TPO20托福阅读Passage2 Early settlements in southwest Asia文本+题目原文+答案解析

 Early settlements in southwest Asia

The universal global warming at the end of the ice age had dramatic effects on temperate regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. Ice sheets retreated and sea level rose.■ The climatic changes in southwestern Asia were more subtle, in that they involved shifts in mountain snow lines, rainfall patterns, and vegetation cover. ■However, these same cycles of change and had momentous impacts on the sparse human populations of the region.■ At the end of the Ice Age, no more than a few thousand foragers lived along the eastern Mediterranean coast, in the Jordan and Euphrates valleys. Within 2,000years, the human population of the region numbered in the tens of thousands, all as a result of village life and farming.■ Thanks to new environmental and archaeological discoveries, we now know something about this remarkable change in local life.

Pollen samples from freshwater lakes in Sria and elsewhere tell us forest cover expanded rapidly at the end of the Ice Age, for the southwestern Asian climate was still cooler and considerably wetter than today. Many areas were richer in animal and plant species than they are now, making them highly favorable for human occupation. About 9000 B.C., most human settlements lay in the area along the Mediterranean coast and in the Zagros Mountains of Iran and their foothills. Some local areas, like the Jordan River valley, the middle Euphrates valley, and some Zagros valleys, were more densely populated than elsewhere. Here more sedentary and more complex societies flourished. These people exploited the landscape intensively, foraging on hill slopes for wild cereal grasses and nuts, while hunting gazelle and other game on grassy lowlands and in river valleys. Their settlements contain exotic objects such as seashells, stone bowls, and artifacts made of obsidian (volcanic glass), all traded from afar. This considerable volume of intercommunity exchange brought a degree of social complexity in its wake.

Thanks to extremely fine-grained excavation and extensive use of flotation methods (through which seeds are recovered from soil samples), we know a great deal about the foraging practices of the inhabitants of Abu Hureyra in Syria’s Euphrates valley. Abu Hureyra was founded about 9500B.C., a small village settlement of cramped pit dwellings (houses dug partially in the soil) with reed roofs supported by wooden uprights. For the next 1,500 years, its inhabitants enjoyed a somewhat warmer and damper climate than today, living in a well-wooded steppe area where wild cereal grasses were abundant. They subsisted off spring migrations of Persian gazelles from the south. With such a favorable location, about 300 to 400 people lived in a sizable, permanent settlement. They were no longer a series of small bands but lived in a large community with more elaborate social organization, probably grouped into clans of people of common descent.

The flotation samples from the excavations allowed botanists to study shifts in plant-collection habits as if they were looking through a telescope at a changing landscape. Hundreds of tiny plant remains show how the inhabitants exploited nut harvests in nearby pistachio and oak forests. However, as the climate dried up, the forests retreated from the vicinity of the settlement. The inhabitants turned to wild cereal grasses instead, collecting them by the thousands, while the percentage of nuts in the diet fell. By 8200B.C., drought conditions were so severe that the people abandoned their long-established settlement, perhaps dispersing into smaller camps.

Five centuries later, about 7700B.C., a new village rose on the mound. At first the inhabitants still hunted gazelle intensively. Then, about 7000 B.C., within the space of a few generations, the switched abruptly to herding domesticated goats and sheep and to growing einkorn, pulses, and other cereal grasses. Abu Hureyra grew rapidly until it covered nearly 30 acres. It was a close-knit community of rectangular, one-story mud-brick houses, joined by narrow lanes an courtyards, finally abandoned about 5000 B.C.. Many complex factors led to the adoption of the new economies, not only at Abu Hureyra, but at many other locations such as ‘Ain Ghazal, also in Syria, where goat toe bones showing the telltale marks of abrasion caused by foot tethering (binding)’ testify to earl herding of domestic stock.

