Diffusion, the process of introducing cultural elements from one society into another, occurs in three basic patterns: direct contact, intermediate contact, and stimulus diffusion.  

      In direct contact, elements of a society's culture may be adopted first by neighboring societies and then gradually spread farther afield. The spread of the manufacture of paper is an example of extensive diffusion by direct contact. The invention of paper is attributed to the Chinese Ts'ai Lun in A.D. 105. Within fifty years, paper was being made in many places in central China. By 264 it was found in Chinese Turkmenistan, and from then on the successive places of manufacture were Samarkand (751), Baghdad (793), Egypt (about 900), Morocco (about 1100), and France (1189). In general, the pattern of accepting the borrowed invention was the same everywhere. Paper was first imported into each area as a luxury, then in ever-expanding quantities as a staple product. Finally, usually within one to three centuries, local manufacture started.  

      Diffusion by intermediated contact occurs through the agency of third parties. Frequently, traders carry a cultural trait from the society that originated it to another group. As an example of diffusion through intermediaries, Phoenician traders spread the alphabet, which may have been invented by another Semitic group, to Greece. At times, soldiers serve as intermediaries in spreading a culture trait. During the Middle Ages, European soldiers acted as intermediaries in two ways: they carried European culture to Arab societies of North Africa and brought Arab culture back to Europe. In the nineteenth century Western missionaries brought Western-style clothing to such places as Africa and the Pacific islands.  

      In stimulus diffusion, knowledge of a trait belonging to another culture stimulates the invention or development of a local equivalent. A classic example of stimulus diffusion is the creation of the Cherokee syllabic writing system by a Native American named Sequoya. Sequoya got the idea from his contact with the English; yet he did not adopt the writing system nor did he even learn to write English. He utilized some English alphabetic symbols, altered others, and invented new ones. All the symbols he used represented Cherokee syllables and had a distinctly Cherokee form.  

Question 35. The passage mainly discusses how ____________ 

      A. cultures retain their unique characteristics  

      B. cultural elements transfer from one culture to another  

      C. paper came into general use  

      D. economies grew through trade and manufacturing  

Question 36. The word “gradually” in paragraph 2 in closet in meaning to ____________

      A little by little                     B. largely                             C. sharply                            D. dramatically 

Question 37. The word “successive” is closest in meaning to____________ 

      A. specialized                      B. principal                          C. prosperous                       D. subsequent 

Question 38. The word "it" refers to ____________ 

      A. diffusion                          B. contact                             C. trait                                  D. society  

Question 39. According to the passage, a change that occurred in Africa and the Pacific islands as a result of the arrival of missionaries was____________ 

      A. an increase in the presence of soldiers  

      B. variation in local style of dressing  

      C. the manufacture of paper  

      D. the introduction of new alphabetical systems  

Question 40. What did Sequoya do?  

      A. Adopt the English writing system for use in Cherokee  

      B. Study English intensively in order to learn to write it  

      C. Teach English to Cherokee Native Americans  

      D. Create a Cherokee writing system based on elements of the English alphabet 

Question 41. In stating that the Cherokee writing system is a classic example, the author means that this example is especially____________ 

      A. typical                             B. understandable                C. difficult                           D. old  

Question 42. Which of the following statements about direct contact, intermediate contact, and stimulus diffusion is NOT true?  

      A. They all cause changes in culture.  

      B. They all occur in more than one culture.  

      C. They all involve the interaction of cultures.  

      D. They all require the trading of manufactured products.  

Đề thi thử THPT 2021 - Tiếng Anh - GV Vũ Thị Mai Phương - Đề 8 - có lời giải