知識點(diǎn)百日百篇第48天2月3日北美考試機(jī)經(jīng)閱讀翻譯蘇美爾文明

第48天2012年2月3日北美考試機(jī)經(jīng)閱讀翻譯SumerianCivilization①ThewordMesopotamiameansliterally“betweentherivers”,butitisgenerallyusedtodenotethewholeplainbetweenandoneithersideoftheTigrisandEuphratesrivers.Theplainwasborderedtothenorthandeastbymountainranges,inwhosefoothillsagriculturewasfirstpracticed.Eachyearthetwogreatriverswereswollenwiththewintersnowsofthenorthernmountains,andeachyearatfloodstagetheyspreadathicklayerofimmenselyfertilesiltacrossthefloodplainwheretheyapproachedthePersianGulf.Itwasinthisdelta,alandofswamprichinfish,wildlife,anddatepalms,thatagriculturalsettlerscreatedtherichcity-statesofSumerbetween3500and3000B.C.Thedeltacouldonlybemadehabitablebylarge-scaleirrigationandfloodcontrol,whichwasmanagedfirstbyapriestlyclassandthenbygodlikekings.②LittleisknownabouttheoriginsoftheSumerianpeople,whospokealanguagetotallydistinctfromthatoftheSemiticinhabitantsofthevalleystothenorth.TheSumeriansprobablymoveddownintotheswampsofthedeltaunderpressureofover-populationofthefoothillsafter3900B.C.Althoughatfirsttheyformedsmallagriculturalvillages,theysoonfoundnotonlythattherichnessofthealluviallandpermittedgreaterdensityofsettlementbutalsothatthevastengineeringworksincanalsanddikesnecessarytoharnesstheannualfloodsrequiredworkforcesofhundredsofmen.Moreover,thelayoutandclearingofthecanalsrequiredexpertplanning,whilethedivisionoftheirrigatedland,thewater,andthecropsdemandedpoliticalcontrol.By3000B.C.theSumerianshadsolvedthisproblembyforming“temple-communities”.③AllSumeriancitiesrecognizedanumberofgodsincommon.Eachcitymoreoverhaditsowngod,whowasconsideredliterallytoinhabitthetempleandwhowasintheorytheownerofallpropertywithinthecity.Hencethepriestswhointerpretedthewillofthegodandcontrolledthedistributionoftheeconomicproduceofthecitywereveneratedfortheirsupernaturalandmaterialfunctionsalike.Whenthegrowingwarfareamongthecitiesmademilitaryleadershipvitalafter3000B.C.,theheadofthearmywhobecamekingassumedanintermediatepositionbetweenthegodsandthepriestlyclass.Thus,kingandpriestsrepresentedtheupperclassinahierarchicalsociety.Belowthemwerethescribes,thesecularattendantsofthetemple,whosupervisedeveryaspectofthecity’seconomiclifeandwhodevelopedaroughjudicialsystem.④ThepriestsandscribesofthetemplesmustbecreditedwiththegreatadvancesmadebytheSumeriansinbothartsandscience.Inordertokeeptheaccountsofthetemplefoodstorehouses,theyengravedpicturesonclaytabletsinaformofwritingknownascuneiform(wedge-shaped),theoldestknownwritingsystem.Arichepicliteratureandsculpturewerealsocreatedtoservetheneedsofthetemplesandthenofthekings.Evenmoredemandinginartistictechniquewerethesmallcylindersealsusedtorollone’ssignatureintothewetclayofatabletrecordingacommercialtransaction.Thousandsofthesetabletshavebeenfoundinthetemplecompounds,provingthatthebureaucratsofSumerhaddevelopedacomplexcommercialsystem.Moreover,theplanningofthevastpublicworksundertheircontrolledtheprieststodevelopausefulmathematicalnotation,includingbothadecimalnotationandasystembasedupon60.Besides,bothforreligiousandagriculturalpurposes,Sumeriansalsostudiedtheheavensandcreatedalunarcalendarwithadayof24hoursandaweekofsevendays.⑤Atthattime,mud,clay,andreedsweretheonlymaterialstheSumerianshadinabundance,tradewasthereforenecessarytosupplythecityworkerswithmaterials.MerchantswentoutinoverlandcaravansorinshipstoexchangetheproductsofSumerianindustryforwood,stone,andmetals.ThereareindicationsthatSumeriansailingvesselsevenreachedthevalleyoftheIndusRiverinIndia.TheincreaseintradebetweenSumeriancitiesandbetweenSumeriaandothermoredistantregionsnotonlyledtothegrowthofamerchantclassbutspreadmanyofitsachievementstootherareas.——2012年2月3日北美考試機(jī)經(jīng)Whichofthesentencebelowbestexpresstheessentialinformationinthehighlightedsentenceinthepassage?Incorrectchoiceschangethemeaninginimportantwaysorleaveoutessentialinformation.A.Theartistictechniquethenwasdifficultbecausetheyhavetorolltheirsignatureintothewetclayofatablettorecordacommercialtransaction.B.Oneartistictechniquewastousesmallcylindersealstorecordacommercialtransaction.C.Theyusedsmallcylindersealstorolltheirsignaturesintoatablettorecordacommercialtransaction,whichwasaverydifficulttechniquethen.D.Itrequiredhighdegreeofskilltomakesmallcylindersealsbecauseitwasdifficulttorollone’ssignatureintothewetclayofatablet.答案：C蘇美爾文明美索不達(dá)米亞這個詞字面上的意思是“河流之間”，但它通常用來表示位于底格里斯河和幼發(fā)拉底河之間和兩側(cè)的整個平原。平原與北部和東部的山脈相連，在那里第一次出現(xiàn)了丘陵農(nóng)業(yè)。每年兩大河流被北部山區(qū)的積雪注滿，每年的汛期這兩大河流在靠近波斯灣的沖積平原上會留下一層厚厚的非常肥沃的淤泥。這個三角洲是一片魚類、野生動物、棗椰樹豐富的沼澤地，正是在這個地方，農(nóng)業(yè)移民在公元前3,500年到公元前3,000年建立了繁榮的蘇美爾城邦。三角洲只有通過大規(guī)模的灌溉和防洪措施才能適合人居住，而這些措施首先是由一個祭司階層管理的，后來由莊嚴(yán)的國王接手。很少有人知道蘇美爾人的起源，他們說的語言與北部山谷閃族語系的居民完全不同。公元前3,900年以后，蘇美爾人可能迫于丘陵地帶人口過剩的壓力搬到了三角洲的沼澤地區(qū)。盡管起初他們形成了小的農(nóng)業(yè)村莊，不過他們很快發(fā)現(xiàn)不僅肥沃的沖擊地能容得下更大密度的移民，而且每年治理洪水所必需的浩大的運(yùn)河和堤壩工程也需要成百上千的男勞力。此外，運(yùn)河的布局和清算需要專家的規(guī)劃，同時灌溉地、水和農(nóng)作物的劃分也需要政治控制。到公元前3,000年，蘇美爾人已經(jīng)通過“廟社區(qū)”的形成解決了這一問題。所有的蘇美爾城市對一些神有共同的認(rèn)知。而且每個城市都有自己的神靈，它被認(rèn)為實(shí)際上住在寺廟里，理論上是城市中一切財產(chǎn)的所有者。于是解釋神靈旨意和控制城市中經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)品分配的祭司因其超自然和