新托福阅读社会科学类文章大汇总.pdf

SOCIAL SCIENCE The First Peoples in America The Development of European Language Transportation in the United States The Role of Television in Politics The Eating and Dietary Habits of Hominids Skills of Children Education in the United States Domestic Migration In United States A Reasault of a Research about Leaders The effect of the Baby Boom Archaeology Urban and Rural Population in the United States Railroad The Meteoric Rise of Los Angeles The First Peoples in America Keywords: United States, culture, Mississippian, agriculture, civilization The first peoples to inhabit what today is the southeastern United States sustained themselves as hunters and gathers. Sometimes early in the first millennium A.D., however, they began to cultivate corn and other crops. Gradually, as they became more skilled at gardening, they settled into permanent villages and developed a rich culture, characterized by the great earthen mounds they erected as monuments to their gods and as tombs for their distinguished dead. Most of these early mound builders were part of the Adena-Hopewell culture, which had its beginnings near the Ohio River and takes its name from sites in Ohio. The culture spread southward into the present-day states of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Its peoples became great traders, bartering jewellery, pottery, animal pelts, tools, and other goods along extensive trading networks that stretched up and down eastern North America and as far west as the Rocky Mountains. About A.D. 400, the Hopewell culture fell into decay. Over the next centuries, it was supplanted by another culture, the Mississippian, named after the river along which many of its earliest villages were located. This complex civilization dominated the Southeast from about A.D. 700 until shortly before the Europeans began arriving in the sixteenth century. At the peak of its strength, about the year 1200, it was the most advanced culture in North America. Like their Hopewell predecessors, the Mississippians became highly skilled at growing food, although on a grander scale.They developed an improved strain of corn, which could survive in wet soil and a relatively cool climate, and also learned to cultivate beans. Indeed, agriculture became so important to the Mississippians that it became closely associated with the Sun - the guarantor of good crops. Many tribes called themselves children of the Sun and believed their omnipotent priest-chiefs were descendants of the great sun god. Although most Mississippians lived in small villages, many others inhabited large towns. Most of these towns boasted at least one major flat-topped mound on which stood a temple that contained a sacred flame. Only priests and those charged with guarding the flame could enter the temples. The mounds also served as ceremonial and trading sites, and at times they were used as burial grounds. 22. What does the passage mainly discuss? (A) The development of agriculture (B) The locations of towns and villages (C) The early people and cultures of the United States (D) The construction of burial mounds 23. Which of the following resulted from the rise of agriculture in the southeastern United States? (A) The development of trade in North America (B) The establishment of permanent settlements (C) Conflicts with other Native American groups over land (D) A migration of these peoples to the Rocky Mountains. 24. What does the term Adena-Hopewell(line 7) designate? (A) The early locations of the Adena-Hopewell culture (B) The two most important nations of the Adena-Hopewell culture (C) Two former leaders who were honored with large burial mounds. (D) Two important trade routes in eastern North America 25. The word bartering in line 9 is closest in meaning to (A) producing (B) exchanging (C) transporting (D) loading 26. The word supplanted in line 13 is closest in meaning to (A) conquered (B) preceded (C) replaced (D) imitated 27. According to the passage, when did the Mississippian culture reach its highest point of development? (A) About A.D. 400 (B) Between A.D. 400 AND A.D. 700 (C) About A.D. 1200 (D) In the sixteenth century 28. According to the passage, how did the agriculture of the Mississippians differ from that of their Hopewell predecessors? (A) The Mississippians produced more durable and larger crops of food. (B) The Mississippians sold their food to other groups. (C) The Mississippians could only grow plants in warm, dry climates. (D) The Mississippians produced special foods for their religious leaders. 29. Why does the author mention that many Mississippians tribes called themselves children of the Sun(line 22)? (A) To explain why they were obedient to their priest-chiefs. (B) To argue about the importance of religion in their culture. (C) To illustrate the great importance they placed on agriculture. (D) To provide an example of their religious rituals. 