托福阅读机经下载之文明的起源.doc

托福阅读机经下载之文明的起源 文明的起源 　　在2014年7月12日的托福阅读考试中有这样一道题：文明的起源。针对这道托福考题，新东方张俊聪老师来为大家普及一下关于文明的起源的背景知识，这样有助于考生在面对这类题目时方便作答。新东方张俊聪老师指出：大家在阅读文章之前可以先跳到最后一题(文章总结题)的位置看看那句对于文章总结的句子。对于大家从整体上把握文章的结构非常有帮助。 　　托福阅读真题再现： 　　版本一： 文明的起源。地方是美索不达米亚平原那边的。因为土地资源丰富，所以人口增多来开发，好像还提到了从其他地方得到青铜(bronze)，所以很珍贵。一般不用来作为务农工具。有一题就是问为什么不用青铜器装农作物的。 　　版本二： 讲文明的起源，主要以两河流域为例。解释了文明的主要特点为有政治中心，自己的语言，金属工具等等。同事说美索不达米亚和埃及因为是何故所以进口bronze，价格昂贵作为首饰和装饰品。 　　新东方张俊聪解析： 　　解析： 本文讲文明发展史。主要讨论的是某文明发展的原因，主旨明确，结构清晰，每段首句为topic sentence的可能性较高。大家在阅读文章之前可以先跳到最后一题(文章总结题)的位置看看那句对于文章总结的句子。对于大家从整体上把握文章的结构非常有帮助。从文章结构与内容上，都非常接近TPO8的文章The Rise of Teotihucan。 　　相关背景： 　　Sumer 　　Sumer (from Akkadian ?umeru; Sumerian ki-en-he earliest forms of writing in the region do not go back much further than c. 3500 BC, modern historians have suggested that Sumer was first permanently settled between c. 5500 and 4000 BC by a non-Semitic people who may or may not have spoken the Sumerian language (pointing to the names of cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc. as evidence).[1][2][3][4] These conjectured, prehistoric people are now called proto-Euphrateans or Ubaidians,[5] and are theorized to have evolved from the Samarra culture of northern Mesopotamia (Assyria).[6][7][8][9] The Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery.[5] However, some scholars such as Piotr Michalowski and Gerd Steiner, contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language. It has been suggested by them and others, that the Sumerian language was originally that of the hunter and fisher peoples, who lived in the marshland and the Eastern Arabia littoral region, and were part of theArabian bifacial culture.[10] Reliable historical records begin much later; there are none in Sumer of any kind that have been dated beforeEnmebaragesi (c. 26th century BC). Professor Juris Zarins believes the Sumerians were settle