托福阅读真题Word文档下载推荐.docx

托福阅读真题Word文档下载推荐.docx

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第一篇：

苏美尔人的居住地土地贫瘠，但是每年的洪水泛滥留下了肥沃的淤泥用来耕作，由此产生了统治阶层。

而统治阶层在管理时为了记录则导致了楔形文字的产生，后来文字应用到了社会生活中。

解析：

苏美尔人（也译作苏默），是历史上两河流域（底格里斯河和幼发拉底河中下游）早期的定居民族，他们所建立的苏美尔文明是整个美索不达米亚文明中最早，同时也是全世界最早产生的文明。

苏美尔文明主要位于美索不达米亚的南部，通过放射性碳十四的断代测试，表明苏美尔文明的开端可以追溯至公元前4000年。

约结束在公元前2000年，被闪米特人（闪族人）建立的巴比伦所代替。

这里发现的含有楔形文字前文字的最古老的石板（这是目前公认的最早的文字记录）可以被定期为约前36世纪。

背景知识：

SumerianAgricultureandhunting

TheSumeriansadoptedanagriculturalmodeoflifeasbyperhapsasearlyasc.5000-4500BCtheregiondemonstratedanumberofcoreagriculturaltechniques,includingorganized 

irrigation,large-scaleintensivecultivationofland, 

mono-cropping 

involvingtheuseof 

ploughagriculture,andtheuseofanagriculturalspecializedlabourforce 

underbureaucraticcontrol.Thenecessitytomanagetempleaccountswiththisorganizationledtothedevelopmentof 

writing 

（c.3500BC）.

Fromtheroyaltombsof 

Ur,madeof 

lapislazuli 

andshell,showspeacetime

IntheearlySumerianUrukperiod,theprimitivepictogramssuggestthat 

sheep, 

goats,cattle,and 

pigs 

weredomesticated.Theyused 

oxen 

astheirprimarybeastsofburdenand 

donkeys 

or 

equids 

astheirprimarytransportanimaland"

woollenclothingaswellasrugsweremadefromthewoolorhairoftheanimals....Bythesideofthehousewasanenclosedgardenplantedwithtreesandotherplants;

wheatandprobablyothercerealsweresowninthefields,andthe 

shaduf 

wasalreadyemployedforthepurposeofirrigation.Plantswerealsogrowninpotsorvases."

Anaccountofbarleyrationsissuedmonthlytoadultsandchildrenwrittenin 

cuneiformonclaytablet,writteninyear4ofKing 

Urukagina,circa2350BC

TheSumerianspracticedsimilarirrigationtechniquesasthoseusedinEgypt. 

Americananthropologist 

RobertMcCormickAdams 

saysthatirrigationdevelopmentwasassociatedwithurbanization, 

andthat89%ofthepopulationlivedinthecities.

Theygrew 

barley, 

chickpeas, 

lentils, 

wheat, 

dates, 

onions, 

garlic, 

lettuce, 

leeks 

and 

mustard.Sumerianscaughtmanyfishandhunted 

fowl 

gazelle.

Sumerianagriculturedependedheavilyon 

irrigation.Theirrigationwasaccomplishedbytheuseof 

shaduf, 

canals, 

channels,dykes, 

weirs,and 

reservoirs.Thefrequentviolentfloodsofthe 

Tigris,andlessso,ofthe 

Euphrates,meantthatcanalsrequiredfrequentrepairandcontinualremovalof 

silt,andsurveymarkersandboundarystonesneededtobecontinuallyreplaced.Thegovernmentrequiredindividualstoworkonthecanalsina 

corvee,althoughtherichwereabletoexemptthemselves.

Asisknownfromthe"

SumerianFarmer'

sAlmanac"

afterthefloodseasonandafterthe 

SpringEquinox 

andthe 

Akitu 

orNewYearFestival,usingthecanals,farmerswouldfloodtheirfieldsandthendrainthewater.Nexttheyletoxenstompthegroundandkillweeds.Theythendraggedthefieldswith 

pickaxes.Afterdrying,they 

plowed, 

harrowed,and 

raked 

thegroundthreetimes,andpulverizeditwitha 

mattock,beforeplantingseed.Unfortunatelythehighevaporationrateresultedinagradualincreaseinthesalinityofthefields.BytheUrIIIperiod,farmershadswitchedfromwheattothemoresalt-tolerant 

barley 

astheirprincipalcrop.

Sumeriansharvestedduringthe 

spring 

inthree-personteamsconsistingofa 

reaper,a 

binder,andasheafhandler. 

Thefarmerswoulduse 

threshingwagons,drivenbyoxen,toseparatethe 

cereal 

headsfromthe 

stalks 

andthenusethreshingsledstodisengagethegrain.Theythen 

winnowed 

thegrain/chaffmixture.

Languageandwriting

Mainarticles:

Sumerianlanguage 

Cuneiform

Earlywritingtabletrecordingtheallocationofbeer,3100-3000BC

ThemostimportantarchaeologicaldiscoveriesinSumerarealargenumberof 

tablets 

writtenin 

cuneiform.Sumerianwritingistheoldestexampleofwritingonearth.Althoughpictures-thatis, 

hieroglyphs 

-werefirstused,symbolswerelatermadetorepresentsyllables.Triangularorwedge-shapedreedswereusedtowriteonmoistclay.AlargebodyofhundredsofthousandsoftextsintheSumerianlanguagehavesurvived,suchaspersonalorbusinessletters,receipts, 

lexicallists,laws,hymns,prayers,stories,dailyrecords,andevenlibrariesfullof 

claytablets.Monumentalinscriptionsandtextsondifferentobjectslikestatuesorbricksarealsoverycommon.Manytextssurviveinmultiplecopiesbecausetheywererepeatedlytranscribedbyscribes-in-training.SumeriancontinuedtobethelanguageofreligionandlawinMesopotamialongafterSemiticspeakershadbecomedominant.

TheSumerianlanguageisgenerallyregardedasa 

languageisolate 

in 

linguistics 

becauseitbelongstonoknownlanguagefamily;

Akkadian,bycontrast,belongstotheSemiticbranchofthe 

Afro-Asiaticlanguages.TherehavebeenmanyfailedattemptstoconnectSumerian