30. The phrase charged with in line 26 is closest in meaning to (A) passed on (B) experienced at (C) interested in (D) assigned to 31. According to the passage, the flat-topped mounds in Mississippian towns were used for all of the following purposes EXCEPT (A) religious ceremonies (B) meeting places for the entire community (C) sites for commerce (D) burial sites The Development of European Language Keywords: language, inscription, mystery, scholar, eighteen century The languages spoken by early Europeans are still shrouded in mystery. There is no linguistic continuity between the languages of Old Europe (a term sometimes used for Europe between 7000 and 3000 B.C.) and the languages of the modern world, and we cannot yet translate the Old European script. Scholars have deciphered other ancient languages, such as Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian, which used the cuneiform script, because of the fortuitous discovery of bilingual inscriptions,. When cuneiform tablets were first discovered in the eighteenth century, scholars could not decipher them. Then inscriptions found in baal at the end of the eighteenth century provided a link: these inscriptions were written in cuneiform and in two other ancient languages, Old Persian and New Elamite-languages that had already been deciphered. It took several decades, but scholars eventually translated the ancient cuneiform script via the more familiar Old Persian language. Similarly, the hieroglyphic writing of the Egyptians remained a mystery until French troops unearthed the famous Rosetta stone in the late eighteenth century. The stone carried the same message written in ancient Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Egyptian hieratic, a simplified form of hieroglyphs. The Rosetta stone thwarted scholars efforts for several decades until the early nineteenth century when several key hieroglyphic phrases were decoded using the Greek inscriptions. Unfortunately, we have no Old European Rosetta stone to chart correspondences between Old European script and the languages that replaced it. Tim incursions of Indo-European tribes into Old Europe from the late fifth to the early third millennia B.C. caused a linguistic and cultural discontinuity. These incursions disrupted the Old European sedentary farming lifestyle that had existed for 3,000 years. As the Indo-Europeans encroached on Old Europe from the east, the continent underwent upheavals. These severely affected the Balkans, where the Old European cultures abundantly employed script. The Old European way of life deteriorated rapidly, although pockets of Old European culture remained for several millennia, and new peoples spoke completely different languages belonging to the Indo-European linguistic family. The Old European language or languages, and the script used to write them, declined and eventually vanished. 22. What does the passage mainly discuss? (A) Reasons for the failure to understand the written records of Old European culture (B) Influences on the development of Old European script (C) Similarities between Old European script and other ancient writing systems (D) Events leading to the discovery of Old European script 23. According to the passage, New Elamite is (A) a language that was written in the cuneiform script (B) a modem language that came from Old Persian (C) one of the languages spoken by the Old Europeans (D) a language that was understood by the late eighteenth century 24, According to the passage, scholars were able to decipher cuneiform script with the help of (A) the Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian languages (B) Old Persian. (C) tablets written in Old European (C) a language spoken in eighteenth century Iran 25. The word fortuitous in line 6 is closet in meaning to (A) important (B) sudden (C) early (D) lucky 26. The word them in line 7 refers to (A) Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian (B) bilingual inscriptions (C) cuneiform tablets (D) scholars 27. When does the passage suggest that ancient Egyptian hieroglypttic script was finally deciphered? (A) At around the same time as cuneiform script was deciphered (B) Shortly before the Rosetta stone was unearthed (C) As soon as additional bilingual inscriptions became available to scholars (D) A few decades after the hieratic script was decoded 28. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the Rosetta stone? (A) It was found by scholars trying to decode ancient languages. (B) It contains two versions of hieroglyphic script. (C) Several of its inscriptions were decoded within a few months of its discovery. (D) Most of its inscriptions have still not been decoded. 