New Guinea托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

New Guinea托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、New Guinea托福听力原文：

NARRATOR:Listen to part of a lecture in an anthropology class.

FEMALE PROFESSOR:So,we've been talking about early civilizations—how they developed…and early agriculture—and it’s believed that agriculture arose independently in a few areas of the world about 10,000 years ago,and then spread from those areas to the rest of the world.Those cradles of agriculture include the Middle East,China and Southeast Asia,and parts of the Americas.

Now,for many years archaeologists have speculated that agriculture also arose independently in another center,too—New Guinea,which is just north of Australia,in the South Pacific Ocean.You can see it on this map.

So…it'd been assumed for a long time that New Guinea…that domesticated plants and animals—the practice of agriculture generally—had been introduced from Southeast Asia about 3,500 years ago—had come south,essentially.

Then,in the nineteen sixties and seventies,research was conducted at sites in New Guinea to explore the possibility of independent agricultural development—but unfortunately the evidence gathered at that time was inconclusive.

For instance,although evidence was found of deforestation—you know,cutting down trees—from at least 7,000 years ago—that is,long before we had thought previously—it was unclear whether the forest had been cleared by farmers to plant fields or by hunter-gatherers so they could hunt more easily.And many plant remains,like seeds and fruits,don’t preserve well in swampy soils,in humid environments like you often find in New Guinea,so really,the proof was limited.

But,recent research has turned up some pretty convincing support.A group of archaeologists returned to a site that had been previously examined—Kuk Swamp,which is in a mountain valley in the highlands of what is now Papua New Guinea.

Based on their findings,they identified a succession of phases of agricultural development in the wetlands there,with several of these phases predating the earliest known agricultural influence from Southeast Asia.

At the site in Kuk,they used an array of modern archaeological methods to analyze sediment samples from the soil.From the oldest soil layer,dating back 10,000 years,they found evidence of pits,stake holes,and ditches.Now,these all indicate that crops were being planted…plants are tied to stakes and ditches are…for,for drainage—eh,proof of a very early first phase of agricultural development.

The second phase,which they identified from a higher layer of soil,featured regularly distributed mounds.Mounds were constructed to plant crops that can’t tolerate very wet soil,such as bananas,because remember,Kuk is a swampy wetland,and bananas wouldn’t ordinarily grow well there….

And,in the layer from Kuk’s third phase,they found evidence of an extensive network of ditches and drainage channels—indicating a further refinement of wetland cultivation.Because they had more advanced techniques than were available to earlier researchers,the archaeologists also were able to identify actual plant remains,microfossils,in the soil—from banana plants—and…and also grains of starch from taro on the edges of stone tools that date from about 10,000 years ago.

Finding the taro remains was very important,because it meant that it must have been planted there—brought from the lowlands,because taro doesn't grow naturally in the highlands.

And as for the bananas,researchers also found a high percentage of fossils from banana plants in sediment samples dating from about 7,000 years ago—proof that bananas were deliberately planted.Because where bananas grow naturally,the concentration of the plant fossils is lower—bananas don't naturally grow so densely.As a matter of fact,recent genetic research—genetic comparisons of banana species—suggest that the type of banana grown in New Guinea was domesticated there and then brought to Southeast Asia.

So,not sure where I'm going with this?

Well,usually we expect to see that certain social changes are brought about by the development of agriculture—structural changes in the society,like rapid population growth,different social classes…but,New Guinea,it's largely unchanged…it's remained an egalitarian and rural society,so what does that tell us about the usual assumption?

二、New Guinea托福听力中文翻译：

旁白：在人类学课上听一节课的一部分。

女教授：所以，我们一直在谈论早期文明是如何发展的……以及早期农业，人们认为农业在大约10000年前在世界上的一些地区独立出现，然后从这些地区传播到世界其他地区。这些农业发源地包括中东、中国和东南亚以及美洲部分地区。

多年来，考古学家一直推测，农业也在另一个中心独立兴起，也就是新几内亚，它位于南太平洋澳大利亚北部。你可以在这张地图上看到它。

所以……很长一段时间以来，人们一直认为新几内亚……驯化的动植物——大约3500年前从东南亚引进的农业实践——基本上是从南方传入的。

然后，在二十世纪六七十年代，在新几内亚的一些地点进行了研究，以探索独立农业发展的可能性，但不幸的是，当时收集的证据没有定论。

例如，虽然有证据表明森林被砍伐，你知道，至少7000年前就开始砍伐树木，也就是说，早在我们之前就知道，森林是被农民开垦成农田还是被狩猎采集者开垦成农田，以便他们更容易狩猎。许多植物遗骸，如种子和果实，在沼泽土壤中保存得不好，在新几内亚常见的潮湿环境中也保存得不好，所以事实上，证据是有限的。

