TPO16托福阅读Passage1 Trade and the Ancient Middle East 文本+题目原文+答案解析

Trade and the Ancient Middle East

Trade was the mainstay of the urban economy in the Middle East, as caravans negotiated the surrounding desert, restricted only by access to water and by mountain ranges. This has been so since ancient times, partly due to the geology of the area, which is mostly limestone and sandstone, with few deposits of metallic ore and other useful materials. Ancient demands for obsidian (a black volcanic rock useful for making mirrors and tools) led to trade with Armenia to the north, while jade for cutting tools was brought from Turkistan, and the precious stone lapis lazuli was imported from Afghanistan. One can trace such expeditions back to ancient Sumeria, the earliest known Middle Eastern civilization. Records show merchant caravans and trading posts set up by the Sumerians in the surrounding mountains and deserts of Persia and Arabia, where they traded grain for raw materials, such as timber and stones, as well as for metals and gems.

Reliance on trade had several important consequences. Production was generally in the hands of skilled individual artisans doing piecework under the tutelage of a master who was also the shop owner. In these shops differences of rank were blurred as artisans and masters labored side by side in the same modest establishment, were usually members of the same guild and religious sect, lived in the same neighborhoods, and often had assumed (or real) kinship relationships. The worker was bound to the master by a mutual contract that either one could repudiate, and the relationship was conceptualized as one of partnership.

This mode of craft production favored the growth of self-governing and ideologically egalitarian craft guilds everywhere in the Middle Eastern city. These were essentially professional associations that provided for the mutual aid and protection of their members, and allowed for the maintenance of professional standards. The growth of independent guilds was furthered by the fact that surplus was not a result of domestic craft production but resulted primarily from international trading; the government left working people to govern themselves, much as shepherds of tribal confederacies were left alone by their leaders. In the multiplicity of small-scale local egalitarian or quasi-egalitarian organizations for fellowship, worship, and production that flourished in this laissez-faire environment, individuals could interact with one another within a community of harmony and ideological equality, following their own popularly elected leaders and governing themselves by shared consensus while minimizing distinctions of wealth and power.

The mercantile economy was also characterized by a peculiar moral stance that is typical of people who live by trade—an attitude that is individualistic, calculating, risk taking, and adaptive to circumstances. As among tribespeople, personal relationships and a careful weighing of character have always been crucial in a mercantile economy with little regulation, where one's word is one's bond and where informal ties of trust cement together an international trade network. Nor have merchants and artisans ever had much tolerance for aristocratic professions of moral superiority, favoring instead an egalitarian ethic of the open market, where steady hard work, the loyalty of one's fellows, and entrepreneurial skill make all the difference. And, like the pastoralists, Middle Eastern merchants and artisans unhappy with their environment could simply pack up and leave for greener pastures—an act of self-assertion wholly impossible in most other civilizations throughout history.

Dependence on long-distance trade also meant that the great empires of the Middle East were built both literally and figuratively on shifting sand. The central state, though often very rich and very populous, was intrinsically fragile, since the development of new international trade routes could undermine the monetary base and erode state power, as occurred when European seafarers circumvented Middle Eastern

merchants after Vasco da Gama's voyage around Africa in the late fifteenth-century opened up a southern route. The ecology of the region also permitted armed predators to prowl the surrounding barrens, which were almost impossible for a state to control. Peripheral peoples therefore had a great advantage in their dealings with the center, making government authority insecure and anxious.

Reliance on trade had several important consequences. █ Production was generally in the hands of skilled individual artisans doing piecework under the tutelage of a master who was also the shop owner. █ In these shops differences of rank were blurred as artisans and masters labored side by side in the same modest establishment, were usually members of the same guild and religious sect, lived in the same neighborhoods, and often had assumed (or real) kinship relationships. █ The worker was bound to the master by a mutual contract that either one could repudiate, and the relationship was conceptualized as one of partnership.█

TPO16托福阅读Passage1 Trade and the Ancient Middle East 题目

Question 1 of 14:  According to paragraph1, why has trade been so important throughout the history of the Middle East?

A. The rare and valuable metals and stones found in Middle Eastern deserts have always been in high demand in surrounding areas.

B. Growing conditions throughout the Middle East are generally poor, forcing Middle Eastern people to depend on imported grain.

C. Many useful and decorative raw materials cannot be found naturally in the Middle East but are available from neighboring regions.

D. Frequent travel due to limited water supplies in the Middle East created many opportunities for trade with neighboring societies.

Question 2 of 14: The word “repudiate”in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. respect

B. reject

C. review

D. revise

Question 3 of 14: According to paragraph 2, how did Middle Eastern shop owners treat their workers?

