Passage 3
Art, said Picasso, is a lie that makes us realize the truth. So is a map. We do not usually associate the precise work of the map worker with a fanciful object of art. Yet a map has many qualities that a painting or a poem has. It is truth realized in a symbolic way, holding meanings it does not express on the surface. And like work of art, it requires imaginative reading.
Thus, map and reality are not, and cannot be, identical. No aspect of map use is so obvious yet so often overlooked. Most map reading mistakes occur because the user forgets this vital fact and expects oneone-to- corresponder between map and reality.amap,like a painting, is just one special version of reality. To understand a painting, you must have some idea of the medium which was used by the artist.
You wouldn't' expect water color to look anything like an oil painting or charcoal(木炭) drawing, even if the subject matter of all three were identical. In the same way,the techniques used to create maps will greatly influence the final representation. As a map reader, you should always be aware of the invisible hand of the map maker. Never use a map without asking yourself how it has been biased by the methods used to make it.
If the entire map making process operates at its full potential, communication takes place between the map maker and the user. The map maker translates reality into the clearest possible picture under the circumstances, and the map reader converts this picture back into an impression of the environment. For such communication-to take place, the map reader as the map maker must know something about how maps are created.
37.Map resembles art because ______.