7月1日托福阅读真题

2014

年

7

月

12

日托福阅读 真题

智课网整理

机经词汇：

initiate v

开始、发动

fluctuate v

波动

outlying v/adj

放在…之上；边远的

domestic adj

国内的；驯养的

posterity n

子孙；后羿

further v

推动

durable adj

持久的；耐用的

impede v

妨碍

exclusive adj

专属的；排外的

define v

定义；规定

inhibit v

抑制；禁止

第一篇：

中美洲文明的发展史

（

th e

culture

of

Mesoamerica

）

版本

1:

关 于

mesoamerican

的发现，出现了中美洲的各种文明 （提别是

maya

文明）

，提到了

金字塔地下的发现，后来强调了旅游景点也有大量可发现的价值。

版本

2

：

美国原始历史，提到玛雅文明，埃及金字塔，然后继续主题

解析：

历史起源类主题的文章可谓是老少咸宜的文章。这一类文章通常段落结构清晰，主题明确 ，

对背景的描述会比较详尽，不会出现因为背景知识的生疏而严重影响对于文章理解的情 况。

需要注意的是，

必须提前对相关类型的

TPO

文章的生词熟悉，

尽量减少生词恐惧带来的内耗。< /p>

推荐

TPO8

的文章

The

Rise

of

Teo tihucan

与

TPO26

的

Sumer

and

the

First

Cities

of

the

Ancient Near East

。

相关背景：

Mesoamerica

Mesoamerica

is a

region

and

cultural area

in the

Americas, extending

approximately from central

Mexico

to

Belize,

Guatemala,

El

Salvador,

Honduras,

Nicaragua, and northern

Costa Rica, within which a number

of

pre-Columbian societies

flourished before theSpanish colonization of the

[1][2]

Americas

in the 15th and 16th centuries.

It is one of six areas in the world

where ancient civilization arose independently, and the second in the Americas

after

Norte Chico

(Caral-Supe) in present-day northern coastalPeru.

As

a

cultural

area,

Mesoamerica

is

defined

by

a

mosaic

of

cultural

traits

developed

and shared by its indigenous cultures. Beginning as early as 7000 BC, the

domestication of

maize,

beans,

squash

and

chili, as well as

the

turkey

and

dog, caused a transition from

paleo-Indian

hunter- gatherer

tribal grouping to the organization of sedentary agricultural villages. In the

subsequent formative period, agriculture and cultural traits such as a

complex

mythological and religious tradition, a

vigesimalnumeric system, and

a

complex calendric system, a

tradition of ball playing, and a

distinct

architectural

style,

were

diffused

through

the

area.

Also

in

this

period,

villages

began

to

become

socially

stratified

and

develop

into

chiefdoms

with

the

development

of

large

ceremonial

centers,

interconnected

by

a

network

of

trade

routes

for the exchange of luxury goods, such

as

obsidian,

jade,cacao,

cinnabar,

Spondylus

shells,

hematite, and

ceramics.

While

Mesoamerican

civilization

did

know

of

the

wheel

and

basic

metallurgy,

[3]

neither of these technologies became culturally important.

Among the earliest complex civilizations was

the

Olmec

culture, which inhabited

the

Gulf

coast

of

Mexico

and

extended

inland

and

southwards

across

the

Isthmus

of

Tehuantepec.

Frequent

contact

and

cultural

interchange

between

the

early

Olmec

and

other

cultures

in

Chiapas,

Guatemala

and

Oaxaca

laid

the

basis

for

the

Mesoamerican

cultural area. This formative period saw the spread of distinct religious and

symbolic traditions, as well as artistic and architectural complexes. In the

subsequent

Preclassic period, complex urban polities began to develop among

the

Maya,

with

the

rise

of

centers

such

as

El

Mirador,

Calakmul

and

Tikal,

and

theZapotec

at

Monte Albán

. During this period, the first true

Mesoamerican

writing systems

were developed in the

Epi-Olmec

and the Zapotec cultures, and

the Mesoamerican writing tradition reached its height in the Classic

Maya

Hieroglyphic script.