29. The word thwarted in line 16 is closest in meaning to (A) continued (B) influenced (C) encouraged (D) frustrated 30. According to the passage, Indo-European incursions caused Old European populations to (A) separate into different tribes (B) move eastward (C) change their ways of living obtaining food (D) start recording historical events in Writing 31. The author mentions the Balkans in the passage in order to explain why (A) Indo-European languages were slow to spread in Old Europe (B) the inhabitants of Old Europe were not able to prevent Indo-European incursions (C) the use of the Old European script declined (D) the Old European culture survived for a time after the Indo-European incursions Transportation in the United States Keywords: transport, Roads, turnpike, company, vehicle Overland transport in the United States was still extremely primitive in 1790. Roads were few and short, usually extending from inland communities to the nearest river town or seaport. Nearly all interstate commerce was carried out by sailing ships that served the bays and harbors of the seaboard. Yet, in 1790 the nation was on the threshold of a new era of road development. Unable to finance road construction, states turned for help to private companies, organized by merchants and land speculators who had a personal interest in improved communications with the interior. The pioneer in this move was the state of Pennsylvania, which chartered a company in 1792 to construct a turnpike, a road for the use of which a toll, or payment, is collected, from Philadelphia to Lancaster. The legislature gave the company the authority to erect tollgates at points along the road where payment would be collected, though it carefully regulated the rates.(The states had unquestioned authority to regulate private business in this period.) The company built a gravel road within two years, and the success of the Lancaster Pike encouraged imitation. Northern states generally relied on private companies to build their toll roads, but Virginia constructed a network at public expense. Such was the road building fever that by 1810 New York alone had some 1,500 miles of turnpikes extending from the Atlantic to Lake Erie. Transportation on these early turnpikes consisted of freight carrier wagons and passenger stagecoaches. The most common road freight carrier was the Conestoga wagon, a vehicle developed in the mid-eighteenth century by German immigrants in the area around Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It featured large, broad wheels able to negotiate all but the deepest ruts and holes, and its round bottom prevented the freight from shifting on a hill. Covered with canvas and drawn by four to six horses, the Conestoga wagon rivaled the log cabin as the primary symbol of the frontier. Passengers traveled in a variety of stagecoaches, the most common of which had four benches, each holding three persons. It was only a platform on wheels, with no springs; slender poles held up the top, and leather curtains kept out dust and rain. 32. Paragraph 1 discusses early road building in the United States mainly in terms of the (A) popularity of turnpikes (B) financing of new roads (C) development of the interior (D) laws governing road use 33. The word primitive in line 1 is closest in meaning to (A) unsafe (B) unknown (C) inexpensive (D) undeveloped 34. In 1790 most roads connected towns in the interior of the country with (A) other inland communities (B) towns in other states (C) river towns or seaports (D) construction sites 35. The phrase on the threshold of in line 4 and 5 is closest in meaning to (A) in need of (B) in place of (C) at the start of (D) with the purpose of 36. According to the passage, why did states want private companies to help with road building? (A) The states could not afford to build roads themselves. (B) The states were not as well equipped as private companies. (C) Private companies could complete roads faster than the states. (D) Private companies had greater knowledge of the interior. 37. The word it in line 11 refers to (A) legislature (B) company (C) authority (D) payment 38. The word imitation in line 14 is closest in meaning to (A) investment (B) suggestion (C) increasing (D) copying 39. Virginia is mentioned as an example of a state that (A) built roads without tollgates (B) built roads with government money (C) completed 1,500 miles of turnpikes in one year (D) introduced new law restricting road use 40. The large, broad wheels of the Conestoga wagon are mentioned in line 21 as an example of a feature of wagons that was (A) unusual in mid-eighteenth century vehicles (B) first found in Germany (C) effective on roads with uneven surfaces (D) responsible for frequent damage to freight The Role of Television in Politics Keywords: Television, politics, television , medium, United States Television has transformed politics in the United States by changing the way in which information is disseminated, by altering political campaigns, and by changing citizens patterns of response to politics. By giving citizens independent access to thee candidates, television diminished the role of the political party in the selection of the major party candidates . By centering politics on the person of the candidate, television accelerated the citizens focus on character rather than issues. Television has altered the forms of political communication as well. The messages on which most of us rely are briefer than they