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The conservatism of the early English
colonists in North America, their strong
attachment to the English way
of doing things, would play a major part in the furniture that
was made in New England. The very tools that the first New England furniture
Line
makers used were, after all, not
much different from those used for centuries – even
(5)
millennia: basic hammers, saws, chisels, planes, augers, compasses, and
measures. These were the tools used more or less by
all people who worked with wood:
carpenters,
barrel makers, and shipwrights. At most the furniture makers might have had planes with special edges or more
delicate chisels, but there could not have been much
specialization in the early years of the colonies.
(10)
The furniture makers in those
early decades of the 1600’ s were known as “ joiners,” for the primary method of
constructing furniture, at least among the English of this time, was that of mortise-and-tenon
joinery. The mortise is the hole chiseled and cut into one piece of wood,
while the tenon is the tongue or protruding element shaped from another piece of wood
so that it fits into the mortise; and another small hole is
(15) then drilled (with the auger) through
the mortised end and the tenon so that a whittled peg
can secure the joint – thus the term “ joiner.” Panels were fitted into slots
on the basic
frames. This kind of construction was used for making everything from houses to
chests.
Relatively little hardware was used during this period. Some nails –
forged by
(20) hand – were used, but no screws or
glue. Hinges were often made of leather, but metal hinges
were also used. The cruder varieties were made by blacksmiths in the colonies, but the finer metal elements were
imported. Locks and escutcheon plates – the latter to shield
the wood from the metal key – would often be imported.
Above all, what the early English colonists imported was their knowledge
of,
(25)
familiarity with, and dedication
to the traditional types and designs of furniture they knew in England.
1. The phrase “attachment to” in line 2
is 2. The word “protruding” in line
13 is closest in meaning to closest
in meaning to
(A) control
of (A) parallel
(B) distance
from (B) simple
(C) curiosity
about (C) projecting
(D) preference
for (D) important
4. The
relationship of a mortise and a tenon is most similar to that of
(A) a
lock and a key (B) a book and its cover
(C) a
cup and a saucer
(D) a
hammer and a nail
5. For
what purpose did woodworkers use an auger
(A) To
whittle a peg
(B) To
make a tenon
(C) To
drill a hole
(D) To
measure a panel
6. Which
of the following were NOT used in the construction of colonial furniture?
(A) Mortises
(B) Nails
(C) Hinges
(D) Screws
7. The
author implies that colonial metalworkers were
(A) unable
to make elaborate parts
(B) more
skilled than woodworkers
(C) more
conservative than other colonists
(D) frequently
employed by joiners
8. The
word “ shield” in line 23 is closest in meaning to
(A) decorate
(B) copy
(C) shape
(D) protect
9. The
word “ they” in line 25 refers to
(A) designs
(B) types
(C) colonists
(D) all
10. The
author implies that the colonial joiners
(A) were
highly paid
(B) based
their furniture on English models
(C) used
many specialized tools
(D) had
to adjust to using new kinds of wood in New England
11. Which
of the following terms does the author explain in the passage?
(A) “
millennia” (line 5)
(B) “
joiners” (line 10)
(C) “
whittled” (line 15)
(D) “
blacksmiths” (line 21)
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