TPO20 托福阅读 Passage2 Early settlements in southwest Asia 题目

Question 1 of 14: The word “momentous” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. Numerous

B. Regular

C. Very important

D. Very positive

Question 2 of 14: Major climatic changes occurred by the end of the Ice Age in all of the following geographic areas EXCEPT

A. temperate regions of Asia

B. southwestern Asia

C. North America

D. Europe

Question 3 of 14: The phrase “this remarkable change” in the passage refers to

A. warming at the end of the Ice Age

B. shifts in mountain snow lines

C. the movement of people from farms to villages

D. a dramatic increase in the population

Question 4 of 14: The word ‘exploited’ in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. explored

B. utilized

C. inhabited

D. improved

Question 5 of 14: Why does the author mention “seashells, stone bowls, and artifacts made of obsidian”?

A. to give examples of objects obtained through trade with other societies.

B. to illustrate the kinds of objects that are preserved in a cool climate

C. to provide evidence that the organization of work was specialized

D. to give examples of the artistic ability of local populations.

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

A. primitive

B. secure

C. extended

D. confined

Question 7 of 14: Paragraph 3 suggests which of the following about the settlement of Abu Hureyra?

A. The settlement was inhabited by small groups of people from nearby areas.

B. Small bands of people migrated in and out of the settlement.

C. The location of the settlement made permanent development difficult.

D. The easy availability of food led to the growth of the settlement.

Question 8 of 14:  The word “shifts” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. Effects

B. Similarities

C. Changes

D. Exceptions

Question 9 of 14:  Paragraph 4 suggests that the people of Abu Hureyra abandoned their long-established settlement because

A. The inhabitants had cleared all the trees from the forests

B. Wild cereal grasses took over pistachio and oak forests

C. People wanted to explore new areas

D. Lack of rain caused food shortages

Question10 of 14:  According to paragraph 5, after 7000B.C. the settlement of Abu Hureyra differed from earlier settlements at that location in all of the following EXCEPT

A. The domestication of animals

B. The intensive hunting of gazelle

C. The size of the settlement

D. The design of the dwellings

Question11 of 14: The word ”abruptly” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. Informally

B. Briefly

C. Suddenly

D. Surprisingly

Question13 of 14: Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information I the highlighted sentence in the passage?

Incorrect choices change the meaning in important was or leave out essential information.

A. In many areas besides Abu Hureyra, complex factors led to new economies including the herding of domestic stock.

B. In Ain Ghazal and Syria domestic stock was more important that it was at Abu Hureyra.

C. Once early methods of herding animals improved, new economies were adopted.

D. Many complex theories attempt to explain the early domestication of animals.

Question13 of 14: Look at the four squares(■)that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?

One of the major effects was the rapid growth of the human population itself.

A. The climatic changes in southwestern Asia were more subtle, in that they involved shifts in mountain snow lines, rainfall patterns, and vegetation cover.

B. However, these same cycles of change and had momentous impacts on the sparse human populations of the region.

C. At the end of the Ice Age, no more than a few thousand foragers lived along the eastern Mediterranean coast, in the Jordan and Euphrates valleys. Within 2,000years, the human population of the region numbered in the tens of thousands, all as a result of village life and farming.

D. Thanks to new environmental and archaeological discoveries, we now know something about this remarkable change in local life.

Question14 of 14: At the end of the Ice Age, patterns of human settlement changed in southwestern Asia.

Answer Choices

A. Wild cereals, grasses, and nuts were changed for exotic objects.

B. Changes in climatic conditions made southwestern Asia highly beneficial to human occupants.

C. Social organization in Abu Hureyra decreased as the population grew.

D. The favorable location of Abu Hureyra kept the city from experiencing hardship during drought years.

E. Within 2,000 years, populations in southwestern Asia greatly increased in number.

F. In rich, fertile areas permanent societies evolved to a high level of complexity.

TPO20托福阅读Passage2 Early settlements in southwest Asia 真题解析

Question 1 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：momentous“重要的，重大的”，所以very important正确。从单词本身看，意思上应该跟moment相关，“时刻的”，A和D明显不合文意。原句提到这些变化对于本地稀疏的人口有什么影响，“常规的”影响明显不正确，答案是C。

