托福經(jīng)典加試閱讀之蘇美爾文明英文全文

托福經(jīng)典加試閱讀之蘇美爾文明英文全文托福經(jīng)典加試閱讀之蘇美爾文明英文全文托福經(jīng)典加試閱讀之蘇美爾文明英文全文托福經(jīng)典加試閱讀之蘇美爾文明英文全文編制僅供參考審核批準(zhǔn)生效日期地址：電話：傳真:郵編:2005年10月12日開(kāi)始第一次加試SumerianCivilizationItisanastonishingfactthathumancivilizationshouldhaveemergedintothelightofhistoryintwoseparateplacesatjustaboutthesametime.Between3,500and3,000.whenEgyptwasbeingunitedunderpharaonicrule,anothergreatcivilizationaroseinMesopotamia,the“l(fā)andbetweentherivers”.Andforclosetothreethousandyears,thetworivalcentersretainedtheirdistinctcharacters,eventhoughtheyhadcontactwitheachotherfromtheirearliestbeginnings,andtheirdestinieswereinterwoveninmanyways.ThepressurethatforcedtheinhabitantsofbothregionstoabandonthepatternofNeolithicvillagelifemaywellhavebeenthesame.ButthevalleyoftheTigrisandEuphratesrivers,unlikethatoftheNile,isnotanarrowfertilestripprotectedbydesertoneitherside.Itresemblesawide,shallowtroughwithfewnaturaldefenses,crisscrossedbytwogreatriversandtheirtributaries,andiseasilyencroacheduponfromanydirection.P2:ThusthefactsofgeographytendtodiscouragetheideaofunitingtheentireMesopotamianareaunderasinglehead.Rulerswhohadthisambitiondidnotappear,sofarasweknow,untilaboutathousandyearsafterthebeginningsofMesopotamiancivilization,andtheysucceededincarryingitoutonlyforbriefperiodsandatthecostofalmostcontinuouswarfare.Asaconsequence,thepoliticalhistoryofancientMesopotamiahasnounderlyingthemeofthesortthatdivinekingshipprovidesforEgypt.Localrivalries,foreignincursions,thesuddenupsurgeandequallysuddencollapseofmilitarypower–theseareitssubstance.P3:TheoriginoftheSumeriansremainsobscure.Theirlanguageisunrelatedtoanyotherknowntongue.Sometimesbefore4,000.theycametosouthernMesopotamia,fromPersia,andthere,withinthenextthousandyears,theyfoundedanumberofcity-statesanddevelopedtheirdistinctiveformofwritingincuneiform(wedge-shaped)charactersonclaytablets.Unfortunately,thetangibleremainsofSumeriancivilizationareextremelyscantycomparedtothoseofancientEgypt.BuildingstonebeingunavailableinMesopotamia,theSumeriansusedmudbrickandwood,sothatalmostnothingisleftoftheirarchitectureexceptthefoundation.NordidtheysharetheEgyptians’concernwiththehereafter,althoughsomerichlyendowedtombsintheshapeofvaultedchambersbelowgroundfromtheearlydynasticperiodhavebeenfoundinthecityofUr.OurknowledgeofSumerianCivilizationthusdependsverylargelyonchancefragmentsbroughttolightbyexcavation,includingvastnumbersofinscribedclaytablets.Yetwehavelearnedenoughtoformageneralpictureofthisvigorous,inventive,anddisciplinedpeople.P4:EachSumeriancity-statehaditsownlocalgod,whowasregardedasitskingandowner.Italsohadahumanruler,thestewardofthedivinesovereign,wholedthepeopleinservingthedeity.Thelocalgod,inturn,wasexpectedtopleadthecauseofhissubjectsamonghisfollowdeitieswhocontrolledtheforcesofnaturesuchaswindandweather,water,fertility,andtheheavenlybodies.Norwastheideaofdivineownershiptreatedasamerepiousfiction.Thegodwasquiteliterallybelievedtoownnotonlytheterritoryofthecity-statebutalsothelaborpowerofthepopulationanditsproducts.Alltheseweresubjecttohiscommands,transmittedtopeoplebyhishumansteward.Theresultwasaneconomicsystem.Thetemplecontrolledthepoolingoflaborandresourcesforcommunalenterprises,suchasthebuildingofdikesorirrigationditches,anditcollectedanddistributedaconsiderablepartoftheharvest.Allthisrequiredthekeepingofdetailedwrittenrecords.Hence,weneednotbesurprisedtofindthatthetextsofearlySumerianinscriptionsdealverylargelywitheconomicandadministrativeratherthanreligiousmatters,althoughwritingwasapriestlyprivilege.P1:令人驚異的是從歷史的角度看人類文明同時(shí)在兩個(gè)不同的地方產(chǎn)生。公元前3500到3000年之間，當(dāng)埃及在法老統(tǒng)治下統(tǒng)一時(shí)，另一個(gè)偉大的文明在美索不達(dá)米亞（河間地）產(chǎn)生。在后來(lái)將近3000年的時(shí)間里，盡管兩個(gè)對(duì)立的文化中心一直相互聯(lián)系并且他們的命運(yùn)在很多方面交織在一起，它們保持了各自獨(dú)有的特點(diǎn)。迫使兩個(gè)地區(qū)的居民拋棄新石器時(shí)代鄉(xiāng)村生活模式的也很有可能是同樣的壓力。埃及文化仰仗尼羅河，河水孕育了富饒的土地，兩岸有沙漠作為自然屏障。但是兩河流域和尼羅河不同的地方在于它不是兩邊有沙漠屏障的細(xì)長(zhǎng)的富饒河流，而是一個(gè)不具備天然屏障的寬（narrow）而淺的水槽。交織在兩條大河及支流間，美索不達(dá)米亞很容易被從任意方向侵占。P2：所以，地理事實(shí)很多時(shí)候會(huì)阻礙把整個(gè)美索不達(dá)米亞地區(qū)聯(lián)合在一個(gè)首領(lǐng)下的想法。有這種野心的統(tǒng)治者，據(jù)我們考證，直至美索不達(dá)米亞文明開(kāi)始之后一千年都沒(méi)有出現(xiàn)。而這種統(tǒng)治者的統(tǒng)治也只成功執(zhí)行了很短一段時(shí)間，并以不斷地戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)為代價(jià)。當(dāng)初美索不達(dá)米亞的居民生活好像挺好的，所以一直沒(méi)有人提出統(tǒng)一的想法，很久以后才有，可是由于大量的花費(fèi)在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)上什么的，很快就覆滅了。后來(lái)又變成蘇美爾了，這是從外面遷徙過(guò)來(lái)的民族。直到一種蘇美爾人來(lái)統(tǒng)一，蘇美爾人的來(lái)源和歷史，他們建立了一種蘇美爾文明，但因?yàn)槊浪鞑贿_(dá)米亞文化的地域限制一直沒(méi)有統(tǒng)一。Egypt的體制根兩河的政治體制不一樣，一個(gè)unitedunder一個(gè)聯(lián)合體制下，另外一個(gè)則由于地理?xiàng)l件的制約不存在unitedformat聯(lián)合體制。結(jié)果是，古代美索不達(dá)米亞的政治歷史沒(méi)有像神的王權(quán)為埃及所提供的那種內(nèi)在主題。地方斗爭(zhēng)，外國(guó)侵略，突然暴亂和軍隊(duì)瓦解，這是美索不達(dá)米亞政治歷史的實(shí)質(zhì)。即使美索不達(dá)米亞這么亂，它的cultureandartisticcontinuityareremarkable.P3:“蘇美爾人的起源仍然不清。他們的語(yǔ)言和其他任何已知語(yǔ)言無(wú)關(guān)。他們大約在公元前4000年從波斯來(lái)到美索不達(dá)米亞平原南部，從此在那里以后的數(shù)千年中，他們建立了許多城邦并且形成了他們與眾不同的梭形文字。不幸的是，蘇美爾文明的實(shí)際遺跡與埃及相比極為稀少。因?yàn)槊浪鞑贿_(dá)米亞沒(méi)有建筑石材，蘇美爾人用的材料是泥磚和石材。這就造成了他們的建筑除了地基幾乎所剩無(wú)幾。他們也不像埃及人那樣關(guān)心來(lái)生，盡管烏爾城發(fā)現(xiàn)了王朝時(shí)期早期的地下拱形廳式的厚葬陵墓。所以我們對(duì)蘇美爾文明的了解很大程度上依賴偶然挖掘來(lái)的殘片，包括刻有大量碑文的泥板。即使這樣，我們已經(jīng)掌握了足夠證據(jù)，可以大致描畫出這個(gè)生機(jī)勃勃，善于創(chuàng)造并且紀(jì)律嚴(yán)明的民族。（雖然學(xué)者們對(duì)M地的研究取得了如此成就，我們對(duì)美索不達(dá)米亞人的生活了解仍然非常有限。）P4:每個(gè)蘇美爾城邦都有自己的土地神，它被認(rèn)作是國(guó)王和所有者。另外有一個(gè)人類統(tǒng)治者，他是神權(quán)的執(zhí)行者，帶領(lǐng)人民進(jìn)行祭拜神的活動(dòng)。而土地神的職責(zé)是懇求其他掌管著自然力量（天氣，風(fēng)水，生育，天體等）的眾神滿足他臣民的要求。神圣王權(quán)的概念并沒(méi)有被僅僅當(dāng)作是一個(gè)宗教神話。毫不夸張地說(shuō)，土地神不僅擁有城邦的領(lǐng)土，還擁有人民的勞動(dòng)力和產(chǎn)品。