A. Workers were ranked according to their skill level, with the most-experienced Artisans becoming partial owners of the shop

B. Shop owners treated different workers differently depending on how much the workers had in common with their masters.

C. Workers were bound to their masters by unbreakable contracts that strictly defined the terms of their partnership.

D. The shop owner worked alongside the workers and often considered them partners and members of the family.

Question 4 of 14: The author includes the information that “surplus was not a result of domestic craft production but resulted primarily from international trading” in order to

A. Support the claim that the mode of production made possible by the craft guilds was very good for trade

B. Contrast the economic base of the city government with that of the tribal

confederacies.

C. Provide a reason why the government allowed the guilds to be self-controlled.

D. Suggest that the government was missing out on a valuable opportunity to tax the guilds.

Question 5 of 14: According to paragraph 3, all of the following are true of the Middle Eastern craft guilds EXCEPT:

A. The guilds were created to support workers and to uphold principles of high-quality craft production

B. Each guild was very large and included members from a broad geographic area

C. The leaders of the guilds were chosen by popular vote

D. All guild members were treated as equals.

Question 6 of 14: The word “consensus”in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. Authority

B. Responsibility

C. Custom

D. Agreement

Question 7 of 14: According to paragraph 4, which of the following was NOT necessary for success in the Mercantile economy?

A. Good business sense

B. Reliable associates

C. Family wealth

D. Constant effort

Question 8 of 14: Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted Sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or Leave out essential information.

A. Tribespeople were comfortable forming personal relationships with merchants, who, like them, were bound by their promises to one another.

B. Because trade was not formally regulated, merchants were careful about whom they trusted and often conducted business with people they knew personally.

C. While trade among merchants relied somewhat on regulation, among tribes people trade was based on personal relationships and careful character evaluation.

D. Because tribespeople were bound only by their promises to one another, personal relationships were formed only after careful weighing of character.

Question 9 of 14: The word “ethic” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. set of moral principles

B. division of labors

C. economic system

D. test of character

Question 10 of 14: According to paragraph 4, what choice did Middle Eastern merchants and artisans have that many other people have not had?

A. If they were unhappy in the mercantile environment, they could draw on personal connections to find a different kind of work.

B. They were allowed to assert their opinions without having to listen to aristocratic professions of moral superiority.

C. Following the example of the pastoralists, they could demand, and receive, better working conditions

D. If they didn’t like environment, they could move somewhere else.

Question 11 of 14:  The word “intrinsically” in the passage is closest in meaning to Where would the sentence best fit?

A. Fundamentally

B. Surprisingly

C. Consequently

D. Particularly

Question 12 of 14:  In paragraph 5, why does the author mention the new trade route opened up by Vasco da Gama’s fifteenth-century voyage around Africa?

A. To provide evidence that European seafarers took every opportunity to bypass Middle Eastern merchants

B. To present an instance in which Middle Eastern states lost money and power because of their reliance on long-distance trade

C. To argue this new route became necessary when European seafarers wanted to avoid Middle Eastern states whose central power had begun to erode

D. To explain how da Gama helped European traders avoid the dangerous predators prowling the areas surrounding Middle Eastern cities

Question 13 of 14: Look at the four squares █ that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?

For one thing, it created a demand for finished goods to be sold both

locally and abroad.

A. Production was generally in the hands of skilled individual artisans doing piecework under the tutelage of a master who was also the shop owner. 

B. In these shops differences of rank were blurred as artisans and masters labored side by side in the same modest establishment, were usually members of the same guild and religious sect, lived in the same neighborhoods, and often had assumed (or real) kinship relationships. 

C. The worker was bound to the master by a mutual contract that either one could repudiate, and the relationship was conceptualized as one of partnership.

D. /

Question 14 of 14: Since ancient times, reliance on trade has shaped the culture and organizational structure of Middle Eastern societies

Answer Choices

A. Persian and Arabian merchants traveled great distances to sell their finished goods at the marketplaces of ancient Sumeria.

B. Revenue from trade was unevenly distrbuted, causing Middle Eastern societies to be characterized by growing distinctions in wealth and power.

C. Qualities that were valued in the mercantile economy included individualism, hard work, loyalty, and the willingness to take risks.

D. As production increased, centralized control over production also increased, leading in turn to more-centralized control over fellowship and worship.

E. Crafts were produced by skilled artisans working in close, egalitarian relationships with their masters and other fellow guild members.

F. The stability of Middle Eastern governments was threatened by their lack of control over international trade patterns and over their own peripheral territories.

