知識(shí)點(diǎn)百日百篇第48天2月3日北美考試機(jī)經(jīng)閱讀翻譯蘇美爾文明

第48天2012年2月3日北美考試機(jī)經(jīng)閱讀翻譯SumerianCivilization①ThewordMesopotamiameansliterally“betweentherivers”,butitisgenerallyusedtodenotethewholeplainbetweenandoneithersideoftheTigrisandEuphratesrivers.Theplainwasborderedtothenorthandeastbymountainranges,inwhosefoothillsagriculturewasfirstpracticed.Eachyearthetwogreatriverswereswollenwiththewintersnowsofthenorthernmountains,andeachyearatfloodstagetheyspreadathicklayerofimmenselyfertilesiltacrossthefloodplainwheretheyapproachedthePersianGulf.Itwasinthisdelta,alandofswamprichinfish,wildlife,anddatepalms,thatagriculturalsettlerscreatedtherichcity-statesofSumerbetween3500and3000B.C.Thedeltacouldonlybemadehabitablebylarge-scaleirrigationandfloodcontrol,whichwasmanagedfirstbyapriestlyclassandthenbygodlikekings.②LittleisknownabouttheoriginsoftheSumerianpeople,whospokealanguagetotallydistinctfromthatoftheSemiticinhabitantsofthevalleystothenorth.TheSumeriansprobablymoveddownintotheswampsofthedeltaunderpressureofover-populationofthefoothillsafter3900B.C.Althoughatfirsttheyformedsmallagriculturalvillages,theysoonfoundnotonlythattherichnessofthealluviallandpermittedgreaterdensityofsettlementbutalsothatthevastengineeringworksincanalsanddikesnecessarytoharnesstheannualfloodsrequiredworkforcesofhundredsofmen.Moreover,thelayoutandclearingofthecanalsrequiredexpertplanning,whilethedivisionoftheirrigatedland,thewater,andthecropsdemandedpoliticalcontrol.By3000B.C.theSumerianshadsolvedthisproblembyforming“temple-communities”.③AllSumeriancitiesrecognizedanumberofgodsincommon.Eachcitymoreoverhaditsowngod,whowasconsideredliterallytoinhabitthetempleandwhowasintheorytheownerofallpropertywithinthecity.Hencethepriestswhointerpretedthewillofthegodandcontrolledthedistributionoftheeconomicproduceofthecitywereveneratedfortheirsupernaturalandmaterialfunctionsalike.Whenthegrowingwarfareamongthecitiesmademilitaryleadershipvitalafter3000B.C.,theheadofthearmywhobecamekingassumedanintermediatepositionbetweenthegodsandthepriestlyclass.Thus,kingandpriestsrepresentedtheupperclassinahierarchicalsociety.Belowthemwerethescribes,thesecularattendantsofthetemple,whosupervisedeveryaspectofthecity’seconomiclifeandwhodevelopedaroughjudicialsystem.④ThepriestsandscribesofthetemplesmustbecreditedwiththegreatadvancesmadebytheSumeriansinbothartsandscience.Inordertokeeptheaccountsofthetemplefoodstorehouses,theyengravedpicturesonclaytabletsinaformofwritingknownascuneiform(wedge-shaped),theoldestknownwritingsystem.Arichepicliteratureandsculpturewerealsocreatedtoservetheneedsofthetemplesandthenofthekings.Evenmoredemandinginartistictechniquewerethesmallcylindersealsusedtorollone’ssignatureintothewetclayofatabletrecordingacommercialtransaction.Thousandsofthesetabletshavebeenfoundinthetemplecompounds,provingthatthebureaucratsofSumerhaddevelopedacomplexcommercialsystem.Moreover,theplanningofthevastpublicworksundertheircontrolledtheprieststodevelopausefulmathematicalnotation,includingbothadecimalnotationandasystembasedupon60.Besides,bothforreligiousandagriculturalpurposes,Sumeriansalsostudiedtheheavensandcreatedalunarcalendarwithadayof24hoursandaweekofsevendays.⑤Atthattime,mud,clay,andreedsweretheonlymaterialstheSumerianshadinabundance,tradewasthereforenecessarytosupplythecityworkerswithmaterials.MerchantswentoutinoverlandcaravansorinshipstoexchangetheproductsofSumerianindustryforwood,stone,andmetals.ThereareindicationsthatSumeriansailingvesselsevenreachedthevalleyoftheIndusRiverinIndia.TheincreaseintradebetweenSumeriancitiesandbetweenSumeriaandothermoredistantregionsnotonlyledtothegrowthofamerchantclassbutspreadmanyofitsachievementstootherareas.——2012年2月3日北美考試機(jī)經(jīng)Whichofthesentencebelowbestexpresstheessentialinformationinthehighlightedsentenceinthepassage?Incorrectchoiceschangethemeaninginimportantwaysorleaveoutessentialinformation.A.Theartistictechniquethenwasdifficultbecausetheyhavetorolltheirsignatureintothewetclayofatablettorecordacommercialtransaction.B.Oneartistictechniquewastousesmallcylindersealstorecordacommercialtransaction.C.Theyusedsmallcylindersealstorolltheirsignaturesintoatablettorecordacommercialtransaction,whichwasaverydifficulttechniquethen.D.Itrequiredhighdegreeofskilltomakesmallcylindersealsbecauseitwasdifficulttorollone’ssignatureintothewetclayofatablet.答案：C蘇美爾文明美索不達(dá)米亞這個(gè)詞字面上的意思是“河流之間”，但它通常用來(lái)表示位于底格里斯河和幼發(fā)拉底河之間和兩側(cè)的整個(gè)平原。平原與北部和東部的山脈相連，在那里第一次出現(xiàn)了丘陵農(nóng)業(yè)。每年兩大河流被北部山區(qū)的積雪注滿，每年的汛期這兩大河流在靠近波斯灣的沖積平原上會(huì)留下一層厚厚的非常肥沃的淤泥。這個(gè)三角洲是一片魚類、野生動(dòng)物、棗椰樹豐富的沼澤地，正是在這個(gè)地方，農(nóng)業(yè)移民在公元前3,500年到公元前3,000年建立了繁榮的蘇美爾城邦。三角洲只有通過(guò)大規(guī)模的灌溉和防洪措施才能適合人居住，而這些措施首先是由一個(gè)祭司階層管理的，后來(lái)由莊嚴(yán)的國(guó)王接手。很少有人知道蘇美爾人的起源，他們說(shuō)的語(yǔ)言與北部山谷閃族語(yǔ)系的居民完全不同。公元前3,900年以后，蘇美爾人可能迫于丘陵地帶人口過(guò)剩的壓力搬到了三角洲的沼澤地區(qū)。盡管起初他們形成了小的農(nóng)業(yè)村莊，不過(guò)他們很快發(fā)現(xiàn)不僅肥沃的沖擊地能容得下更大密度的移民，而且每年治理洪水所必需的浩大的運(yùn)河和堤壩工程也需要成百上千的男勞力。此外，運(yùn)河的布局和清算需要專家的規(guī)劃，同時(shí)灌溉地、水和農(nóng)作物的劃分也需要政治控制。到公元前3,000年，蘇美爾人已經(jīng)通過(guò)“廟社區(qū)”的形成解決了這一問(wèn)題。所有的蘇美爾城市對(duì)一些神有共同的認(rèn)知。而且每個(gè)城市都有自己的神靈，它被認(rèn)為實(shí)際上住在寺廟里，理論上是城市中一切財(cái)產(chǎn)的所有者。于是解釋神靈旨意和控制城市中經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)品分配的祭司因其超自然和