Earliest Permanent Settlement托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

Earliest Permanent Settlement托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、Earliest Permanent Settlement托福听力原文：

Narrator:Listen to part of a lecture in an archaeology class.FEMALE PROFESSOR:One of the frustrating things about archaeology,especially for beginning students...is that theories are constantly evolving.A theory that's been accepted for many years may suddenly be called into question.MALE STUDENT:But why would that happen?FEMALE PROFESSOR:Oh,there are probably a number of reasons.Earlier finds are always being re-examined in the context of new finds.Or it may just be that someone looks at the evidence in a different way...has a different idea of what it suggests.

Take the theory about the earliest permanent settlements.They were found in an area to the east of the Mediterranean Sea called the Levant.And the people who lived there were the Natufians.For quite some time,it's been widely accepted that about 15,000 years ago,the Natufians developed a sedentary lifestyle.Can someone remind us what that means?MALE STUDENT:It means that they stopped being nomadic,that they began staying in one area year round instead of moving around all the time.FEMALE PROFESSOR:Right.And we think there was an abundance of edible plants and animals in the area at that time that make this shift away from a nomadic lifestyle possible.Uh...keep in mind that the Natufians were hunter-gatherers.So in spite of other changes,they were always a pre-agricultural society.

Anyway,after being sedentary for around 2,000 years,something happened that forced the Natufians to change their lifestyle.The general consensus is that there was a period of climatic cooling,which had a negative effect on the availability of food.And this food shortage likely caused the Natufians to revert to a nomadic lifestyle.Then around 11,500 years ago,the climate warmed again.Food became more abundant and the people in that area became sedentary again.Now,no one is contesting that these people,probably descendants of the Natufians,were indeed sedentary by 11,500 years ago.The evidence is quite strong.Archaeologists have uncovered numerous circular structures....dating from that period....that appear to have been used to store grain.We think this for a couple of reasons.

First,the remains of barley houses have been found inside them.Barley was the main type of grain that grew in this area.

And secondly,the floors on these structures were elevated.This design would have been consistent with the need to keep the barley dry and safe from rodents.So,that makes sense.

And there are lots of these structures in the settlements.In one settlement that was only partially excavated,archaeologists have already found four of these structures.

MALE STUDENT:So it's the earlier part—that the Natufians were sedentary 15,000 years ago—that's changed?FEMALE PROFESSOR:Well,there's evidence,but some archaeologists have questioned the criteria used to identify permanent settlements.

See,circular structures have also been found in early Natufian settlements,so archaeologists believe that these were also food storage structures based on their physical similarity to the structures in later settlements.And they would indicate that the Natufians were sedentary 15,000 years ago.But now,there are doubts about the use of these earlier structures.

Researchers point to the lack of grain remnants in these earlier structures.In fact,things other than grains have been found in them.So at the very least,they say,these structures probably had multiple purposes.

And another problem they point to is that most early settlements have only one of these so-called storage structures.But do you think one structure would be enough to hold a surplus for an entire settlement?MALE STUDENT:skeptical]Well,whatever these structures were used for,couldn't they just have built them at a place they came back to regularly?Maybe to store things for their next visit?

FEMALE PROFESSOR:Exactly?so-called base camps where the Natufians didn't stay all year-round.

But artifacts that were found at a number of Natufian sites seem to present evidence of a sedentary way of life.Large,heavy mortars...the sort of thing that would have been used for grinding grain.Such heavy equipment could indicate that the Natufians would have stayed permanently in one place since the work involved in moving an item like this around constantly would have been substantial.

But this evidence of sedentism has also been called into question because the materials used to make the stone mortars did originally come from quite a distance.And if the Natufians could move the materials over great distances...

二、Earliest Permanent Settlement托福听力中文翻译：

旁白：听一节考古学课上的讲座。女教授：考古学最令人沮丧的事情之一，尤其是对于初学的学生来说……是理论在不断发展。一个被接受多年的理论可能会突然受到质疑。男学生：但为什么会这样？女教授：哦，可能有很多原因。早期发现总是在新发现的背景下重新检查。或者可能只是有人以不同的方式看待证据…对证据的含义有不同的看法。

以最早的永久定居点理论为例。它们是在地中海东部的黎凡特地区发现的。住在那里的人是纳图费人。相当长一段时间以来，人们普遍认为，大约15000年前，纳图费人发展了一种久坐的生活方式。有人能提醒我们这是什么意思吗？男学生：这意味着他们不再游牧了，他们开始一年四季呆在一个地区，而不是一直四处走动。女教授：对。我们认为，当时该地区有大量可食用的植物和动物，这使得这种远离游牧生活方式的转变成为可能。呃…记住纳图费人是狩猎采集者。因此，尽管有其他变化，他们始终是前农业社会。