TPO16托福阅读Passage1Trade and the Ancient Middle East真题解析

Question 1 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：对应到第一段第二句：(贸易是主要支柱)这种情况从古至今都是如此，一部分原因是中东地区的地质环境，那里多为沙石和石灰岩，金属矿藏和其它有用材料很少。后面又列举了黑曜石、玉石、琉璃青金石都是从哪儿进口的。说明该地区因为缺少一些金属矿藏和其它有用材料，所以需要通过和周边国家开展贸易的方式来弥补这一不足。对应C选项。

Question 2 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：repudiate“与……断绝关系，驳斥”，所以reject正确。原句提到师徒之间是一种契约关系，这个契约任意一方都可以怎么样，下一句又说是一种伙伴关系，也就是没有强制性，所以答案是任何一方都可以撕毁，所以答案是reject。

Question 3 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：以shop owners做关键词定位至第二句，但第二句没有回答问题，所以往后看，后一句说老板和工人之间的界限被blur“模糊”了，而且他们同吃同住一起工作，所以答案是D。A的workers rank原文未提及；B说对不同工人态度不同，与原文相反；C的unbreakable contract与最后一句相反。

Question 4 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：修辞目的题。这句话说的是：这一事实（剩余价值的产生并非源于国内生产，而是主要来自于国际间的贸易活动）进一步推动了独立行会的发展。分号表并列、递进关系，后面又进一步提到政府允许劳动人民自主管理。因此这里是提供了一个原因去解释为什么政府让协会自我管理。另外这与本段中心句意思也是对应的，本段第一句就说了：这种生产模式有助于自主管理制度的发展。选C。

Question 5 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：EXCEPT题，可以用排除法做。A的support workers和uphold principles做关键词定位至第三段第二句，原文的mutual aid and protection等于support workers，maintenance of professional standards等于uphold principles，A正确，不选；B的broad geographic area原文没有对应点，本段最后一句说的是这种组织比较小（small-scale local egalitarian or quasi-egalitarian organizations），因此B错误，可选；C的vote做关键词定位至最后一句，对应原文的popularly elected leaders，正确，不选；D的equals做关键词定位至最后一句，对应原文ideological equality，正确，不选。

Question 6 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：consensus“一致”，所以D的agreement正确。

Question 7 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：EXCEPT题，用排除法做。A与第四段倒数第二句的entrepreneurial skill同义替换，正确，不选；B与倒数第二句的loyalty of one’s fellow同义替换，正确，不选；C在原文中无对应点，错误，可选；D与倒数第二句的steady hard work同义替换，正确，不选。

Question 8 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：原句主干意思是：人际关系和对人格的仔细衡量在缺少监管的商品经济中至关重要，补充信息是：商品经济里人们出口成契，用信任这种非正式的方式连接起国际贸易网络。这句内在包含了一个因果关系：因为商品经济缺乏监管，所以人们在贸易中重视人际关系、重视对人格的审查——本句也强调了这两者的重要性。A混淆原文概念，意思成了：人们乐于和商人维持人际关系，而这些商人也是通过信誉合作。没有体现监管缺乏这一信息，也没有强调两个因素的重要性。B体现了原文意思，正确。C错误，认为贸易依赖监管，与原文相反；D认为人际关系是在衡量人格之后形成的，而这在原文中没有提及。

Question 9 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：ethic“道德规范，伦理”，所以A正确。

Question 10 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：以Middle Eastern merchants and artisans做关键词定位到第四段最后一句：和畜牧文明类似，中东的商人和工匠们若对自己所处的环境不满意，简单收拾一下就可迁移到一个更加丰茂的牧场——纵观历史，如此随性而为的行为在其他多数文明中是无法想象的。对应D选项。

Question 11 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：intrinsically“本质的，内部的，固有的”，所以答案A正确。原句说尽管中部的国家很富裕而且人口稠密，但他们是_____脆弱的，因为新的国际贸易路线会动摇经济基础并腐蚀国家力量。通过转折词，能推出表象虽然很好，但本质上是脆弱的，答案是A，fundamentally；B“吃惊”C“结果”D“特别”都没反映这种内外的差别，所以都不正确。

Question 12 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：修辞目的题，先把本句读清楚，说新的国际贸易路线会动摇经济基础并侵蚀国家力量，接着就举例说这种情况就出现过，在达伽马发现了新航路之后，欧洲人绕过了中东，所以提达伽马是为了证明航线的发现能够削弱国家的力量，所以答案是B。

Question 13 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：for one thing表示列举，说明前面有个总结句，另外从意思上分析，插入句的it 指的就是前一句的主语，这两句意思是：对贸易的依赖有很多重要影响，首先，它创造了完工产品销往国内外的需求。后面的内容都讲的是店主和员工的关系，联系紧密，不能插入内容。所以选A。

Question 14 of 14

正确答案：CEF

解析：C选项对应第四段，正确；E选项对应原文第二段内容，正确；F选项对应原文最后一段，正确。A选项是原文第一段中的一个细节，不选；B选项与原文第三段最后一句相反，是贫富差距缩小，不是扩大，不选；D选项与原文第三段第一句相反，手工生产模式促进了自治管理的发展，而不是中央集权加强了，不选。

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