托福阅读真题Official 52 Passage 2（七）

托福阅读真题Official 52 Passage 2（七）

Natufian Culture

In the archaeological record of the Natufian period,from about 12,500 to 10,200 years ago,in the part of the Middle East known as the Levant―roughly east of the Mediterranean and north of the Arabian Peninsula―we see clear evidence of agricultural origins.The stone tools of the Natufians included many sickle-shaped cutting blades that show a pattern of wear characteristic of cereal harvesting.Also,querns(hand mills)and other stone tools used for processing grain occur in abundance at Natufian sites,and many such tools show signs of long,intensive use.Along with the sickle blades are many grinding stones,primarily mortars and pestles of limestone or basalt.There is also evidence that these heavy grinding stones were transported over long distances,more than 30 kilometers in some cases,and this is not something known to have been done by people of preceding periods.Fishhooks and weights for sinking fishing nets attest to the growing importance of fish in the diet in some areas.Stone vessels indicate an increased need for containers,but there is no evidence of Natufian clay working or pottery.Studies of the teeth of Natufians also strongly suggest that these people specialized in collecting cereals and may have been cultivating them and in the process of domesticating them,but they were also still hunter-foragers who intensively hunted gazelle and deer in more lush areas and wild goats and equids in more arid zones.

The Natufians had a different settlement pattern from that of their predecessors.Some of their base camps were far larger(over 1,000 square meters)than any of those belonging to earlier periods,and they may have lived in some of these camps for half the year or even more.In some of the camps,people made foundations and other architectural elements out of limestone blocks.Trade in shell,obsidian,and other commodities seems to have been on the rise,and anthropologists suspect that the exchange of perishables(such as skins,foodstuffs)and salt was also on the increase.With the growing importance of wild cereals in the diet,salt probably became for the first time a near necessity:people who eat a lot of meat get many essential salts from this diet,but diets based on cereals can be deficient in salts.Salt was probably also important as a food preservative in early villages.

As always,there is more to a major cultural change than simply a shift in economics.The Natufians made(and presumably wore)beads and pendants in many materials,including gemstones and marine shells that had to be imported,and it is possible that this ornamentation actually reflects a growing sense of ethnic identity and perhaps some differences in personal and group status.Cleverly carved figurines of animals,women,and other subjects occur in many sites,and Natufian period cave paintings have been found in Anatolia,Syria,and Iran.More than 400 Natufian burials have been found,most of them simple graves set in house floors.As archaeologist Belfer-Cohen notes,these burials may reflect an ancestor cult and a growing sense of community emotional ties and attachment to a particular place,and toward the end of the Natufian period,people in this area were making a strict separation between living quarters and burial grounds.In contrast with the Pleistocene cultures of the Levant,Natufian culture appears to have experienced considerable social change.

The question of why the Natufians differed from their predecessors in these and other ways and why they made these first steps toward farming as a way of life remains unclear.There were climate changes,of course,and growing aridity and rising population densities may have forced them to intensify the exploitation of cereals,which in turn might have stimulated the development of sickles and other tools and the permanent communities that make agriculture efficient.But precisely how these factors interacted with others at play is poorly understood.

Question 13 of 14

Look at the four squares[■]that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.Further evidence of an evolving cultural complexity comes from Natufian burials.Where would the sentence best fit?Click on a square[■]to add the sentence to the passage.

正确答案：A

题目详解

题型分类：插入句子题

题干分析：考察句子和句子之间的衔接判断（通过further evidence可以预测出前面提到过some evidence，而待插入句后是围绕Natufian burials展开的）。

选项分析：

A选项more than 400 Natufian burials呼应待插入句Natufian burials。

B,C,D选项逻辑错误，得先说Further evidenc...Natufian burials，再展开介绍Natufian burials，故不能插入。

Question 14 of 14

Directions:An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below.Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage.Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.This question is worth 2 points.

The Natufians differed from their predecessors in many ways—most significantly,in their move toward agriculture.

Answer Choices:

A.

The Natufians used tools to collect and process food,but their lack of containers suggests that they rarely had excess food to store.

B.

Natufian culture developed somewhat differently in different regions,in part because of differences in the types and amount of food available from place to place.

C.

The increase in salt in the Natufians’diet suggests that meat was becoming harder to find,perhaps because of climate change.

D.

Although their diet included meat from hunting,extensive evidence suggests that the Natufians consumed a lot of cereals and may even have been cultivating them.

E.

The Natufians engaged in trade and lived in large camps in which they sometimes built permanent structures.

F.

Natufian art,personal ornamentation,and burial sites suggest cultural changes involving an increasing sense of ethnic identity and perhaps an ancestor cult.

正确答案：DEF

题目详解

题型分类：文章总结题

题干分析：选择概括性的正确选项。

选项分析：

D选项对应第一段重要信息。最后一句的these people（Natufians）specialized in collecting cereals and...cultivating them对应选项中的the Natufians...cultivating them（cereals）；they were also still hunter-foragers对应选项中的their diet included meat from hunting。

E选项对应第二段重要信息，第3句的Trade in shell,obsidian,and other commodities seems to have been on the rise对应选项中的engaged in trade，第1句的base camps were far larger than...and they may have lived...for half the year or even more对应选项中的lived in large camps...built permanent structures。

F选项对应第三段重要信息，第2句的this ornamentation...a growing sense of ethnic identity对应选项中的personal ornamentation...an increasing sense of ethnic identity，第4句的Natufian burials对应选项中的burial sites。

A选项前半句正确，后半句出自第一段倒数第二句，但原文说的是an increased need for containers,but there is no evidence of Natufian clay working or pottery，而不是lack of containers，与原文矛盾。

B选项Natufian culture developed somewhat differently in different regions原文未提及。

C选项出自第二段倒数第2句，但是选项中的meat was becoming harder to find无中生有。