无论如何，在大约2000年的久坐之后，发生了一些事情，迫使纳图费人改变了他们的生活方式。普遍的共识是，有一段时间气候变冷，对粮食供应产生了负面影响。这种食物短缺可能导致纳图费人回归游牧生活方式。大约11500年前，气候再次变暖。食物变得更加丰富，该地区的人们再次变得久坐不动。现在，没有人质疑这些人，可能是纳图费人的后裔，在11500年前确实是定居的。证据相当有力。考古学家已经发现了许多圆形结构…可以追溯到那个时期…似乎是用来储存谷物的。我们认为这有几个原因。

首先，在它们里面发现了大麦屋的遗迹。大麦是该地区生长的主要谷物类型。

其次，这些建筑的地板被抬高了。这种设计符合保持大麦干燥和免受啮齿动物危害的需要。所以，这是有道理的。

定居点里有很多这样的建筑。在一个仅部分挖掘的定居点中，考古学家已经发现了其中的四个结构。

男学生：那幺，15000年前纳图费人久坐不动的早期部分改变了吗？女教授：嗯，有证据，但一些考古学家质疑用于确定永久定居点的标准。

看，圆形结构也在早期纳图费人聚居区中被发现，因此考古学家认为这些也是食物储存结构，因为它们与后来聚居区的结构物理相似。这表明纳图费人在15000年前是定居的。但现在，对这些早期结构的使用存在疑问。

研究人员指出，在这些早期结构中缺乏谷物残留物。事实上，在他们身上发现了除谷物以外的其他东西。因此，他们说，至少这些结构可能有多种用途。

他们指出的另一个问题是，大多数早期定居点只有一个所谓的储存结构。但你认为一个结构足以容纳整个定居点的盈余吗？男学生：怀疑]好吧，不管这些建筑是用来做什么的，难道他们就不能把它们建在他们经常回来的地方吗？也许是为他们下次来访准备东西？

女教授：是吗？所谓的大本营，纳图费人不是全年都呆在那里。

但在纳图费遗址发现的文物似乎证明了久坐的生活方式。大而重的迫击炮…那种用来碾磨谷物的东西。这种重型设备可能表明纳图费人将永久留在一个地方，因为不断移动这样的物品所涉及的工作将是巨大的。

但是，这种沉着主义的证据也受到质疑，因为用于制造石制迫击炮的材料最初确实来自很远的地方。如果纳图费人能将这些材料移动很远。。。

三、Earliest Permanent Settlement托福听力问题：

Q1:1.What is the lecture mainly about?

A.Techniques used by the Natufians for building shelters

B.Different interpretations of archaeological evidence from Natufian sites

C.Strategies used by different hunter-gatherer societies in response to climate change

D.The development of the Natufians into an agricultural society

Q2:2.According to the professor,what does a theory suggest about the Natufians who lived 15,000 years ago?

A.They moved into the eastern Mediterranean region.

B.They developed advanced hunting tools.

C.They began cultivating a variety of crops.

D.They began to settle permanently in one area.

Q3:3.According to the professor,in what ways did climate change affect Natufians?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.A period of climatic cooling led them to return to an earlier lifestyle.

B.A period of climatic warming enabled them to settle in centralized villages.

C.A period of climatic warming allowed them to plant crops other than barley.

D.Several cooling and warming periods forced them to develop new agricultural techniques.

Q4:4.Why does the professor discuss the floors of excavated structures?

A.To show the high level of technology attained by some prehistoric people

B.To suggest that the area called the Levant flooded regularly

C.To support the idea that the structures were used to hold grain

D.To explain a construction method that was common 15,000 years ago

Q5:5.What evidence suggests that Natufians were not sedentary 15,000 years ago?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.No tools for grinding grain have been found in Natufian settlements from that time.

B.Individual settlements from that time contain just one circular structure.

C.Circular structures from that time may have had multiple purposes.

D.Circular structures from that time contain remnants of grain.

Q6:6.Why does the professor say this:

A.To indicate that she is unsure about the origin of the materials.

B.To suggest the Natufians settled a large area.

C.To point out how technologically advanced the Natufians were.

D.To help students understand why the evidence of sedentism has been questioned.

四、Earliest Permanent Settlement托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：B

A2:正确答案：D

A3:正确答案：AB

A4:正确答案：C

A5:正确答案：BC

A6:正确答案：D