Mesoamerica

is

one

of

only

five

regions

of

the

world

where

writing

was

independently

developed. In Central Mexico, the height of the Classic period saw the ascendancy

of the city of

Teotihuacan, which formed a military and commercial empire whose

political influence stretched south into the Maya area and northward. Upon the

collapse of Teotihuacán around AD 600, competition between several important

political

centers

in

central

Mexico,

such

as

Xochicalco

and

Cholula,

ensued.

At

this

time

during

the

Epi- Classic

period,

the

Nahua

peoples

began

moving

south

into

Mesoamerica from the North, and became politically and culturally dominant in

central Mexico, as they displaced speakers of

Oto-Manguean languages. During the

early post-Classic period, Central Mexico was dominated by the

Toltec

culture,

Oaxaca

by

the

Mixtec,

and

the

lowland

Maya

area

had

important

centers

at

Chichén

Itzá

and

Mayapán

. Towards the end of the post-Classic period, the

Aztecs

of

[4]

Central Mexico built a

tributary

empire covering most of central Mesoamerica.

The

distinct Mesoamerican cultural tradition ended

with the

Spanish conquest

in

the 16th century. Over the next centuries, Mesoamerican indigenous cultures were

gradually

subjected

to

Spanish

colonial

rule.

Aspects

of

the

Mesoamerican

cultural

heritage still survive among the indigenous peoples who inhabit Mesoamerica, many

of whom continue to speak their ancestral languages, and maintain many practices

[5]

harking back to their Mesoamerican roots.

Paleo- Indian

[edit]

The Mesoamerican Paleo-Indian period precedes the advent of agriculture and is

characterized

by

a

nomadic

hunting

and

gathering

subsistence

strategy.

Big-game

hunting, similar to that seen in contemporaneous

North America, was a large

component of the subsistence strategy of the Mesoamerican Paleo- Indian. Evidence

for this time period in Mesoamerica is sparse and the documented sites scattered

c. 10,500 BC. These

include

Chi

vacabé

,

Los Tapiales,

and

Puerta Parada

in

the

highlands of Guatemala,

Orange Walkin Belize, and the El Gigante cave in

[

citation needed

]

Honduras.

These latter sites had a number of

obsidian

blades

and

Clovis-style

fluted

projectile

points.

Fishtail

points,

the

most

common

style

in

South

America,

were

recovered

from

Puerta

Parada,

dated

to

c.

10,000

BC,

as

well

as other sites including

Los Grifos

cave in

Chiapas

(c. 8500 BC)

and

Iztapan

(c. 7700

–

7300 BC), a

mammoth

kill site located in the Valley of

[

citation needed

]

Mexico near

Texcoco.

Archaic

[edit]

The Archaic period (8000

–

2000 BC) is characterized by the rise of

incipient

agriculture

in Mesoamerica. The initial phases of the Archaic involved the

cultivation of wild plants, transitioning into informal domestication and

culminating

with

sedentism

and

agricultural

production

by

the

close

of

the

period.

Archaic sites include

Sipacate

inEscuintla, Guatemala, where maize

pollen

[13]

samples

date

to

c.

3500

BC.

The

well-known

Coxcatlan

cave

site

in

the

Valley

of

Tehuacán

,

Puebla, which contains over 10,000teosinte

cobs (an antecedent

to

maize), and

Guil

á Naquitz

in Oaxaca represent some of the earliest examples

of agriculture in Mesoamerica. The early development of pottery, often seen as a

sign of sedentism, has been documented at a number of sites, including the West

Mexican sites of

Matanchén

in

Nayarit

and Puerto Marqués in

Guerrero.

La

Blanca,

Ocós

, and

Ujuxte

in the

Pacific Lowlands

of

Guatemala

yielded

[

citation needed

]

pottery dated to c. 2500 BC.

