托福阅读真题.docx

托福阅读真题.docx

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托福阅读真题

2014年5月24日托福阅读真题

智课网整理

阅读词汇题：

Remarkable

Wealthyof

Devoid

Coincidewith

Diffusion

Propagate

Subsequence

Initiate

Chronological

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 and 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 and 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