Passage 2 Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
Archaeology has long been an accepted tool for studying prehistoric cultures. Relatively recently the same techniques have been systematically applied to studies of more immediate past. This has been called "historical archaeology". A term that is used in the United States to refer to any archaeological investigation into North American sites that postdate the arrival of Europeans.
Back in the 1930s and 1940s, when restoration was popular, historical archeology was primarily a tool of architectural reconstruction. The role of archaeologists was to find the foundations of historic buildings and then take back seat to architects.
The maina for reconstruction had largely subsided by the 1950s and 1960s. Most people entering historical archaeology during this period came out of university anthropology departments where they had studied prehistoric cultures. They were, by training, social scientists, not historians, and their work tended to reflect this bias. The questions they framed and the techniques they used were designed to help them understand, as scientists, how people behaved. But because they were treading on historical ground for which there was often extensive written documentation and because their own knowledge of these periods was usually limited, their contributions to American history remained circumscribed. Their reports, highly technical and sometimes poorly written, went unread.
More recently, professional archaeologists have taken over. These researchers have sought to demonstrate that their work can be a valuable tool not only of science but also of history, providing fresh insights into the daily lives of ordinary people whose existences might not otherwise be so well documented. This newer emphasis on archaeology as social history has , and indeed work done in this area has led to a reinterpretation of the United States past.
In Kingston, New York, for example, evidence has been uncovered that indicates that English goods were being smuggled into that city at a time when the Dutch supposedly controlled trading in the area. And in Sacramento an excavation at the site of a fashionable nineteenth-century hotel revealed that garbage had been stashed in the building's basement despite sanitation laws to the contrary.
26. What is the main topic of the passage? A. How the purpose and the methods of historical archaeology have changed. B. How archaeology has been applied to studies of prehistoric cultures. C. The attitude of professional archaeologists hold toward historical archaeology. D. The contributions make to historical archaeology.
27. According to the passage, what is a relatively new focus in archaeology? A. Studying prehistoric cultures. B. Investigating ancient sites in what is now the United States. C. Comparing the culture of North America to that of Europe. D. Studying the recent past.
28. According to the passage, when had historical archaeologists been trained as anthropologists? A. Before the 1930s. B. During the 1930s and 1940s. C. During the 1950s and 1960s. D. After the 1960s.
29. In the third paragraph, the author implies the questions and techniques of history and those of social science are ______. A. of equal value in studying prehistoric cultures B. quite different from each other C. all aiming to understand people's behavior D. all highly technical and poorly written
30. The equivalent of the "supposedly" in the last paragraph is ______. A. rigidly B. barely C. seemingly D. ruthlessly
, and indeed work done in this area has led to a reinterpretation of the United States past.