Question 2 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：EXCEPT题，排除法。A/C/D都在第一段第一句中提到了，只有B没有提到，所以答案是B。

Question 3 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：指代题，需要沿着提到的内容往前看，前一句提到由于农业和城镇的发展，人口成千上万，紧接着提到this change，说这个变化指的就是人口的增长，所以答案是D。

Question 4 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：exploit“开采，开发，利用”，所以B的utilize正确。原句提到当地人怎么样自然景观，之后举了很多例子，有放牧有打猎等等，都是在利用自然环境，所以是“利用”。C“定居”和D“改善”都不正确；A选项不选，后面的例子说明不只是探索，所以答案是B。

Question 5 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：根据这些例子找定位，提到定居点里包含很多通过贸易获得的外来物品，诸如……，所以列举的这些东西都是外来品，A是正确答案。BCD都未提及。

Question 6 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：cramped“局促的，狭窄的，难懂的”，所以confined正确。原句提到在公元前9500年，一个村子的人都在一个什么样的住处里，根据句义，这里强调的是比较小，所以其他的都不合文意。而且extend刚好和confine是相反的意思，所以D是答案。

Question 7 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：Abu Hureyra做关键词定位至第一句的后半句和第二句的前半句，一直在说AH，接着往下看，提到接下来的1500年里，他们所在的地方气候温暖，种子丰富，所以答案是D，C与原文相反；A和B选项的内容在此并未提及。

Question 8 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：shift“转变，转换，倒班”，所以最接近的答案是change。原句提到漂浮的样品使得植物学家研究植物集群习惯的什么就好像在显微镜下看风景一样，风景是会变的，所以答案是change。A“影响”，B“相似”，D“例外”都不合文意。

Question 9 of 14

正确答案：D

解析：以abandoned long established settlement做关键词定位至最后一句，提到干旱如此严重，使他们放弃了原来的住所，所以放弃的原因是lack of rain，正确答案是D，其他都不是原因。

Question 10 of 14

正确答案：B

解析：采用排除法做该类型题目。A的domestication做关键词定位至第三句，提到驯养的动物不同，所以A正确，不选；B的gazelle做关键词定位至第二句，这只是7700 BC的事，不是不同也不是变化，所以B错误，可选；C的size做关键词定位至第四句的30 acre，所以C正确，不选；D的design和dwelling做关键词定位至倒数第二句，正确，不选。

Question 11 of 14

正确答案：C

解析：abruptly“突然，唐突”，所以正确答案是suddenly。原句提到7000BC左右，在几代人之间，他们怎么样改养goat和sheep，既然强调在几代人之间，肯定是变化比较快的，所以答案是suddenly，A和B都没提到改变得快，D的surprising强调主观感受，不选。

Question 12 of 14

正确答案：A

解析：原句的结构是诸多复杂因素导致新的economy的采用，然后后面给出了三个例子，所以正确答案是A。B，C，D都缺失原文主干，不选。

Question 13 of 14

正确答案：C

解析： 根据one of…effects可以看出插入句前的句子是在讲影响，接着后半句说影响之一是人口迅速增长，词句作为一个概括句，可大致估测后面可能是在细讲人口增长相关的内容，结合以上两点，不难选出正确答案C。

Question 14 of 14

正确答案：BEF

解析：A选项，文中虽然提到了cereals, grasses, nuts以及exotic objects，但是并没有讲到他们中的任何联系，属于无中生有，B选项对应的是文章第二段的内容，说西南亚在冰河时代末期气候温和，适合人类居住；C选项刚好与第三段后部分的内容说反了；D选项与第四段的内容是矛盾的，第四段中讲到了人们最后放弃了长期居住的住所，分散到了小野营房居住；E选项对应的是文章第一段的后面部分的内容，提到西南亚人口的增长，所以正确；F选项是文中第三段最后一句话的转述，也是正确的，最终答案应该是BEF。

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