托福阅读经典加试：两河流域苏美文明与埃及文明之比较

　　两河流域苏美文明与埃及文明之比较

　　科学家惊奇的发现，两种文明可以在同一时间产生。在埃及文化产生时，美索不达米亚文化也同时应运而生。埃及土地肥沃，造成它的独立致。美索不达米亚两河流域，地理环境特殊，四周沙漠什么的，老被侵略，所以都是一个帮一个帮的，美索不达米亚文化不像埃及文化一样，美索不达米亚文化没有留下很多遗产。当初美索不达米亚的居民生活好像挺好的，所以一直没有人提出统一的想法，很久以后才有，可是由于大量的花费在战争上什么的，很快就覆灭了。由于当时的环境条件，那里的人们都用泥土/木头盖房子，所以和埃及不一样，现在我们没找到什么当初留下的建筑物。我们现在还挖出了许多陶器石板，上面刻着文字，只能通过这些推知历史。后来又变成什么苏美尔了，这是从外面迁徙过来的民族。

　　两河地域的美索布达米娅文明，先是和埃及文明作比较，比较的结果是他们(美索)由外来入侵，文明不易保存，建筑用的材料也不易保存，考古学家只能从挖掘出来的文物中研究他们。后半部分是讲苏美尔人在两河地区建立的文明的特点，特别是他们城邦的宗教神祗制度，影响了他们的经济制度(献纳)。大题目是分类题，比较埃及文明和苏美尔文明 。

　　科学家惊奇的发现，两种文明可以在同一时间产生。在埃及文化产生时，美索不达米亚文化也同时应运而生。埃及土地肥沃，造成它的独立所致。美索不达米亚两河流域，地理环境特殊，四周沙漠什么的，老被侵略，所以都是一个城邦一个城邦的，美索不达米亚文化不像埃及文化一样，美索不达米亚文化没有留下很多遗产。当初美索不达米亚的居民生活安逸，所以一直没有人提出统一的想法，很久以后才有，可是由于大量的花费在战争上，很快就覆灭了。由于当时的环境条件，那里的人们都用泥土/木头盖房子，所以和埃及不一样，现在没找到什么当初留下的建筑物。但是挖出了许多陶器石板，上面刻着文字，考古学家只能从挖掘出来的文物中研究其历史。后来讲苏美尔人在两河地区建立的文明的特点，特别是他们城邦的宗教神祗制度，影响了他们的经济制度(献纳)。大题目是分类题，比较埃及文明和苏美尔文明 。

　　Sumerian Civilization

　　It is an astonishing fact that human civilization should have emerged into the light of history in two separate places at just about the same time. Between 3,500 and 3,000 B.C. when Egypt was being united under pharaonic rule, another great civilization arose in Mesopotamia, the “land between the rivers.” And for close to three thousand years, the two rival centers retained their distinct characters, even though they had contact with each other from their earliest beginnings, and their destinies were interwoven in many ways. The pressure that forced the inhabitants of both regions to abandon the pattern of Neolithic village life may well have been the same. But the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, unlike that of the Nile, is not a narrow fertile strip protected by desert on either side. It resembles a wide, shallow trough with few natural defenses, crisscrossed by two great rivers and their tributaries, and is easily encroached upon from any direction.

　　1.The word astonishing in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　(A) important

　　(B) unknown

　　(C) amazing

　　(D) interesting

　　2.Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

　　(A) A great civilization arose in Mesopotamia, the “land between the rivers” under pharaonic rule. 发源于美索不达米亚的伟大文明，在paranonic统治之下的“两河之间的土地”

　　(B) Egypt and another great civilization both developed in Mesopotamia between 3500 and 3000 B.C.

　　(C) A great civilization arose in Mesopotamia between 3500 and 3000 B.C. at the same time that ancient Egypt was being united.

　　(D) As Egypt was being united under pharaonic rule, a great civilization arose there.

　　3.The phrase its substance refers to

　　(A) the political history of ancient Mesopotamia古代美索不达米亚政治的历史

　　(B) divine kingship

　　(C) Egypt

　　(D) the sudden collapse of military power

　　4.The word obscure in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　(A) unclear

　　(B) unique

　　(C) controversial

　　(D) important

　　5.The author mentions Nor did they share the Egyptians’ concern with the hereafter, in order to作者提到 也不分享埃及人关于从今以后的担忧 为了……

　　(A) To provide one explanation for the relatively few physical remains of ancient Sumerian society.为相对少的关于古代苏美尔社会物理遗迹提供一个解释。

　　(B) To explain why ancient Sumerian built with mud brick and wood rather than with stone.

　　(C) To help account for the fact that tombs and vaulted chambers have been found only at Ur.

　　(D) To counter the claim that all ancient societies paid great attention to the afterlife.

　　6.According to the passage, it can be inferred that the City of Ur is located in Ur 城(乌尔城)位于

　　(A) Egypt

　　(B) Persia

　　(C) northern Mesopotamia

　　(D) near the confluence of Tigris and Euphrates底格里斯河和幼发拉底河的附近

　　7.The word vast in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　(A) random

　　(B) very large

　　(C) surprising

　　(D) relatively small

　　8.According to paragraph 2 and 3, the physical characteristics of Mesopotamia affected Sumerian civilization in all of the following ways EXCEPT: 根据2、3、段美索不达米亚影响苏美尔文明，除了哪方面(A) Foreign invasions were made easy.

　　(B) Creating and maintaining political stability was made difficult.

　　(C) Continuity of cultural and artistic traditions could not be achieved.

　　文化和艺术传统的一致性 得不到

　　(D) Sumerian architecture could not produce long-lasting structures

　　9.Look at the four [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

　　Click on a square [■] to add the sentence to the passage.

　　Despite these achievements, scholars know much less about Sumerian life than they would like. 尽管这些成就，学者们对于苏美尔人的生活知道的更少，比起他们爱好什么而言。

　　Where would the sentence best fit?

　　第四方块

　　10.According to paragraph 4, what evidence is used to support the claim that the idea of divine ownership was not “a mere pious fiction”? 对于神的所有权并不仅仅“是虔诚的虚构”这一论点支持的证据是：

　　(A) The idea of divine ownership originated with the kings of Sumerian city-state.

　　(B) The idea of divine ownership was the reason why a large part of the harvest was offered to the god.

　　(C) The idea of divine ownership eventually came to replace “theocratic socialism”.

　　(D) The idea of divine ownership served as the basis for the economic organization of Sumerian society. 神的所有权服务于苏美尔社会的经济组织形式的基础

　　11.，The word considerable in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　(A) substantial

　　(B) fixed

　　(C) valuable

　　(D) limited.

　　12，In the above passage, all of the following were true of the local god EXCEPT 哪项不是关于当地的神的事实

　　(A) The local god owned everything and everyone in the city-state.

　　(B) The local god represented the subjects of the city-state to other gods.

　　(C) The local god communicated with the people of the city-state through a human ruler.

　　(D) The local god sometimes fought against the local gods of rival city-states 当地的神有时候同竞争的城邦的神作战

　　13，fill in a table問題

　　Ancient Egyptian Civilization

　　政治统一了很久时间，有相当多建筑物遗址

　　Sumerian Civilization

　　城邦国家是一个特色，从文件中所记载，这一个文明受到外部的侵略