Classic

[edit]

Early Classic

[edit]

The Classic period is marked by the rise and dominance of several polities. The

traditional distinction between the Early and Late Classic are marked by their

changing fortune and their ability to maintain regional primacy. Of paramount

importance are Teotihuacán in central Mexico and

Tikal

in Guatemala; the Early

Classic’s

temporal

limits

generally

correlate

to

the

main

periods

of

these

sites.

Monte

Alban

in

Oaxaca

is

another

Classic-period

polity

that

expanded

and

flourished

during this period, but the Zapotec capital exerted less interregional influence

than the other two sites.

During the Early Classic, Teotihuacan participated in and perhaps dominated a

far-reaching

macro- regional

interaction

network.

Architectural

and

artifact

styles

(talud-tablero,

tripod

slab-footed

ceramic

vessels)

epitomized

at

Teotihuacan

were

mimicked and adopted

at

many distant settlements.

Pachuca

obsidian,

whose trade

and

distribution

is

argued

to

have

been

economically

controlled

by

Teotihuacan,

is

found throughout Mesoamerica.

Tikal

came

to

dominate

much

of

the

southern

Maya

lowlands

politically,

economically,

and militarily during the Early Classic. An exchange network centered at Tikal

distributed a variety of goods and commodities throughout southeast Mesoamerica,

such

as

obsidian

imported

from

central

Mexico

(e.g.,

Pachuca)

and

highland

Guatemala

(e.g.,

El

Chayal,

which

was

predominantly

used

by

the

Maya

during

the

Early

Classic),

and

jade

from

the

Motagua

valley

in

Guatemala.

Carved

inscriptions

at

the

site

attest to direct interaction with individuals adorned in Teotihuacan-styled dress

[

citation needed

]

c. AD 400.

However, Tikal was often in conflict with other polities in

the

Petén Basin

, as well as with others outside of it,

including

Uaxactun,

Caracol,

Dos Pilas,

Naranjo, and

Calakmul. Towards the

end

of

the

Early

Classic,

this

conflict

lead

to

Tikal’s

military

defeat

at

the

hands

of Caracol in 562, and a period commonly known as the

Tikal Hiatus.

Late Classic

[edit]

The

Late

Classic

period

(beginning

ca.

AD

600

until

AD

909

[varies])

is

characterized

as a period of interregional competition and factionalization among the numerous

regional polities in the Maya area. This largely resulted from the decrease in

Tikal’s

socio

-political

and

economic

power

at

the

beginning

of

the

period.

It

was

therefore

during

this

time

that

a

number

of

other

sites

rose

to

regional

prominence

and were able to exert greater interregional influence, including

Caracol,

Copán

,

Palenque,

and

Calakmul

(which

was

allied

with

Caracol

and

may

have

assisted in the defeat of Tikal), and

Dos Pilas

Aguateca

and

Cancuén

in

the

Petexbatún

region

of

Guatemala.

Around

710,

Tikal

arose

again

and

started

to

build strong alliances and defeat its worst enemies. In the Maya area, the Late

Classic ended with the so- called

the general depopulation of the southern lowlands and development and florescence

of centers in the northern lowlands.

Some Mesoamerican cultures never achieved dominant status or left impressive

archeological remains but should be mentioned as noteworthy. These include

the

Otomi,

Mixe

–

Zoque

groups (which may or may not have been related to the

Olmecs),

the

northern

Uto-aztecan

groups,

often

referred

to

as

the

Chichimeca,

that include the

Cora

andHuichol, the Chontales, the Huaves, and the Pipil,

Xincan and Lencan peoples of Central America.

Summary of the Chronology and Cultures of Mesoamerica

Period

Timespan

Important cultures, cities

Paleo- In

10,000

–

dian

3500 BC

Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, obsidian and pyrite points, Iztapan,

Archaic

3500

–