但是，最近的研究得到了一些非常令人信服的支持。一组考古学家回到了一处先前被检查过的古克沼泽地，该沼泽地位于巴布亚新几内亚高地的山谷中。

根据他们的发现，他们确定了那里湿地农业发展的一系列阶段，其中几个阶段早于东南亚已知的最早农业影响。

在库克遗址，他们使用一系列现代考古方法分析土壤中的沉积物样本。他们从10000年前最古老的土层中发现了坑、桩孔和沟渠的证据。现在，这些都表明作物正在种植……植物被拴在木桩上，沟渠……用于排水，呃，证明农业发展的第一阶段非常早期。

第二阶段，他们从更高层的土壤中确定，以规则分布的土丘为特征。建造土堆是为了种植不能忍受非常潮湿的土壤的作物，比如香蕉，因为记住，库克是一个沼泽湿地，香蕉通常在那里生长不好。

而且，在Kuk第三阶段的地层中，他们发现了大量沟渠和排水渠网络的证据，表明湿地耕作的进一步完善。因为他们拥有比早期研究人员更先进的技术，考古学家还能够在香蕉植物和……的土壤中识别出实际的植物遗骸、微体化石，以及大约10000年前石器边缘的芋头淀粉颗粒。

找到芋头的遗骸非常重要，因为这意味着它一定是从低地带到那里种植的，因为芋头不是在高地自然生长的。

至于香蕉，研究人员还在大约7000年前的沉积物样本中发现了大量香蕉植物化石，证明香蕉是故意种植的。因为在香蕉自然生长的地方，植物化石的浓度较低。香蕉自然生长得不那么密集。事实上，最近的遗传研究对香蕉物种的遗传比较表明，生长在新几内亚的香蕉是在那里驯化的，然后被带到东南亚。

所以，不知道我要说什么？

嗯，通常我们希望看到农业的发展带来某些社会变化社会结构的变化，比如人口的快速增长，不同的社会阶层……但是，新几内亚基本上没有变化……它仍然是一个平等主义和农村社会，那么这告诉我们通常的假设是什么？

三、New Guinea托福听力问题：

Q1:1.What is the lecture mainly about?

A.The spread of early agricultural methods from New Guinea to other cultures.

B.Differences in the types of crops grown in early centers of agriculture.

C.Evidence supporting the theory that agriculture developed independently in New Guinea.

D.Techniques used by researchers to identify farming methods in the earliest centers of agriculture.

Q2:2.According to the professor,why was the archaeological evidence found in New Guinea during the 1960s and 1970s inconclusive?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.Construction of agricultural drainage ditches had damaged much of the archaeological evidence.

B.Plant remains were not well preserved in the climate of New Guinea.

C.Ancient types of domestic plants were no longer grown by modern farmers.

D.It was unclear whether evidence of early deforestation suggested planting or hunting.

Q3:3.Why does the professor talk about layers of soil?

A.To show how phases of agricultural development were linked to evidence of population growth.

B.To describe how researchers identified several phases of agricultural development in New Guinea.

C.To illustrate how swampy conditions cause archaeological remains to deteriorate.

D.To describe one of the methods of farming used at Kuk.

Q4:4.Why did researchers conclude that the taro remains found near Kuk were a result of farming?

A.Taro does not grow wild in highland areas.

B.Taro is a native plant of China.

C.Taro was only found in a very small area near Kuk.

D.Taro normally does not grow in wet climates.

Q5:5.What evidence indicated that bananas were being cultivated in New Guinea during an earlier period than was previously thought?[Click on 3 answers.]

A.High concentrations of fossil remains of bananas.

B.The discovery of stone tools designed to harvest bananas.

C.The presence of regularly distributed mounds.

D.Indications that Kuk did not become a swampy wetland until approximately 7,000 years ago.

E.Genetic analyses of banana remains in New Guinea and Southeast Asia.

Q6:6.What point does the professor make about the theory that agriculture brings about social change?

A.Recent research has yielded unexpected evidence supporting the theory.

B.The theory seems to be contradicted by the development of society in New Guinea.

C.Future discoveries in Kuk are likely to provide definitive proof for the theory.

D.The theory explains why New Guinea has become an egalitarian society.

四、New Guinea托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：C

A2:正确答案：BD

A3:正确答案：B

A4:正确答案：A

A5:正确答案：ACE

A6:正确答案：B