托福阅读真题Official 51 Passage 1（二）

托福阅读真题Official 51 Passage 1（二）

Memphis:United Egypt’s First Capital

The city of Memphis,located on the Nile near the modern city of Cairo,was founded around 3100 B.C.as the first capital of a recently united Egypt.The choice of Memphis by Egypt’s first kings reflects the site’s strategic importance.First,and most obvious,the apex of the Nile River delta was a politically opportune location for the state’s administrative center,standing between the united lands of Upper and Lower Egypt and offering ready access to both parts of the country.The older predynastic(pre-3100 B.C.)centers of power,This and Hierakonpolis,were too remote from the vast expanse of the delta,which had been incorporated into the unified state.Only a city within easy reach of both the Nile valley to the south and the more spread out,difficult terrain to the north could provide the necessary political control that the rulers of early dynastic Egypt(roughly 3000–2600 B.C.)required.

The region of Memphis must have also served as an important node for transport and communications,even before the unification of Egypt.The region probably acted as a conduit for much,if not all,of the river-based trade between northern and southern Egypt.Moreover,commodities(such as wine,precious oils,and metals)imported from the Near East by the royal courts of predynastic Upper Egypt would have been channeled through the Memphis region on their way south.In short,therefore,the site of Memphis offered the rulers of the Early Dynastic Period an ideal location for controlling internal trade within their realm,an essential requirement for a state-directed economy that depended on the movement of goods.

Equally important for the national administration was the ability to control communications within Egypt.The Nile provided the easiest and quickest artery of communication,and the national capital was,again,ideally located in this respect.Recent geological surveys of the Memphis region have revealed much about its topography in ancient times.It appears that the location of Memphis may have been even more advantageous for controlling trade,transport,and communications than was previously appreciated.Surveys and drill cores have shown that the level of the Nile floodplain has steadily risen over the last five millenniums.When the floodplain was much lower,as it would have been in predynastic and early dynastic times,the outwash fans(fan-shaped deposits of sediments)of various wadis(stream-beds or channels that carry water only during rainy periods)would have been much more prominent features on the east bank.The fan associated with the Wadi Hof extended a significant way into the Nile floodplain,forming a constriction in the vicinity of Memphis.The valley may have narrowed at this point to a mere three kilometers,making it the ideal place for controlling river traffic.

Furthermore,the Memphis region seems to have been favorably located for the control not only of river-based trade but also of desert trade routes.The two outwash fans in the area gave access to the extensive wadi systems of the eastern desert.In predynastic times,the Wadi Digla may have served as a trade route between the Memphis region and the Near East,to judge from the unusual concentration of foreign artifacts found in the predynastic settlement of Maadi.Access to,and control of,trade routes between Egypt and the Near East seems to have been a preoccupation of Egypt’s rulers during the period of state formation.The desire to monopolize foreign trade may have been one of the primary factors behind the political unification of Egypt.The foundation of the national capital at the junction of an important trade route with the Nile valley is not likely to have been accidental.Moreover,the Wadis Hof and Digla provided the Memphis region with accessible desert pasturage.As was the case with the cities of Hierakonpolis and Elkab,the combination within the same area of both desert pasturage and alluvial arable land(land suitable for growing crops)was a particularly attractive one for early settlement;this combination no doubt contributed to the prosperity of the Memphis region from early predynastic times.

Question 3 of 14

It can be inferred from paragraph 1 that one consequence of the unification of Egypt was

A.the reduction of the strategic importance of older centers of power

B.the opportunity for the recently united Egypt to become economically self-sufficient

C.the increase in political tensions between the rulers of Upper and Lower Egypt

D.the reduction of Egypt’s dependence upon the Nile for trade and communications

正确答案：A

题目详解

题型分类：推论题

原文定位：根据定位词one consequence,the unification of Egypt定位到倒数第二句。

选项分析：

题干定位词较抽象，结合上一题以及段落观点进行选择，倒数第二句话说埃及的旧都This and Hierakonpolis距离尼罗河三角洲太遥远了，所以被淘汰了，进而选择孟菲斯作为新首都，推测出埃及联合后的影响就是削弱了旧都的作用，A选项正确。

B选项，没提及economically self-sufficient。

C选项，高干扰度选项，倒数第三句话有讲到Upper and Lower Egypt，是说Memphis位置距离他们近，没说政治紧张。

D选项，与原文相反，第三句话讲尼罗河重要。

Question 4 of 14

Which of the following best describes how paragraph 1 is organized?

A.Two simultaneous developments are described,as well as the reasons why neither one would have occurred without the other.

B.A hypothesis is presented,and then points in favor of that hypothesis as well as points against it are discussed.

C.A major event is described,and then the most obvious effects of that event are presented.

D.A decision is described,and then one likely motivation for that decision is presented.

正确答案：D

题目详解

题型分类：修辞目的题

题干分析：考察一个段落的主旨。

选项分析：

段落组织形式题目注意看结构，第一句讲选择孟菲斯作为联合后埃及的第一个首都，第二句话说这种选择表明孟菲斯位置重要，第三句看到first可知具体讲解孟菲斯的位置为什么重要，第四句话讲老中心不好，为了突出孟菲斯的好，最后一句话进行总结。可知段落结构就是介绍一个决定，然后给出这个决定的原因，D选项正确。

A选项，two simultaneous developments没说。

B选项，a hypothesis is presented没说。

C选项，高干扰度选项，后半句不对，文章讲的是原因，不是影响。