老托福阅读真题 (12)

2002

年

9

月

TOEFL

试题

Section Three: Reading Comprehension

Question 1-10

Hunting

is

at

best

a

precarious

way

of

procuring

food,

even

when

the

diet

is

supplemented with

seeds and fruits

. Not long after the last Ice Age, around 7,000 B.C. (during

the Neolithic period), some hunters and gatherers began to rely chiefly on agriculture for their

sustenance.

Others

continued

the

old

pastoral

and

nomadic

ways.

Indeed,

agriculture

itself

evolved over the course of time, and Neolithic peoples had long known how to grow crops. The

real transformation of human life occurred when huge numbers of people began to rely primarily

and permanently on the grain they grew and the animals they domesticated.

Agriculture

made

possible

a

more

stable

and

secure

life.

With

it

Neolithic

peoples

flourished, fashioning an energetic, creative era. They were responsible for many fundamental

inventions

and

innovations

that

the

modern

world

takes

for

granted.

First,

obviously,

is

systematic agriculture---that is, the reliance of Neolithic peoples on agriculture as their primary,

not merely subsidiary, source of food.

Thus they developed the primary economic activity of the entire ancient world and the basis

of all modern life. With the

settled

routine of Neolithic farmers came the evolution of towns and

eventually cities. Neolithic farmers usually raised more food than they could consume, and their

surpluses

permitted

larger,

healthier

populations.

Population

growth

in

turn

created

an

even

greater reliance on settled farming, as only systematic agriculture could sustain the increased

numbers of people. Since surpluses o food could also be bartered for other commodities, the

Neolithic era witnessed the beginnings of large-scale exchange of goods. In time the increasing

complexity

of

Neolithic

societies

led

to

the

development

of

writing,

prompted

by

the

need

to

keep records and later by the urge to

chronicle

experiences, learning, and beliefs.

The transition to settled life also had a profound impact on the family. The shared needs

and

pressures

that

encourage

extended-family

ties

are

less

prominent

in

settled

than

in

nomadic societies. Bonds to

the extended family weakened. In

towns and cities, the

nuclear

family was more dependent on its immediate neighbors than on kinfolk.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A). Why many human societies are dependent on agriculture

B). the changes agriculture brought to human life

C). How Neolithic peoples discovered agriculture

D). Why the first agricultural societies failed

2. The word

A). uncertain

B). humble

C). worthy

D). unusual

3. The author mentions

A). the first crops cultivated by early agricultural societies

B). foods eaten by hunters and gatherers as a secondary food source

C). types of food that hunters and gatherers lacked in their diets

D). the most common foods cultivated by early agricultural societies

1

4. The word

A). advanced

B). original

C). involved

D). stable

5. According to the passage, agricultural societies produced larger human populations because

agriculture

A). created more varieties of food

B). created food surpluses

C). resulted in increases in leisure time

D). encouraged bartering

6. According to the passage, all of the following led to the development of writing EXCEPT the

A). need to keep records

B). desire to write down beliefs

C). extraction of ink from plants

D).growth of social complexity

7. The word

A}. repeat

B}. exchange

C}. understand

D}. describe

8. According to the passage, how did the shift to agricultural societies impact people's family

relationships?

A). the extended family became less important.

B). Immediate neighbors often became family members.

C). the nuclear family became self- sufficient.

D). Family members began to wok together to raise food.

9.

The

author

mentions

all

of

the

following

as

results

of

the

shift

to

agricultural

societies

EXCEPT

A). an increase in invention and innovation

B). emergence of towns and cities

C). development of a system of trade

D). a decrease in warfare

10. Which of the following is true about the human diet prior to the Neolithic period?

A). It consisted mainly of agricultural products

B). It varied according to family size.

C). It was based on hunting and gathering.

D). It was transformed when large numbers of people no longer depended on the grain they

grew themselves.

Question 11-21

In the North American colonies, red ware, a simple pottery fired at low temperatures, and

stone ware, a strong, impervious grey pottery fired at high temperatures, were produced from

two

different

native

clays.

These

kind

of

pottery

were

produced

to

supplement

imported

European

pottery.

When

the

American

Revolution

(1775-1783)

interrupted

the

flow

of

the

superior European ware, there was incentive for American potters to replace the imports with

comparable domestic goods. Stoneware, which had been simple, utilitarian kitchenware, grew

increasingly

ornate

throughout the nineteenth century, and in addition to the earlier scratched

and drawn designs, three- dimensional molded relief decoration became popular.

Representational motifs largely replaced the earlier abstract decorations. Birds and flowers

were particularly evident, but other subjects---lions, flags, and clipper ships--- are found. Some

figurines, mainly of dogs and lions, were made in this medium. Sometimes a name, usually that

of the potter, was die- stamped onto a piece.

