it" in line 4 refers to
(A) chalk
(B) composition
(C) artist
(D) surface

14. The word "deliberate" in line 5 is closest in meaning to
(A) decisive
(B) careful
(C) natural
(D) unusual

15. Which of the following processes produced the translucent colors found on panel paintings?
(A) Joining wooden planks to form large sheets
(B) Polishing the gesso
(C) Applying many layers of paint
(D) Covering the background with gold leaf

16. What characteristic of tempera paint is mentioned in the passage?
(A) It dries quickly
(B) It is difficult to make
(C) It dissolves easily
(D) It has to be applied directly to wood

17. The word "demanded" in line 17 is closest in meaning ot
(A) ordered
(B) reported
(C) required
(D) questioned

18. The "collective enterprise" mentioned in line 18 includes all of the following EXCEPT
(A) supplying the gold leaf
(B) building the panels
(C) applying the paint
(D) selling the painting

19. The word "imitate" in line 22 is closest in meaning to
(A) copy
(B) illustrate
(C) promote
(D) believe in

20. The author mention all of the following as problems with the survival of panel paintings EXCEPT
(A) condition
(B) theft
(C) preservation
(D) restoration

21. The word "them" in line 27 refers to
(A) problem
(B) condition, restoration, preservation
(C) panel paintings
(D) museum collections

 

ANSWER KEY

11.  D

12. B

13. B

14. B

15. C

16. A

17. C

18. D

19. A

20. B

21. C