所有一切都聽(tīng)他調(diào)配，人類執(zhí)行者負(fù)責(zé)傳話。其結(jié)果是一個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)系統(tǒng)。神廟操縱公共事業(yè)需要的勞力和資源的共享，例如建設(shè)堤防和溝灌，并且收集和分發(fā)了收成的一大部分。這些都需要詳盡的書面記錄。所以，我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)盡管碑文是牧師的特權(quán)，蘇美爾早期的碑文涉及大量的經(jīng)濟(jì)和管理方面的內(nèi)容而非宗教內(nèi)容。1.Theword“astonishing”inthepassageisclosestinmeaningto_______(A)important(B)unknown(C)amazing(D)interesting答案:C2.WhichofthesentencesbelowbestexpressestheessentialinformationinthehighlightedsentenceinthepassageIncorrectchoiceschangethemeaninginimportantwaysorleaveoutessentialinformation.(A)AgreatcivilizationaroseinMesopotamia,the“l(fā)andbetweentherivers”underpharaonicrule.(B)EgyptandanothergreatcivilizationbothdevelopedinMesopotamiabetween3500and3000.(C)AgreatcivilizationaroseinMesopotamiabetween3500and3000.atthesametimethatancientEgyptwasbeingunited.(D)AsEgyptwasbeingunitedunderpharaonicrule,agreatcivilizationarosethere.答案：C3.Thephrase“itssubstitute”refersto(A)thepoliticalhistoryofancientMesopotamia(B)divinekingship(C)Egypt(D)thesuddencollapseofmilitarypower答案：A4.Theword“obscure”inthepassageisclosestinmeaningto____(A)unclear(B)unique(C)controversial(D)important答案：A解析：感情線索：否定：線索1.unrelatedtoanyotherknowntongue，2.unfortunately。5.Theauthormentions“NordidtheysharetheEgyptian’sconcernwiththehereafter”inorderto(A)ToprovideoneexplanationfortherelativelyfewphysicalremainsofancientSumeriansociety.(B)ToexplainwhyancientSumerianbuiltwithmudbrickandwoodratherthanwithstone.(C)TohelpaccountforthefactthattombsandvaultedchambershavebeenfoundonlyinUr.(D)Tocountertheclaimthatallancientsocietiespaidgreatattentiontotheafterlife.答案：A6.Accordingtothepassage,itcanbeinferredthattheCityofUrislocatedin(A)Egypt(B)Persia(C)northernMesopotamia(D)neartheconfluenceofTigrisandEuphrates答案：D7：Theword“vast”inthepassageisclosestinmeaningto_________(A)random(B)verylarge(C)surprising(D)relativelysmall答案：B8.Accordingtoparagraph2and3,thephysicalcharacteristicsofMesopotamiaaffectedSumeriancivilizationinallofthefollowingwaysEXCEPT:(A)Foreigninvasionsweremadeeasy.(B)Creatingandmaintainingpoliticalstabilitywasmadedifficult.(C)Continuityofculturalandartistictraditionscouldnotbeachieved.(D)Sumerianarchitecturecouldnotproducelong-lastingstructures答案：C9.Lookatthefour[■]thatindicatewherethefollowingsentencecouldbeaddedtothepassage.Despitetheseachievements,scholarsknowmuchlessaboutSumerianlifethantheywouldlike.Clickonasquare[■]toaddthesentencetothepassage.Wherewouldthesentencebestfit答案：D10.Accordingtoparagraph4,whatevidenceisusedtosupporttheclaimthattheideaofdivineownershipwasnot“amerepiousfiction”(A)TheideaofdivineownershiporiginatedwiththekingsofSumeriancity-state.(B)Theideaofdivineownershipeventuallycametoreplace“theocraticsocialism”.(C)Theidea