2

As more and more large kilns were built to create the high- fired stoneware, experiments

revealed that the same clay used to produce low-fired red ware could produce a stronger, paler

pottery if fired at a hotter temperature. The result was yellow ware, used largely for serviceable

items; but a further development was Rockingham ware--- one of the most important American

ceramics

of

the

nineteenth

century.

(The

name

of

the

ware

was

probably

derived

from

its

resemblance to English brown-glazed earthenware made in South Yorkshire.)

It

was created by

adding a brown glaze to the fired clay, usually giving the finished product a mottled appearance.

Various

methods of spattering or sponging the glaze onto the ware

account for

the extremely

wide variations in color and add to the interest of collecting Rockingham. An advanced form of

Rockingham was flint enamel, created by dusting metallic powders onto the Rockingham glaze

to produce brilliant varicolored streaks.

Articles for nearly every household activity and ornament could be bought in Rockingham

ware:

dishes

and

bowls,

of

course;

also

bedpans,

foot

warmers,

cuspidors,

lamp

bases,

doorknobs, molds, picture frames, even curtain tiebacks. All these items are highly collectible

today

and

are

eagerly

sought.

A

few

Rockingham

specialties

command

particular

affection

among collectors and correspondingly high prices.

11. Why did the potters discussed in the passage change the kind of pottery they made?

A). They discovered a new kind of clay.

B). They were compensation for the loss of an overseas supplier.

C). They studied new techniques in Europe.

D). The pottery they had been producing was not very strong.

12. The word

A). elaborate

B). puzzling

C). durable

D). common

13. The passage suggests that the earliest stoneware

A). was decorated with simple, abstract designs

B). used three-dimensional decorations

C). was valued for its fancy decorations

D). had no decoration

14. How did yellow ware achieve its distinctive color?

A). By sponging on a glaze

B). By dusting on metallic powders

C). By brown-glazing

D). By firing at a high temperature

15. The phrase

A). ruined by

B). warned against

C). based on

D). sold by

16. The word

A). red ware

B). yellow ware

C). Rockingham ware

D). English brown-glazed earthenware

17. The word “Var

ious

A). complicated

B). accepted

C). careful

D). different

18. The phrase

A). explain

B). restrict

C). finance

D). supplement

19. What was special about flint enamel?

A). Its even metallic shine

B). Its mottled appearance

3

C). Its spattered effect

D). Its varicolored streaks

20. Which of the following kinds of Rockingham ware were probably produced in the greatest

quantity?

A). Picture frames

B). Dishes and bowls

C). Curtain tiebacks

D). Doorknobs

21. The passage would most probably continue with a discussion of

A). what bedpans, foot warmers, and cuspidors were used for

B). well-known, modern-day potters who make Rockingham ware

C). examples of Rockingham ware that collectors especially want

D). pieces of Rockingham ware that are inexpensive in today's market

Question 22-31

Archaeological discoveries have led some scholars to believe that the first Mesopotamian

inventors of writing may have been a people the later Babylonians called Subarians. According

to tradition, they came from the north and moved into Uruk in the south. By about 3100B.C,

They were apparently

subjugated

in southern Mesopotamia by the Sumerians, whose name

became

synonymous with

the region immediately north of the Persian Gulf, in the fertile lower

valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates. Here the Sumerians were already well established by the

year 3000B.C. They had invented bronze, an alloy that could be cast in molds, out of which they

made tools and weapons. They lived in cities, and they had begun to acquire and use capital.

Perhaps most important, the Sumerians adapted writing (probably from the Subarians) into a

flexible tool of communication.

Archaeologists

have

known

about

the

Sumerians

for

over

150

years.

Archacologists

working

at

Nineveh

in

northern

Mesopotamia

in

the

mid- nineteenth

century

found

many

inscribed

clay

tablets.

Some

they

could

decipher

because

the

language

was

a

Semitic

one

(Akkadian),

on

which

scholars

had

already

been

working

for

a

generation.

But

other

tablets

were

inscribed

in

another

language

that

was

not

Semitic

and

previously

unknown.

Because

these inscriptions mad reference to the king of Sumer and Akkad, a scholar suggested that the

mew language be called Sumerian.

But it was not until the 1890's that archaeologists

excavating

in city-states well to the south

of Nieveh found many thousands of tablets inscribed in Sumerian only. Because the Akkadians

thought of Sumerian as a classical language (as ancient Greek and Latin are considered today),

they

taught

it

to

educated

persons

and

they

inscribed

vocabulary,

translation

exercised,

and

other study aids on tablets. Working from known Akkadian to previously unknown Sumerian,

scholars since the 1890's have learned how to read the Sumerian language moderately well.

Vast quantities of tablets in Sumerian have been unearthed during the intervening years from

numerous sites.

22. According to the passage, the inventors of written language in Mesopotamia were probably

the

A). Babylonians

B). Subarians

C). Akkadians

D). Sumerians

23. The word

A). distinguished

B). segregated

C). Concentrated

D). conquered

4