44. In which of
the following sentences ‘stand’ has the same meaning in this passage?
A. He could hardly
stand. B.
This house stands the test of time.
C. The train stood
for an hour. D.
He stands in terrible danger.
B
It is
common knowledge that modern man prefers to use his right hand when doing
anything requiring one hand. There are mainly two types of theories that try to
explain the development of right hand preference in man. The first theory holds
that the human body itself needs the preference of one hand over the other. The
second type of theory suggests that pressures from society or from the living
conditions (or both) lead to the high increase of right hand preference in man.
This theory is supported by human and animal studies that tried to change hand
preferences.
Unfortunately,
there are few written records throughout history which can prove those theories
about hand preferences. There are, however, other things which can be used to
study this matter. Nearly all cultures(文化) have art
forms showing human beings in various activities. We might expect that such
drawings and paintings would tell us what the artist actually observed in his
culture about hand use.
From a
study of more than 5,000 years of art works, including 1,180 examples of
paintings and drawings we know that in 93% of the cases the right hand was used
regardless of which period or which area was examined.
